Consultation referral - not referred (BMI related)

[Ilovethekitties]

Hi all,

I was told at my last midwife appointment at 34 weeks that I should have had a consultation letter sent to meet with someone about epidurals due to my BMI of 40.

I told her that she had not told me to expect one, and I haven't received it. I have been chasing this up since and the hospital today told me that the midwife never referred me and that's why it hadn't been arranged. The midwife at the hospital (not the one I have had throughout the process) said there probably wasn't much point now as I'm so far along (nearly 37 weeks). I am quite disappointed as this is my first baby and I'm terrified. I'm pretty annoyed at the midwife I normally see as I've been chasing her for weeks and she promised me she had sent the referral through and I have been communicating with the hospital and midwife and told them weekly that nothing has been received by me.

Has anyone had one of these appointments and know what they're about?

Hi there. It would likely be with an anaesthetist like me (and I’m high BMI so I had to have one myself recently for my current pregnancy). We do epidurals in high BMI ladies all the time and 40 isn’t particularly high for us. It gives us a chance to chat through that as you are a bit bigger an epidural might be more challenging- therefore if you wanted one asking a bit earlier in labour can be helpful. It’s also an opportunity to assess your airway should you need to come to theatre for any reason. Nothing major. You could still be seen if there are clinic spots though so not sure why they’ve said too late now?

@veganmedic I'm not sure either to be honest, I have another midwife appointment on Thursday so I'm going to discuss it then.

Thank you so much, that's so helpful!

I was consultant lead due to high bmi, extra growth scans and met with the anethertist to check I wasnt too fat to inject