Not happy about midwife appointments

[kittypower]

I'm feeling a bit unsettled by my midwife, I had my last appt with her when I was 26 weeks, which was bascially a 10 min check, I had the next appointment today and I am 35+4 and it again lasted about 10 mins max, I had some questions for her and she kind of breezed through them not really giving me a straight answer. Then at the end she said she would see me again at 40 weeks, I pointed out that surely I would have had the baby by then and that I would like more regular appointments between now and then with a bit more explanation each time as to what was going on and she said i could go to the doctor in between if I wanted to!! I just feel this is totally wrong and I should be seeing her more so she can keep an eye of what's going on, otherwise how does she does what position the baby is in between now and when I give birth etc etc. Am I being paranoid do you think?

XXX

Poor you, KP!!

When i was pg with DS (quite a few years ago) you would get to about 36 weeks and then have an appointment about once every 1-2 weeks, certainly not once a month! I know that these days the appointments are few and far between, but i agree they should be more frequent for you now.

Perhaps you should make an appointment with your GP at, say, 38 weeks just so you know how things are going?

Other than that, i dont really know what to suggest, other than complaining about her to her superiors or something?

Good luck!

Blimey,this sounds a bit off.
I had one every month from 3 mths and every week in last month.Get onto your GP.

I think you must have come across as very capable, and low risk.
There is nothing to stop you making an appointment earlier if you feel you need to see her about anything, but tbh I think you'll be fine!
If you think that she hasn't answered your questions properly then go and see her again and ask her to explain in more detail.

That really does not sound right, I think somebody posted a link to the NICE guidelines on the minumum antenatal appointments you are supposed to have. I will try and find it for you.

I'm sure somebody else will be along soon to help more.

Is it first baby?

www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=90542

hope that works!

that wasn't it, ignore me, will have another look

I don't think you are being paranoid.

I know that some people think that as much should be left to nature as possible but if you have worries and questions, these should be dealt with. At your point I was having a MW appointment every week and I had so many of the things I was sick of them.

Speak up!

I don't really know what else I can do, other than make regular appointments with my doctor and have him check me. I tried to push her as much as possible to give me more appointments but she wasn't budging! it was her manner as well, she just said randomly 'do you want you baby to have a Vit K injection at birth' but didn't tell me anything about the injection or what the side effects might be etc etc and when i pushed for info, gave me a leaflet to read! So i refused to decide until I had more information to make the decision on. I would have expected her to take me through the pros and cons! I'm just feeling a bit let down and scared about the whole thing now. Thank god I am going to NCT classes as without them I would have NO information at all about giving birth.
XX

Can you complaing to the head of midwifery? This probably isn't your midwife's fault as she may well only be following guidelines and likely has a huge number of women to see in a v short space of time, hence the 10 minute appts.

it doesnt sound right to me either kitty.

you should be checked every 1/2 weeks as they said here.

about the vitamin k... we learned about it through our nhs antenatal course. do they offer one in your area? it was basic but at the same time we learned lots of little things from labour stages to what to bring in your hospital bag, how to care for your newborn... vitamin k oral or injection... and it was for free. i reccomend it.

What's the Vit K injection for????

Kitty,

I have got a similar problem. My mw is always running 30 mins late then i am out in 10mins. My last two appointments have been with different mw's there has been times when half way through the appointment another one turns up and they start talking as if i'm not there. I have had to have extra scans at the hospital due to low fluid levels around the baby but mw's don;t seem interested. I feel all the appointments have been a total waste of time have been getting better care and attention when in the hospital and seeing 3 different people at each visit.

I know the mw's are short staffed but don't feel that is a excuse for treating me like a cow!!!!

doesn't sound right - you should have an appointment around 38 weeks - give them a ring.

Vit K help blood clotting www.womens-health.co.uk/vitk.asp

here are the NICE guidelines

Kittypower I really think you should speak with your gp about this because the norm seems to be appts every 2 weeks or so as soon as you hit 32 weeks and then every week in the last couple of weeks.

I have sympathy with you because at my 32 week appt I had to wait for an hour and 15 mins over the appt time I had made and then like you I was in and out in 10 mins. She forgot to ask for my urine sample (admittedly I forgot to remind her but kind of feel I shouldn't have to?) and told me that my abdomen was too hard to conclusively decide which way round the baby was. At 32 weeks one presumes most abdomens are pretty firm.

I rang her yesterday and had to leave a message as I had a dreadful dizzy spell on the train (nearly blacked out 3 times despite actually being seated) and then threw up everywhere. I went home and recovered but wanted to speak to midwife to see if this was common or not and what I could do (I had eaten breakfast) to stop it happening again and she still hasn't rung me back. When I go into labour who do I ring exactly because she almost certainly won't answer????

Like you, if it wasn't for the NCT I'd feel pretty stranded tbh. Good luck xxx

are you stuck with her because she's the only one who attends at your doctor's surgery? if not, change your midwife. it can be done.

overwork is not an acceptable reason for substandard care.

you deserve better. good luck

Pennypops, its a bit unusual to blackout although I did in my last two weeks whilst sitting down and I threw up. I suggest you get your BP checked and take it easy with your feet up!

Kittypower, its never too late to ask for another midwife.... This is your precious baby and your health you are talking about, you need to feel confident.

I'm a student mw and in my experience 10 min appts are pretty standard, having said that the mw always takes time to answer questions etc ( while stressing about the other women sat fuming in the waiting room!) However, your mw isn't following the NICE guidelines (and that's all they are of course) but perhaps that's what they do in your trust, and it isn't just her. It's hard though when it's your first baby as you want to feel loved and cherished and most midwives can't offer this service for various reasons. Put your mind at rest and think that (apart from a breech or transverse) it doesn't really matter what position the baby is in until labour actually starts and the GP can check BP and urine and listen to the heartbeat if s/he gets enough practice! in the meantime. Bad practice and taking risks with safety are the inevitable consequences of the freeze on recruitment we are experiencing and the subsequent squeeze on existing resources. Everyone complain to their MP please!

pennypops just read your post - please speak to someone to have your BP checked just in case! Also, it isn't always possible to feel which way round the baby is ( believe me!)which is why some women only find out the baby is breech in labour!

I am 28 weeks pregnant no with my second. With my first I felt that I was just left to it, just went to the hospital every 4 weeks. I feel I am getting better treatment with this one. (I have moved house since last pregnancy)

I had scans at the hospital at 12 & 22 weeks and have seen my midwife every 4 weeks. The last time was Thursday last week. From 28 weeks they make it fortnightly appointments, so my next appointment is at 20 weeks when I will have more bloods taken. I have another scan booked at 36 weeks as my placenta was covering the cerix at the last scan, so they will check it has moved.

If I were you KP, I would complain about your treatment as it certainly does not sound right to me. It is her job NOT your doctors to put your mind at rest and answer all the questions that you have.

Didn't mean to suggest this was appropriate levels of care at all, it's certainly not how we are trained to treat women by any means! Complain to the supervisor of midwives or ask to see someone else! Good luck!

Hi Kitty - from what I can tell midwifery care varies a huge amount from place to place. I had my last appointment at 32 weeks and won't see the midwife again until nearly 37. And then the next appointment is 40 weeks.

Like you I do feel a bit abandoned and also really pissed off - I'm paying into the bloody NHS so why should I get such crap care compared to women who are seen every TWO WEEKS or EVERY WEEK!!!! (sorry, that was a bit of a rant!)

Unfortunately there is often a difference between what NICE guidlines say you SHOULD get and the care that you actually DO get.

Because of the area of Scotland I live in I also only get one scan (12 weeks). That's it. No other scans unless they think something is wrong.

The only consolation you can take is that if you aren't being seen very much it almost certainly means that your midwife thinks you have a very low risk straightforward pregnancy. But it's really important that you feel comfortable with the level of care you are receiving, so I'd talk to my GP if I were you and ask for an extra appointment.

Sorry I feel like I've hijacked a bit here - will get bp checked - thought was prob just a funny 5 minutes but it won't do any harm to be sure. Thanks all xx