Early antenatal care- mc

[CalamityJune]

I've recently found out that I am pregnant. When TTC our first child I had two early mcs at 9 amd 8 weeks respectively. Both were symptomless for several weeks until I had some spotting.

My worry is that I really don't want to have any midwife appointments until I know that the pregnancy is viable. My employers will guess straightaway why I am suddenly needing time off for appointments and I'd rather they didn't know if i'm only going to miscarry any way.

The EPU were great last time and told me to ring as soon as I got pregnant and they would have me in for an early scan at 8 weeks. Thankfully that was a healthy pregnancy and so I understand that they wouldn't do that again, but it meant that at the time of booking in at 9 weeks, I knew that the baby had made it that far and was growing well.

Is there any way to put off the booking in appointment until after the 12 week scan, assuming I haven't had any issues by then?

Yes. I did that for my last 2 pregnancies

When I phoned the midwife to sort out a booking in appointment I just asked if I could have the scan first because of my history of miscarriage. They were fine with it and both times I had my scan at 12 weeks and my booking in appointment at 13 weeks.

You could also book a private scan before your booking in appointment.

It depends on your area. In mine the booking in appt is the only route to a 12 week scan. I would suggest telling your employer early on - all will count miscarriage related absences as pregnancy related provided they have been informed. You could just tell your manager and ask them to keep it confidential. I told mine at 8 weeks as I knew I’d need their support if the worst happened.

Thanks for the advice. It's good to know that they can be understanding with things like this, I'll check how it works in my trust.

I was worried it might flag me up as irresponsible for 'not engaging with services' or somesuch.

Yes, depends on your area. In mine I had to see the midwife before the 12-week scan, but agreed with her I wouldn’t have a full booking appointment, would just sign the scan paperwork and have bloods taken and then do the rest after scan if all was okay.

I've had a few miscarriages so have early scans around 6-8 weeks. My last pregnancy was healthy (currently toddling round the room!) and I'm not 25 weeks with 3rd baby but I was still given an early Scan by the epu this time just because of my history. It's ok worth calling them and asking.