Maternity Notes

[Sparklyuggs]

When should I start carrying these around with me? I commute for university once a week by plane (think London to Edinburgh) and I'm 18 weeks.

I would pack them for those trips, just in case.

That reminds me, had best pop them in my bag while we're away to London this weekend.

I'm already away from home but will start bringing them with me then!

I carry mine with my all the time. That's what I was told to do by my midwife

I haven't done when I've been within half hour of home, given I'm only just past half way, but if I'm going anywhere where it'd end up being a different hospital/ trust, I will be doing.

OP- given NHS England and Scotland are separate, perhaps even more important for you from now on

I carry them everywhere, as I was told to. If you're more than an hour from home I certainly would take them.

I was told by a midwife that at 29 weeks, you should carry your notes everywhere. Even the shops but before that, only if your traveling away from home x

You could photocopy them and take the copies?

That's a great idea Bertie as I'm worried about losing them. But a photocopied version is less risky.

I didn't take mine anywhere with me!

Never heard of this. I never took mine anywhere!

I am always mystified by this system. It is liable to so many accidents and breaches of data to expect patients to carry confidential medical info 24/7. The potential benefits simply do not outweigh the risks in my view.

I'd take them if you're going away from home.
I'm 36 weeks and used to keep my notes in the car so I had them accessible at work etc. Now I they're in the house and taken when we go to hospital only place I go these days

I was really pleased to have mine with me when I was admitted to a hospital 3 hours away from my usual hospital at 15 weeks. I'd only thrown them in the car as a bit of an afterthought!

The doctor looking after me did make use of them and added some documents detailing my treatment to the file.

I knew a few women who travelled a fair bit for work and they photocopied their notes as a pp suggested and started carrying them with them after their 20week scan. Don't know why after that point particularly - we all worked together so I guess that was the group conclusion. No idea what a midwife would advise.

It's also a lot lighter as you don't need to photocopy all the filler (stuff informing you about appointments etc) just the bits with information about you. Handy if you're only taking hand luggage and space is at a premium.

I never carried mine anywhere. Even when I went to my mums past my due date.. Oops

I suppose if your pregnancy is completely straightforward then its probably less necessary to have them with you if you go into labour.

Anyone whose pregnancy is 'high risk' would appreciate just being able to hand the folder over if they went into labour away from their usual hospital and not have to rely on their memory about particular conditions that the hospital might need to be aware of.

If you don't want to cart them about, take a photo on your phone of your scan reports, reports from attendances you've made to triage, the page of your notes that has details of your medical history (if there's anything on that page), and the page with details of previous pregnancies.
sycamore you can usually request that sensitive information (previous terminations, social issues, drug use etc) is only stored on the computer rather than in your notes. Even if you're not carrying the notes around with you, nobody wants their MIL leafing through and coming across something they'd rather have kept private.

Mine live in my handbag & my handbag goes where I go now as it's a small one (only enough room for a pen, keys, purse, phone & now the notes) even to school.

Almost 34 weeks notes stay at home...
I don't know why I need them though but I would imagine someone with complications in pregnancy will need them handy. If I was out without notes and went into labour I would go into nearest hospital say my due date is this, my scans showed no problems so far and blood tests were fine. My last baby was super huge. Epidural please and lets have this baby :-)

We advise to take them everywhere. If you run into problems without them a turn up at hospital regardless of whether you are booked there it is very hard to make a full assessment. We want to see scan reports, booking information, blood results, pregnancy details and info so far. Safeguarding often crops up with women who attend without notes.

babynelly - for some reason and lets have this baby has really tickled me

I'm going to adopt this laid-back phrase as my in-labour mantra

You should carry them all the time.

I got in trouble for this.

I'm so glad I asked now! Not an excuse but the midwife knows about my commute but never mentioned to carry my notes, clearly she thought I had some common sense.

Luckily it's been smooth sailing so far (apart from the morning sickness) so I've not been caught out yet.