booking in appointment not until 16 weeks

[wilfrhodes]

having first tried to get myself into the system at 5+3, i finally heard from the midwife unit today (10+1). they advised me to make my own ultrasound booking and gave me a "booking in" appointment to see them at 16+1!

i am high risk for age and one or two other things. yet before any blood or urine tests have been done, i'll be having an ultrasound, four weeks away from having even met the midwife who presumably is supposed to counsel me if the scan shows up anything wrong.

when i mentioned this to the woman booking my ultrasound, she said "oh you will miss the early downs test then." as though that were nothing important and a decision i am choosing for myself.

is this sort of treatment normal? i feel really abandoned and am scared this will be typical of my experience all the way through. i am usually quite an anxious person when it comes to these things.

i should add that i will be spending a few hundred quid getting my own tests done next week, as i'll go nuts if i don't get some sort of medical reassurance soon. i can't afford to go private for the whole pregnancy though.

No, not normal IME. I would call your GP and request a call-back to discuss why this has happened and what can be done. And if that doesn't get you anywhere I would escalate it to a complaint. You should have a scan at 12 weeks on the NHS for Down's and I thought the midwife was supposed to see you before that, then again afterwards. The care you've been offered is not good enough - definitely not.

This just isn't good enough.

I don't think you should panic - if you have a reasonably decent GP they will look after you if anything crops up and can refer for scans etc. if necessary.

But, to not be booked in until 16 weeks is ridiculous. I'd give them another call and insist on an earlier appointment. Ask them to put you on a waiting list for cancellations.

Why will you miss the nuchal screening, is your scan after 14 weeks? I had a scan followed by a blood test as I opted for combined screening. Booking in isn't anything too exciting, if your high risk the MW will book you a consultant appt and that's about it along with normal blood tests from what I remember. You have your midwife's number if your not happy or have any worries call them. Hope all goes well with your pregnancy.

Did you make your own scan appointment? When did they fit you in?

I definitely wouldn't be waiting till 16 weeks, ring back and explain you believe you are high risk and kick up a bit of a fuss!

juneau i will call gp tomorrow. when i've been able to talk to her, she's been great.

INeedNewShoes i will see what gp says about taking this further. admin staff person i have spoken to thus far has been really rude and condescending.

peasofcake i don't know why i would miss the nuchal test, but that was what the ultrasound booking person told me when i tried to query the appointments being the wrong way around. i don't have midwife number. only local rate number for making midwife appointment. i had to ask several times before they would tell me the location of the centre!

kariana i did make my own appointment. i rang and they told me the date i would be seen. no options, no checking my diary, just "this is it". the midwives' receptionist said i needed to ring to book the ultrasound right away. as though i had been dragging my heels on this.

so glad i have private scan next week. but how would i cope if i couldn't afford it? doesn't seem right.

This doesn't sound normal. Agree you should try and get an earlier appointment and / or see your GP about it.

How far along will you be at the ultrasound?

If you're less than 14 weeks they should be able to do the early Downs test - they take bloods at the ultrasound appointment for that, so it shouldn't matter if you haven't had blood tests from the booking in appointment.

MrsJoeyMaynard I'll be 12+3 at the scan, which is good.

this may sound a bit odd, but what are they going to do with any comments they want to write down about the scan? they can't write them on my notes because i won't have any.

this whole thing is making my "what if?" generator go into overtime.

I got a blank maternity handheld notes booklet before my booking in appointment from my GP surgery - I was asked to fill in as much as possible before the booking appointment, to save time I guess.

Could you ask your GP surgery / the midwife unit if they do this where you live?

HAving said that, when I had my 12 week scan, they typed the measurements, comments and so on from the scan up there and then, and stuck a printout of that in the maternity notes booklet.

Defiantly not normal ime either.

Where I am you have your booking in between 8-10 weeks and a 12 week nhs scan that you need your notes with you to have. Your next appointment with the midwife (after booking in) is at 16 weeks.

I agree with pp and request a call back from GP. You could request the head of midwives number too to discuss with them.

Good luck!

Nope not normal at all. Definitely question it.

Sounds slow but not disasterous. You normally have scan (and scan bloods for nuchal) around 12 weeks then first midwife appt at 16 weeks - only difference is you won't already have notes (just family history) and booking-in bloods. The scan date is the only window you need to hit for the nuchal test, which you've got. In London where I am it's a different midwife everytime, and I didn't even received my nuchal results in the post until after my 16 week appt (am 17 now) so nothing to discuss - though she did say if there was a problem someone would have called / they'd be fasttracked - i imagine you get an extra appt maybe with consultant in that case?

Question it definitely. With my second I had no idea how pregnant I was as my periods had returned after dd1. I was concerned I might miss the deadline for nuchal so pushed and got an earlier booking with the same midwife team but at a different clinic.

I had a quick go appointment at about 6 weeks. As I understand you have to see the gp first as they have to refer you to the hospital for the first scan (10-14 weeks), but maybe it varies in different places. I had a long cycle when I conceived this time and knew my dates exactly, but hospital must have gone by date of last period and I got my first scan appointment through for when only just 10 weeks. As midwife booking was recommended to be made for 10 weeks I ended up having the scan day before this. It wasn't a problem for ultrasound that I didn't have blue folder or any notes yet. They gave me a blank one at the hospital and the ultrasound person clipped their notes into it. However I did have to go back for a rescan two weeks later as baby was too small for the screening tests. The ultrasound lady said you have to be at least 11 weeks for this even though the leaflet sent with the appointment letter said 10-14.

I called my GP when I got my BFP- they booked me in to see the midwife at 8 weeks and told me to come to the surgery and collect some information beforehand- one piece of which was a blank maternity notes booklet and a letter from my midwife, asking me to fill in certain sections before she saw me.

Call your GP and ask them to clarify. You're meant to take your notes to every antenatal appointment so you should have them for the scan.

At the scan, the sonographer asked if we had opted for screening- when we said yes, she measured the nuchal fold, then filled out the paperwork for me to have bloods done in the phlebotomy appointment. If you want the screening, it's worth asking your GP what the process is for this, and whether not having your booking in beforehand would affect it.

I totally understand why you're upset about this- I would be too. The only crumb of comfort I can offer is that my booking appointment wasn't great- I've learned far more from mumsnet and reading the NHS website. I would've been climbing the walls if I hadn't had it though!!

Yes I picked up my blank notes as soon as I had my BFP, from the surgery reception, then booking in at 8 weeks. You need to have discussed the nuchal screening with your midwife and signed that part of the notes otherwise they won't do it. They can do it later though.

I've also been referred for consultant led care and extra scans from the booking in appt.

It sounds like your area is ridiculously busy and they are skipping bits out

I would make a slight fuss, 12 weeks is certainly not too late for Test! But you should be advised beforehand of how it work etc and if you would like it.

Your appointment after the scan should be 16 weeks, 8-10 for booking in.

not normal care at all

booking should be done between 8-10 weeks along with booking bloods
first scan at 11-13 weeks

Get in touch with the manager of the midwives/ community and find out what has gone wrong