Consultant led appointment

[carlyb]

Hi!

I have my first consultant meeting tomorrow and I am nervous. I have no idea why I am consultancy led...which makes me more nervous!

What can I expect to happen during this meeting?

Thanks Carly

I was consultant led because of preeclampsia in previous pregnancy. They didn't do much apart from discuss what would happen if I got it again, chances of getting it again and what extra monitoring I would get.

It'll really depend what you are consultant led for. Did they not tell you?

Hard to know without more details!

Do you have an existing medical condition? Thyroid, diabetes, blood pressure, previous pregnancy problems?

(Doctor)

How many weeks are you? Didn't midwives at your booking appointment give you an explanation of the care routes and why you are consultant led?

Hard to say what to expect if you haven't been given any info on why your consultant led but main difference between my MW and consultant appointments has been that there's more of a planning element/extra tests with the consultant appointment on top of the regular MW check ups.

I am currently pregnant and have been consultant lead due to my VTE (venous thrombosis) score being 3 due to age, weight and varicose vein.

The consultants were pretty useless to be fair, saw them twice and not once did they examine me or even ask me if I was okay. The midwife examined me 1st appointment but not 2nd. On my second visit the prescribed Tinzaparin for blood thinning and I have since been discharged back to midwife led care.

It's odd that you would have a consultant lead pregnancy and not know why. I have a meeting with a consultant to determine whether or not I will need a consultant lead. My sis has v mild spina bifida, but her kid was okay and we have different dad's. So could be that I'm okay x

I'm consultant led (25+3 today) but I'm having identical twins - my consultant is wonderful. Reassuring answers all my many questions and also tells me how well I'm doing! I see him every 2 weeks for scans and a general check up - they are monitoring my babies pretty closely as they share a placenta.

If you are seeing a consultant for something more routine (high bmi for example) it will be like a standard clinic appointment - they won't scan you it will just be to talk through risk factors.

If there are any complications with you or he baby you will have much closer and frequent contact with the consultant.

I was going to suggest it may be BMI related. I found out on Monday at my 12 week scan that I will need to see the consultant and this was the first I’d heard of it. Midwife at booking in never mentioned it. A friend of mine had the same thing with her DD. the first she learnt of it was when an appointment letter landed on her mat. From my understanding it’s just a meeting to to assess whether your pregnancy can be rated as low risk and therefore continue under midwife led care.

I'm consultant led due to previous pregnancy complications - low birth weight/preemie.

First appointment is a bit of a meet and greet usually, they will say hello, and go through you pregnancy plan, they'll make a plan for going forward - extra appointments, scans, tests etc. Answers any questions you have.

Mine did a scan today at our first appointment - though not really our first as we'd been seeing him for MC issues last year and also to have a private test done before Christmas. We already had all the extra stuff booked and had a plan, so the meeting was super short!

You could be consultant led for loads of different reasons, BMI, age, previous issues, health concerns, there may well be something in your notes to say why you've been referred. The consultant may only see you once, or see you early and then not again until late depending on what the issue is.

Don't panic though, it's an extra level of care, and you'll be able to ask anything you need to!

I find it strange that you can't think of a reason. Are you young, perfect weight, perfect health, not on any medicine, any previous births went perfect?

Hi @Hiphopopotamous,

The only things that I can think off is, I suffered a silent miscarriage in October 2017, I have suffered with endometriosis for about 10 years and I am also allergic to penicillin.
Everything else is ok as far as I understand.

X

Hi @Waitingonasmiley42
Nope....:she just ticked a few things and then said I'm going to refer you to a consultant. Which I was like ok great, I've then tried to speak to my midwife since and she has been signed off sick and don't really know who else to speak to at the moment!its my first so I am a bit lost!
X

@SnailorSwift, I'm now 22+3, I didn't really get any explanation of anything it's all been a bit of a mess so far...not seem the same midwife more than once, main midwife is now signed off work so I don't even know who my actual midwife is anymore!
I'll just go and see what happens...i know I'm not diabetic and my BMI was below 25 when I last saw the midwife.
The letters just don't say much do they and it's just something to worry about. X

@carlyb hopefully this meeting will put your mind at ease a bit! Horrible when you are left feeling in the dark.
I know it varies from one area to another but my notes have some useful information near the front about different risk factors - have you had a look in there for any clues?!

@SnailorSwift the most annoying thing is that the midwife had to do my notes on the new system....I was then told they would be printed off and given to me at the next meeting or sent to my home....they never appeared!!! ☹️
I'm sure I'll get some answers tomorrow! Fingers crossed!

Hope all goes ok today and you get some clarification!

How did you get on OP?

'm consultant led due to GD, Had my first session with him last week and got told I'll defo be induced. He was actually really nice and reassured me that it's not anything I have done to cause Gd and gave me all the available options to me. Have my next appointment with him next Friday and I'm hoping my GD shows that its becoming manageable.

It may be due to your endometriosis, I have had laproscopies due to suspected endo and have a lot of internal scar tissue and the consultant wanted to keep an eye on the existing scar tissue to make sure all was going ok whilst baby was growing, Hope all went well

Hi All,

It went well, she was lovely, looked through all my details and decided that I can go back to being midwife led. But she did say that if there are any further concerns I will be referred back.

Thanks all for your help and advice! Really appreciate it!

Carly x