16 week consultant appointment

[cakesandphotos]

I have my first appointment with the consult tomorrow and I'm not sure what to expect. It's my first baby and as far as I know, the only reason I've been referred is because of my rheumatoid arthritis.

What do they normally do at these appointments? Will I need to see him more than once? Thanks

I had one appointment with a consultant at 16 weeks due to my 12 week scan showing I have a bicornuate uterus (also my first child). We literally saw her for 10 minutes and she was more than happy to transfer us back to midwife-led care. You might have a similar experience as I know it's not uncommon for people to flit between cons and midwife led (I'm 34 weeks now and hoping to stay midwife led as it's the only way to have a chance at a water birth for me!!) Hope your appointment goes well :)

I had one at 16 weeks too with the consultant and also one with the anaesthetist due to my bad shoulder and was discharged straight away back to the midwife led care once they realised it wasn't going to affect me giving birth. Hopefully yours will be similar. Hope it goes well.

Probably very little at 16 weeks , if they decide you need to stay con led the apps get a bit more detailed as you go on

My rheumatologist told me that my pregnancy won't affect my arthritis and my arthritis won't affect my pregnancy so I expect I might be the same as you @RedPanda25 I hope so anyway. I think if I'm under consultant care I can't delivery in my local hospital

I think the midwives just do the worst case scenario to make sure they've covered everything. Hopefully it'll be the same for you as well and you'll be able to give birth in your local hospital. Fingers crossed for you, let us know how you get on!

Didn't quite go as I'd hoped. My condition makes me high risk so no chance of delivering in my local but I suppose my health and baby's health is the most important thing

Oh no sorry to hear that! At least you'll be monitored closely though. What's the alternative place where you'll give birth like?

Sorry it didn't go how you hoped cakes
I was consultant led and high risk all the way through due to health and being old. It meant extra appointments and monitoring which was quite reassuring (if inconvenient) but I didn't experience any problems at all with the pregnancy or birth or afterwards.
Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy and don't worry - I'm sure you'll be fine!

@RedPanda25 the alternative is fab actually. Brand new hospital with private rooms and bathrooms. The only downside is that our local hospital is already a 20 minute drive away and the alternative is another 45/50 minutes further on so it's a bit of a trek. Also I was born in my local hospital (granted in a completely different building) and i wanted our baby to be born there too but that's probably a bit daft!

@shivermytimbers that's good to know the extra appointments are a pain, I work as a nanny so it's also an inconvenience for my boss with her job but it is what it is