Question about booking scans and appointments

[sel2223]

Hi Everyone,

By my LMP, I think I'm 11+2.

I telephoned my GP when I first found out I was pregnant and was told by the receptionist to just fill a form in and self refer to the local maternity unit for a booking in appt which I did. I didn't see the GP or community midwife.

I had my booking in appt nearly 2 weeks ago which was done by an assistant not a midwife who was lovely but not the most knowledgeable or informative. The appt was at a different hospital to where I'll have my scans and give birth as it's a midwife led unit and I'm high risk so will be consultant led.

Anyway, the booking in appt was kind of overwhelming and a bit of a blur to be honest and I'm not sure what I'm meant to do next. She took bloods/urine etc and gave me the booklet to take away with me and I thought she said I'll get an appointment for a dating scan through the post but It's been nearly 2 weeks and I'm now over 11 weeks and I haven't heard anything. I'm sure she also said to just call the GP to make a 16 week appointment with the community midwife.

Should I be chasing the scan up? Who with?....the hospital where I'll have my scan? My GP? The community midwife? Is that right that I don't need to see the community midwife at all until i'm 16 weeks?

Also, as I was given my paperwork to take away with me, how do I then get referred to a consultant as high risk? Am I supposed to do that myself?

My sister was pregnant 7 years ago and seems to think she was in contact with the community midwife from the beginning and all the scans etc were booked by the CM. She's got me panicking now saying I might have slipped through the net and might end up being too late to get all the necessary tests done if there's a backlog.

Can anyone advise? X

I would call your community midwife and ask, the number should be on your notes. They will be able to check to see if you're in the system, and whether your scan is booked. You will need to book your 16 week appointment with them too, (and yes, this should be your next appointment after the scan) so you can do that at the same time. They will also refer you to the consultant as and when needed.

BTW I was high risk, but never saw a consultant as such, just had more appointments with the midwife and an extra scan. It depends on why you're high risk as to who you'll see and when but your community midwife is the first point of call for everything. Your notes should have a list of what appointments you will have and at what stage. It's up to you to book your midwife appointments, but if you need hospital appointments, scans etc, those will be made for you.

@katmarie thank you so much. I'll call the community midwife tomorrow.

The lady who did my booking in appt wrote the number on my notes with 'call to book 16 week appointment' next to it but nothing else so I didn't know i was supposed to call to arrange the scan and consultant referral as well.....i'm sure she said I'd get the appt through the post but i must have misunderstood. Now I'm panicking.

I'm pretty sure I'll have to physically see a consultant as I'm high risk due to several medical conditions.

I would call to ensure a scan has been booked in, you don’t want it to be late due to screening so that’s quite important. My booking appointment was with a community midwife who was really good but tbh it was also quite overwhelming and needed a few days to digest all the info. I received the scan appointment in the post within the week following the booking appointment. The next midwife appointment should be when you’re around 16 weeks x

@Annafs thank you for that! I'm definitely going to call tomorrow.

My sister said the same, her booking in appt was with a community midwife and she had a scan date within the week. It's been 2 weeks now since my appt so I'm going to have to chase it up.
I'm 37 so the screening tests are really important.

Your scan and consultant appointments will be booked for you op, I think you misread what I put. You need to book mw appointments but they will book hospital and scan appointments for you. As long as you're registered properly. Speak to the mw team tomorrow, I'm sure they will be able to reassure you.

@katmarie I did misread that, sorry. I know I have to call to book the 16 week appointment, I'm just concerned the scan and referral to consultant might not have been done.

I think with the community midwife being in a separate place to the booking in appt and that being at a different hospital to the one I'll actually have my scans and give birth in, I'm worried incase I've slipped through the net. I expected an appointment letter through by now although it could just be a backlog causing a slight delay.

Speaking to my sister has made me more anxious as she spoke to the CM from the beginning and all scans were booked through her.

I'm going to ring the CM tomorrow anyway and just double check I'm on the system and all is in hand x

I wouldnt worry about location too much, community midwives operate out of a central base but travel all over and have links with all the local hospitals, gp practices etc. For example, during my last pregnancy I saw my community midwives at the consultant unit, one of the midwife led units, my gp surgery, another gp surgery, and a childrens centre. All the same team, and they all had access to my notes. It just depended where they were on what day, and what I was seeing them for. The only place I didn't see them was in the ward after I gave birth!

@katmarie yeah, I understand that. It was more if I'd got lost in the system from booking in if you get what I mean.
I've had no contact with the CM yet and I'm not 100% convinced the assistant doing the booking in has referred me properly (I was her first ever solo appt).
She seemed flustered that I needed to be referred and would be giving birth elsewhere....She filled in the wrong booklet in for example so I now have 2 and she wrote the incorrect bmi down twice (as in a difference of 10 so.pretty significant)

It may be fine and I'm worrying about nothing, it's just with not hearing anything and time ticking, I've started panicking a bit lol.