Is the 16 week midwife appointment necessary to attend in person?

[GBBO45]

I am 14 weeks and I am contemplating asking my midwife if my 16 week appointment can be had over the phone. I only want to leave the house if absolutely necessary due to Coronavirus, and just wondered what the 16 week appointment entails, and if I can in fact have it over the phone?

I had my 16 wk appointment last week and it was held over the phone at their request. She just wanted to introduce herself and answer any questions I might have. I'd recommend making a list of the things you want to ask beforehand so you don't forget anything.

Chances are she will call you closer to the date to tell you that it will be over the phone. Mine was bloods and urine tests, she did listen to the babies heartbeat too.

I had mine today and there was no waiting,lots of hand gel available and the midwife wore the protective PPE (mask, apron and gloves) took a wee sample, blood pressure and listened to the baby's heart beat. It all seemed very organised and safe

I had mines 2 weeks ago and only had blood pressure and urine checked. Didnt get to hear babies heartbeat and didnt get my whooping cough vaccine either. My next app is going to be done over the phone.

@LoveRainbow02 whooping cough is given after 20 weeks, so hopefully they will sort for you next time x

@LoveRainbow02 my midwife didn't do my whooping cough vaccine I had to arrange it with the practice nurse at my GP. I didn't hear my baby's heartbeat until 25 week appointment.

Same as above, just urine sample and blood pressure.
Didn’t get to hear the heartbeat, she said she could try but could be difficult to hear that early, so I thought I’d rather not try as didn’t want to be worried if she couldn’t hear it.
That was it, I was out in less than 10 mins, not worth the trip unless you have some issue you need to discuss in person..

My midwife told me at my 8 week appointment (3 weeks ago) that my 16 week appointment will be over the phone. They might ring you up closer to the time to tell you it's over the phone.
BTW previous posts, I read up on alcohol jel, and it isn't recommended for pregnant ladies as they don't know the risks!!

In my area of England they have cancelled the 16 week appointment

I had mine over the phone, they then did the urine test and blood pressure at the same time as my 20 week scan

I'm in Northern Ireland and had a call on Friday to say my 16 week appointment is cancelled and did I have any questions. She was very nice, said I wasn't missing much as they don't listen to the heartbeat. She said 28 weeks onwards I'll have appointments which are important. I had my whooping cough vaccine the other week, my doctors surgery makes people wait in their cars until they're ready for them and it's one at a time, they also had every door open so I didn't have to touch anything. I've also had my 20 week scan changed to a different hospital, now about 20 minutes away rather than 5 minutes with DH unable to attend although they have said I can FaceTime him during the appointment so he can find out the gender with me

I was due to have my 16 week appointment over the phone today but I didn’t receive a call. I tried to phone my midwife after about an hour but it went straight to voicemail and I can’t leave a message. This is my first pregnancy so I’m not sure what I need to do or even if I need to do anything about this?

I am very wary of the fact that things are nowhere near normal at the minute, that loads of people are having appointments cancelled and healthcare professionals are having to deal with something they’ve never had to before but as this is my first pregnancy it is quite daunting and I feel quite alone in it all.

I had mine in person just before things kicked off. I had been in a nasty car accident a few days earlier so was relieved to hear a healthy heartbeat (a & e refused to check grr!)
I got my shopping cough vaccine at the appointment but you can get that later.
Everything else could easily have been covered by a phone call.
I would prepare any questions in advance, I was almost caught off guard by my consultant appointment last week, they did a prescreening call a few days before my appointment to see if it was necessary for me to be seen in person or if a call was adequate. I had done some question prep that morning thankfully so the prescreening call became my appointment. Had I not prepared in advance I probably would have missed a question or two.

Ah! Whooping cough not shopping cough!