Getting hold of a midwife seems to be impossible?!

[Marty93]

Hello all.

Currently 5+5. I rang my GP yesterday to ask for a referral to a midwife. The receptionist was most unhelpful and said that there are no appointments to see a GP and I need to self refer to a midwife and gave me a number to call for my nearest community midwifery service. This is fine and I don't mind doing this, however the number I ring just constantly rings through to voicemail. I've left a message but had no response yet. I know it's only been a day but I am eager to get an appointment booked - the nausea has just started to kick in and I fear I may need to tell my boss sooner rather than later about the pregnancy due to this. I am basically looking for some reassurance, has anyone else had problems getting their initial appointments with a midwife?? TIA x

You don't need to worry about seeing a midwife. They will get back to you. you are not even 6 weeks yet.

As for Audra. A midwife can't prescribe any medication anyway so it would be a GP you need to see. A GP would also give you a sick note if needed. A midwife doesn't do this.

You won't be seeing a MW til 11-12 weeks - see the GP if you need medical help with nausea.

The midwives do antenatal and post natal clinics as well as home visits so aren’t always in the office, so respond to messages when they’re in the office.

Your first appointment will be your booking in appointment and takes an hour or so. Midwives can’t prescribe anti sickness medication or give you a fit note that has to be done via your GP, your midwife however can give you your Matb1 form at 20 weeks for you to give to your employer. If you have any issues in your pregnancy you need to either see your GP or contact nhs 111 for advice, unless it’s heavy bleeding which you should go to A&E.

Here is a list of the scheduled antenatal appointments and an outline of what is discussed at each.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/antenatal-midwife-care-pregnant/

Not true @redstapler it varies hugely area to area! My booking in was at 6+1 and second MW appointment was at 15 weeks.

@Marty93 have a look on the website for your NHS trust - often there is a form for self referral on there. In my area you have to go via GP to see MW but if you don't have a GP or are having difficulty there is an online form - so I'd try that.

@Megan2018 each trust does work differently, however they following NICE guidelines with regards to the antenatal appointment schedule give or take a week or so depending on midwife availability.

They probably aren't in a rush to see you as you're still early on. I phoned about the same time and had to wait 2 weeks to make an appointment as my GP was moving. They weren't concerned at all.

@chickhonhoneybabe my post was specifically to do with the referral process and the fact that it is untrue that you don't see a midwife until 11-12 weeks.

Echo others that you won't be on the urgent call back list.... round here your booking in appointment isn't until 8-10 weeks. The midwife that covers my area only works 2 days a week so I had to wait for a day she was working for a call back. Took just under a week

However once in the system I have a list of mobile numbers as they are a team and one of them is always on call

It's going to be a really long 9 months for you if you think the receptionist was being unhelpful for pointing out the correct referral process rather than letting you book a pointless GP appointment, and can't wait more than 24 hours for an overstretched service yo get back to you.

You can tell work whenever you like, the midwife won't officially confirm your pregnancy they just take your word for it until the 12 week scan.

Midwives are very busy people and it’s not an urgent query. In our area booking appointments are around 8 to 10 weeks.

You don’t need to see your midwife before you tell your boss that your pregnant. If you want to tell them now then you can.

Community midwifes are normally available to answer ‘quirky’ questions that you don’t mind waiting a few days for, if you think you are ill or have an infection eg UTI then you contact your GP and for urgent medical issues relating pregnancy eg bleeding or suspected premature labour then you contact maternity triage at the hospital where there are midwives on duty 24/7.

Tell your boss if you want. There no point in a midwife appointment yet, you've barely skipped a period.

I understand you want to get the ball rolling and you will. Just give it a couple of weeks.

To be fair to the community midwives, they may well be based in different community clinics, children’s centres or GP surgeries on a daily basis. Their central phone is probably manned by an administrator who takes the details of messages left and passes them on to the midwives who, in turn, organise their own appointments around what is already booked for them. It’s likely the midwife will get in touch later in the week if the one for your area is working (they may be on leave or training in which case it will take a bit longer). They like to see you around 8-11 weeks pregnant so there’s plenty of time still for them to get in touch before you are behind being on track.

I am also five weeks and can't get through to the midwives... I have been told it might take at least a couple of days to hear back from them, so I wouldn't worry. It was definitely a lot easier than this last time though and that was only two years ago! Maybe I got lucky that time

The NHS website says that some screening tests need to be done before 10 weeks, so I would definitely hope to see someone before then

As long as you book in the next few weeks, you'll be fine, so the hospital can book you in for the 12week scan.

I would probably hold back on telling your boss for as long as possible, depending on your job. Nausea/sickness is awful but it can go on for some time... unfortunately, a lot of resilience is needed in the first 14 weeks.

Midwives in our area won’t complete booking in appt until between 8-10 weeks. Before that if you have concerns you go via GP but they don’t really do much for any concerns before 7ish weeks either.

@froot it's only blood/urine tests at your booking in. Not massively time sensitive if they are done late. They like to pick up on problems early and also have a bench mark on what's normal for you.

They will prioritize women who are 8-12 weeks. In some areas, including mine, they won’t even see you unless you are 8 weeks along as a minimum. Just be patient and follow up next week if there’s no response.

@Megan2018 it’s not untrue that you may not see a midwife until 12 weeks. NICE guidance states that the booking in appointment is from 8-12 weeks, however yes each trust is different but it usually depends on midwife availability when women get there appointment, so it can be earlier or slightly later than the recommended 8-12 week timescale. However its recommenced to have it before 10 weeks as one of the booking in blood tests can’t be done after that.

What is it you would like to ask them? Realistically there isn't anything a midwife will do for you or tell you at this point that you can't look up on NHS maternity pages. It's unlikely that they will book you in to see them for another 3-5 weeks.

I referred my details at 4 weeks at the GPs for the MWs and didn’t hear anything for 3 weeks, rang community hub and I was in the system. Spoke to a midwife then and had my booking in appt last Friday at 8+1 so I wouldn’t worry about waiting a while as it is normal.

My booking in appointment was the day before I was 12 weeks, the midwife told me that I should get a prescription for aspirin and double dose of folic acid to take for the whole of the first trimester.
The consultant who dealt with my later complications was a bit cross with the system that caused it...

@chickhonhoneybabe
The poster said "you won't" - this is untrue. Why do you have such an issue?!

You may not get a response for a little while. As you can see from previous posts it does vary.

In my personal experience, I normally get a call from the midwives between 7 and 8 weeks, and my first appointments have always been 10+ weeks. As long as you have left your name and number, give it a week or 2 and then chase them up.

There's no reason why you can't tell your boss before you have seen a midwife, and any health queries including problems with nausea can be dealt with by your GP.

If you haven't already, I recommend looking at the pregnancy pages on the NHS website. It has some useful information on there.

Hi all.

Feel better knowing I'm probably just being impatient ! With it being my first pregnancy I feel a bit in the dark and have no idea what I'm doing. Now I know not to expect any contact for a few weeks I'll sit back and relax lol.

@Megan2018 I don’t have an issue! You said it was untrue, I pointed out that it’s not an uncommon scenario to have it around that time that’s all.