Have you been to antenatal appointment in hospital recently?

[NewMumSooon]

I'm in 3rd trimester and got a number of midwife appointments soon. I'm having some specialist care so this needs to be in hospital and not done at home or at another centre. I'm nervous as I also have a respiratory condition. My hospital is a big teaching hospital in London.

I just wondered if anyone has been to their antenatal appointments in hospital this last week or so and what it was like? Eg what were the conditions in the hospital, were the midwives wearing masks, did you socially distance? Was the hospital busy in the corridors etc?

Sorry if these are silly / insensitive questions. Just trying to get an idea of what to expect.

I'm 28w and went to hospital for Anti D on Monday. Small city in the Midlands so not London. They have stopped all visits except for palliative care & birth partners so hospital was deserted. Have to attend all appointments alone.

Security on door (no masks), v few seats in waiting room, only 3 other women there, barrier to make you stand back from reception, all doors propped open, sanitizer on reception desk, midwife herself wore a mask & I think they cleaned in between as I was waiting ages. I was really anxious but it was fine.

Went for a scan last week, waiting room had about 3 other people in, mainly women with their maternity notes. Chairs set up so you couldn't sit near anyone else. Line on floor to stop you going to the reception desk. The sonographer had a mask and gloves, and the appointment was an hour late as she has to sanitise the room thoroughly between appointments. Then I went upstairs for a blood test in antenatal clinic and it was deserted except for staff, none wearing masks or other ppe though. I didn't feel any less safe than I do in a shop at the moment to be honest although appreciate your extra worries with an additional condition. Good luck!

I had my 20 week scan at Kings in Denmark Hill this week. You had to stand back at reception and answer questions about any symptoms then use anti bac and were allowed through. I noticed a cleaner circulating, wiping handrails etc but otherwise it was business as usual as they ordinarily wash hands frequently etc. I made sure I washed hands a couple of times between changing rooms and there was anti bac gel on various counters.

Similar to others. Security at the door (friendly!) who advised my husband to wait outside whilst I went for scan. Handwash stations as you came in. In the scan area there was a plastic screen up in front of reception and everyone was sitting 4 seats apart as instructed.
My sonographer had a mask and gloves on.
All in all wasn't overly different, all the other mum's to be were all smiling at each other more than usual which was nice and also, obviously, it was a lot quieter than I've ever seen it.

@LTofBR3 Were partners allowed at King's? I have my 20 week scan in a few weeks.

@LTofBR3
@London91

I would love to know this too! Also have my 20 week scan at King's in May and not heard anything from the hospital apart from stopping home births.

Also, for both of you, if you are seen by the community midwives at King's, did they still do a home visit for the 16 week appointment?
Thanks

I've been up for an antenatal appointment and GTT in the past few weeks. I've never seen the maternity unit so quiet! Staff weren't wearing masks at that point, but social distancing being observed in the waiting areas (seats taped off to keep everyone apart) and staff clearly practising good hygiene. Partners not allowed to attend for appointments. I'm back tomorrow for my anti-D injection, so will be interesting to see if anything has changed since.

Hi - yes partners currently allowed to attend the scan and be in the room. We called up a few days beforehand to check so might be worth doing that particularly if the govt guidance changes. They are posting a bit on twitter but more about maternity wards (one named birthing partner only, no visitors to wards).
Afraid my midwife appointments aren't at Kings, only scans, so I'm not sure about those.

I had a scan in a Midlands hospital last week. No partners/kids allowed in, just mothers who all sat a seat apart in waiting room but bar that no other measures were implemented.

Staff were not wearing PPE, sonographer wasn't either, and no social distancing either eg midwife and consultant interacting with patients as before (2 metre rule not being implemented).

I was surprised as I later went to Tesco's for supplies and they were more stringent with social distancing than my hospital was!

Also the hospital pharmacy had an exit door you could only open by pressing a button.

In the space of an hour that I was waiting for my prescription, over a dozen people pressed this button. I was bewildered that this door was not propped open to stop people repeatedly touching this button and thus avoid possible contamination.

And then I had to exit the pharmacy using the same method....

I went for a growth scan on Monday and my 28 week appointment today (at the hospital as my GPs is closed). I was the only one there on Monday and just a few there today - it's normally much busier. A lot of the chairs had tape across to stop people sitting too closely together. It was a bit surreal. Glad they've turned BBC News 24 off the telly. Was there for 2 hours last week for a glucose test and it was just doing everyone's heads in.

Oh and no one had masks on. You had to come alone. I was given photos from Monday's growth scan for DP.

I've been at Guys a lot lately. It has been really quiet over the last ten days and more so every time I go in. No visitors allowed and all non-essential appointments in the hospital itself being cancelled means there is hardly anyone there. The maternity assesment unit has been really quiet, as have the antenatal clinics I've been to as they're doing as much as possible over the phone.

You're asked to wash your hands at the beginning of the appointment and there is a lot if antibac around for patient use. Chairs in the waiting room are spaced to minimise contact. For the first time on Monday the sonographer was wearing a mask and gloves, they weren't last week.

To be honest it feels a little eerie just because it is quite different to the usual bustling hospital but I felt pretty safe and they are doing their best to minimise the risks.

Hospital corridors empty didn’t see a soul! Midwives weren’t wearing masks. Was asked to wash hands at beginning of appt. Receptionists are behind a screen anyway. Everything else was exactly the same, you wouldn’t have known. No partners.

@sunshinefordays I don't go to king's for my midwife appointments so I'm afraid I can't answer that.

Hi - yes partners currently allowed to attend the scan and be in the room.

Kings must be one of the only hospitals in the country still allowing partners in for scans. I find it surprising I must say.

@ncagainforfeb me too I'm jealous
I had a growth scan o n Tuesday and felt so shit about my husband being sat in the car park waiting he must of felt so shit but what can we do x

I had one at the start of the week. Like others have said, hospital extremely quiet. My trust are ringing people when it's their turn to come in, so you stay in your car until they call you. I didn't see a single other patient, and you go in through a back door. Partners not allowed!

Midwives weren't wearing PPE, but I wore my own and just took all possible precautions (sanitised and washed hands before getting in the car and again at home, clothes in the wash). Obviously you kind of can't socially distance yourself from midwives when you're being injected, measured etc.

Really didn't want to go in but it's a necessity - undetected pre-eclampsia or other conditions, issues with the baby etc. need to be picked up and could potentially be far worse than the slim chance of catching Covid when taking all precautions.

I've got growth scans coming up, think the process is the same for those.

I work at a London hospital, partners are still allowed for 12, 20 and fetal medicine scans. We’ve just been told we have to wear surgical masks, aprons and gloves in all clinical areas, prior to that it was if you (the clinician) wanted to (and prior to THAT it was “absolutely not unless you have tested positive patient”)

I went yesterday and there were no partners. When you went in you were asked if you'd been unwell and they took your temperature. There were signs to stay 2m apart. All the seats were sat apart. It was very busy though and the staff were in masks, gloves and aprons but overworked.
I ended up being there for 4 hours just because they had so many peoples blood to take.
Nobody is having face to face midwife appointments so they were testing everyone's blood pressure, urine and blood.

This was west midlands.

Hi - yes partners currently allowed to attend the scan and be in the room.

This advice is no longer correct according to a poster on another thread - Kings are not allowing partners to any scans. It did seem strange that they would be IMO!

I'm going to have to attend in person to check bloods, urine sample, check for pre-eclampsia etc. Getting nervous about the visit. No car in London so also nerve wracking just getting there. Hoping to speak on the phone this week to get some ideas about what to expect.

I went for a growth scan on Friday and it was rather surreal.
I had to attend on my own and there was security on the door asking if you had an appt. Every member of staff no matter who it was had gloves, plastic apron and a mask on. The sonographers/midwives also had the plastic shields covering their eyes and face mask too.
Every room I went in (reception, scan room etc) they asked me to wash my hands straight away before I did anything.
Chairs in waiting room were 2 metres apart and everyone kept their distance from each other in corridors etc. It wasnt that busy either.

I had an scan two days ago in a hospital in London. There were security guards downs stairs asking why I was coming to the hospital and they asked me from a distance about any symptoms of covid 19. Then I went to the clinic and only women allowed there but I got given a free picture to give my husband. Yes, social distancing (within reason) was practiced and they wore face masks. There were no students that l saw. That is it.