Hospital Advice Needed

[MissTwister]

Hello All

I had my 12 week scan at the Fetal Medical Centre and not at my hospital where I will give birth because I wanted the Harmony test. It was so good there I have decided to have the 20 week scan there too - I was going to have the NHS one at the hospital too because a previous midwife said to me I should get to know the hospital. However, when I went for my 16 week appt yesterday a different midwife said I should only have the one scan and to cancel the NHS one. I don't really want two scans if I don't need them (plus don't want to waste NHS resources!) but my worry is:

a. I won't see the hospital before I go to give birth - does this matter?

b. I wont have met any midwives that will help deliver the baby. Both the 1st and 2nd appointment mid-wives I have seen at the GP have been stand-ins as the normal one was away.

My question is do you think I should keep both scans in so I get used to the hospital?

Secondly if I went for the NHS scan would I even meet a midwife or would it just be a sonographer? Is it normal to not know the midwife who helps you give birth?

thanks!

At my hospital (Chelsea and Westminster) I never met any of the midwives working at the hospital before the birth because all the ones I had my appointments with were a different team based in a community clinic. I think that's fairly normal.
When you have the scan there you're in a totally different part of the hospital so you don't get to see much in terms of the labour ward etc. and don't get to meet any midwives so don't think that would really help.
However you can (and I did) book to do a tour of the labour ward so you can see the facilities, know where to go and see what the different rooms are like. Definitely look into whether this is available in your hospital.

I'm not sure what the official guidance is re number of scans but I think they like to keep it to a minimum. Also, i have found its unlikely that you will know the midwife who will help you give birth. It is just chance in my local hospital who will working at the time, they don't make specific arrangements for each woman. Aside from that there may also be a shift change so you may get more than one midwife on the big day. All the midwives if seen are equally approachable and competent and I've never felt it to be a big issue so hopefully you will find the same throughout too.

Great thanks that's really useful. Looks like I should cancel second scan and ask about a tour of the hospital instead. I know you can definitely tour the birth centre at the hospital where I hope to go - but have concerns they wont let me give birth there so would be keen to see labour ward too.

lorelei I also am with C&W. I had no idea though that those mw will not be the ones that we'll take care of meat birth
Im thinking of booking a tour as well, at what stage did you book yours?
misstwister I saw a consultant a week ago at my hospital (because mw thought I should get checked) and I asked the very same question. The consultant said there's no need to go nhs for the anomaly scan if I plan to have one at the FMC. I also skipped the nhs nuchal scan for the same reason as you.

Thanks Skinny that's useful to know x

I had community midwives at my GP for all my appointments and used a different hospital for my scans (a midwife-led unit) as it was slightly nearer and the parking was better. However the midwives I see do do one day a week in the hospital on the delivery unit so it may be that I see one of them there. They did a tour every Sunday at the hospital I will go to but haven't made it to one of these yet. It would be nice to see the midwife I usually see but have seen three different and only routinely so don't feel like I 'know' them really.

skinny all my ante-natal appts were in Bessborough Clinic in Pimlico so they weren't the mws at the hospital. They are however the team who looked after me in the days after I got home when I felt much more vulnerable and hormonal. Was lovely to see familiar faces then.

I did the tour quite late - around 37 weeks - but partially because the hospital weren't doing them for a while due to trying to keep the norovirus out. Back then the mw-lead unit was part of the labour ward but now it has its own area. Not sure if you'd need two tours. Their website has a number to call.