Do I really just sit and wait for a month for the midwife to contact me?

[Crayzee]

I am 4+1 and this is my first pregnancy. I called the GP to notify them I have had a positive pregnancy test and asked what the next steps were. They said they will refer me to the midwife and she will get in touch with me (they couldn't confirm if it was via post or the phone), and that it will be around the 8 week mark. Is this normal practice? I am surprised that I am just being left for 4 weeks and I am concerned that I may miss something vital that I should/could be doing during this time?

Aureum didn't your GP give you that advice when you first told them you were pregnant?
No. I just got told to go home and wait for the midwife to contact me in a couple of months. At the very least there should have been a leaflet or an information pack or something!

@aureum but all that information is online nowadays....surely people look online or on nhs website.

It’s stupid to rely on people googling medical info and finding out for themselves. Websites can be wrong or outdated. People might not be capable of finding the info by themselves. The NHS should ensure that everyone is provided with accurate and up to date info that covers all of the necessary points.

They dont need to confirm pregnancy as the tests they use are the same quality as the ones you can buy.

Congratulations OP. Take pregnancy multi vitamins, follow NHS advice re food and drink to avoid and limit - and try to stay calm

@Aureum or you could look it up. You can post on MN, I'm sure you could Google NHS pregnancy guides

The NHS website is really clear. It is not unreasonable to expect women to have a look at it: www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/

@robarc please chase your appointment- your scan needs to be done by 13+6 in order to get an accurate nuchal measurement.

@Aureum pretty sure the nhs website is kept up to date.

@robarc you should chase that, there is a window for the scan.

@EstebanTheMagnificent Not sure if I have correctly tagged you back to respond, still learning the ropes of using this!

I have rang previously to ask when i would be getting my letter and they said between 12 & 14 weeks! Running home after work every day to check the post!!

It’s completely normal timing but if you have any medical conditions you may need to get in touch with the relevant specialist. I have diabetes and needed to be seen but diabetes nurse immediately

@Aureum you could also grab a leaflet from your nearest doctors or family planing Centre. Not rocket science. You could also have made an appointment to see your gp sooner if you needed advice. Who did you want to tell you these things? The receptionist in the doctors surgery? If you are going to have a baby, you might need to take some initiative.

I went to my GP who said I'd be referred to a midwife and was to wait for a letter but it never came. I did get invited for my first scan at 12 or 13 weeks, at which point it was discovered that I'd been missed somehow and I had a (I think it's called) "booking in" appointment with the midwives on that day.

The place where I had my scans and those appointments (maternity clinic maybe) told me you can self refer, so might be worth giving a call to your local one and finding out what their process is, or just to make sure the gp did pass on your info. Tbf I'm not sure how common it is to be lost/forgotten or whether I was just unlucky, but if I got pregnant again I'd definitely self refer. I saw a pp said a midwife will come to your house, but in my area you always saw them at the clinic place, they didn't do home visits (except for one a few weeks after the birth), so I suppose it depends on which health authority you're under.

Good luck and congrats on your pregnancy!

As if anyone thinks every pregnant woman should have a midwife appointment to be told what they shouldn’t eat 😳 either google it, or go in to your gp surgery or hospital and get a leaflet if you really can’t do that..
Before the booking appt theres nothing the midwife can do do really. Nothing to see, not much to check... it’s a weird time!

Thanks for posting this OP, I've been wondering myself what I was supposed to be doing now! I just presumed I would have to get a blood test to confirm and was confused when the self referral form said they would contact me within 2 weeks!

Don’t expect too much from the apppintment either: mine told me that broccoli wad healthy and chocolate not do much; that pregnancy was magical; and that I shouldn’t travel to forrin countries, well, like Africa