Support from health services?!

[Twobecomingthreeplusthedog]

Hi all,

I am due my first next May so very early on in my pregnancy however I’m a little scared at the lack of support I have had from health care professionals and don’t know what to expect.

I called my doctors surgery and they said ‘because of covid we don’t do anything about pregnancy now, you need to ring the antenatal team, here’s the number’. I called said team and they told me to register online which I did. However it’s now been 10 days and no one has called me to book in my first appointment with a midwife.

I am on regular medication for anxiety (which thankfully I had already checked a year ago would be safe during pregnancy) however no one has reviewed what I am taking which I thought a doctors surgery would do?

Feeling a little bit lonely and not sure whether my expectations are unrealistic!

I also have anxiety and felt exactly the same as you earlier in pregnancy (I’m 27 weeks now). I’m afraid my experience has been that it feels like lots of time with very little attention (If you’re low risk), but nonetheless it’s at the level most women need and you and baby will be safe. I raised my anxiety at my booking appointment and it was noted but then I went onto babe very poor communication from midwives, hospital and GP until I eventually spoke to my named midwife at 18 weeks for the first time and she referred me to the antenatal clinic for ‘additional support’. This has just been one additional appointment that I didn’t even realise was in the mental health clinic as no questions about how I was feeling! There are specialist mental health midwives though that I wasn’t given contact details for until 24 weeks. I’d ask for support from those mental health midwives at your booking appointment plus push for additional support through the antenatal clinic. I would have been MUCH better if I’d had even minimally more contact at the start and in hindsight my mental health did not inform my care at all until I had to push much later. I’ve had a formal apology from my Trust as they were poorer than they should have been early (and I’ve moved Trust) but it’s really clear to me you have to be assertive and push for what you need or it easily doesn’t happen. I’m much better now and baby is completely fine and if I hadn’t had the terrible communication at the start it would have been much more manageable, but the level of support was definitely a lot less than I expected, particularly as most appointments are over the phone at the minute rather than in person. The NHS changed their guidelines this month though that all Trusts should be allowing you to take someone with you to appointments and scans so I’d definitely do that if you can. You’ll be fine and though it feels like not a lot of contact it is enough, and there are options to have more if they connect you to the mental health midwives or additional support through the antenatal clinic :)

Hi,
I felt very much the same, I am pregnant with my first, and also a very anxious person on medication for it.
I called my GP and was given the midwife team number which I then called. They didn't do anything other than book me in for an appointment at 8 weeks which felt like a lifetime when I was so nervous about what could go wrong.
We went for an early pregnancy scan privately at 6 weeks and saw the heartbeat, luckily, so I could tell parents and a few really close friends and get their support. I was very poorly in my first trimester and rationally I was telling myself that this was a good sign, but it doesn't stop the anxiety.
Sorry, there's nothing that anyone can really suggest other than if you wanted to book an early, private scan for reassurance and try to get support from someone you trust, but I thought it would be nice to know that a lot of people feel very similar to you, going into the unknown.

I don't suffer from anxiety and had my first a few months before lockdown, and I felt the same. My GP practice don't do anything maternity, they just gave me a number to ring for the maternity unit... Which kept ringing out and voicemail full. I didn't even have the address or alternative number to try etc.

First booking appointment was a few weeks later and they just sort of said you get on with it in the start then towards the end you'll likely have loads more involvement,which was true.

I regularly had to ask when the next appointment was/next steps and it was sort of like they expected me to know how it all works but hadn't bothered to explain and knew I was a ftm.

Midwives and care at the actual appointments etc were great, but not a very joined up service. I learned to advocate for myself a lot more during the whole process because if you don't, you won't get far imo.

How many weeks are you now? I booked a gp appointment as soon as I had my positive to discuss my medications and what to take/stop (basically: stop everything). Then the GP said the receptionist would book me an appointment with the midwife, the receptionist said no, call this number, I called the number and didn't get a response for days. Until I got to 8 weeks nobody was particularly interested.

I've just had my booking in and they discussed mental health during it. I felt the midwife was a bit dismissive of my mental health issues ("well, everyone has a bit of anxiety these days", despite being on medication and in therapy at the moment) but I do get a referral to specialist support.

If you're earlier than 8 weeks, try not to stress but maybe call them and check they got your referral. Good luck!

I've had a similar experience in Spain (I'm 7w with my first), they're not going out of the way to give you information at the moment. I had to insist to get my first midwife appt. I'm also on medication for anxiety, so I know how you feel.

Have you called the antenatal number again? I know it's difficult, but you might just have to be a bit more insistent.

A private scan isn't a bad idea, they're not very expensive. And you may find that the person who does it can at least tell you what appointments/care you should be getting.

Thank you both for such reassuring messages. I called the antenatal team this morning who said that they don’t normally book your first appointment until 10 weeks (I’m still not sure who should be doing a review of my current medication though?!) but that they had booked me in for an appointment and booked my 12 week scan and my letter was in the post so that reassured me a little. I have also booked a private scan for 2 weeks today which will make me 8 weeks. I wanted to book a 6 week one but read so many stories of babies not showing yet that I think it would make me worse!! Hoping the 8 week scan will make me feel more at ease that this is actually happening.

Thanks for the advice I will definitely be pushing for all the advice I can get. I have a hypnobirthing coach set up and ready for the new year and thinking of getting a doula too although not sure whether next May I’ll be allowed two people in labour with me!

We cross posted :) congratulations xx

Even before covid they didn't tend to do much until around the time of the first scan.

Its very normal to have little care at the beginning of pregnancy, their view on things is they can't do anything to stop things going wrong e.g. miscarriage so they advise you to make sure you're taking folic acid and eating well and then from 8-10 weeks they do the first appointment which is just a history appointment, after that you dont have another midwife appointment till 16 weeks (area dependent)...if you don't get a 16 week appointment it will be a 25 week appointment- also depending on what they are doing in your area your first few appointments may be on the phone, I'm currently 24 weeks pregnant and haven't seen my midwife once in person!

If your medication is safe for pregnancy then they probably won't change it, but will discuss this at your history appointment, if it was a problem they would have said to stop it when you've called to query

My point is that I haven’t called to query my medication, but having previously been on a medication that needs to be stopped as soon as pregnancy is realised, at what point would I have been advised to stop taking? I assumed this would be my doctor. I’m only hypothetically speaking but I find it quite scary that I could have taken a dangerous medication unknowingly up until I saw a midwife at 10 weeks. I appreciate we all have google etc so it’s unlikely this would happen but still surprises me that’s all.

Book an appointment with your GP, they'd be able to do a medicine review with you. Some pharmacies also offer this as well. I think because most medicines say "If you're pregnant, speak to your GP" in the little paperwork they expect you to be proactive, even if you've been on the medication for years and haven't read the paperwork in forever like me

Its poor in NHS Scotland and to be honest I dont think it's anything to do with Covid19!

So far I had to call a midwife line. They asked if it was my first then booked a telephone appt at 8 weeks and scan at 10 (meant to be 10 and 12 weeks but my LMP was long ago so estimates the wrong dates for me, but even after I explained they said they go by that anyways)

Now... nothing happens till that telephone consultation... As previous poster said its because theres nothing really they could do if things went wrong. I do think they should have done a quick "stop drinking and smoking, take folic acid" when I called though!

Makes a lot of sense. I’m the same, got prescribed levothyroxine and then took Sudafed when I had a cold, ended up in hospital with a near heart attack!!

I have seen one midwife face to face and am Just coming into my third trimester.

Research research research. Its a strange time for all

Completely agree although sometimes I think I research too much and scare myself silly I just feel sorry for all those people who don’t have the support round them or the ability to research like others. I assumed (wrongly) that there would be more support early on given that they say it’s a crucial stage.

NHS maternity services have always been poor!

I take medication and got approval prior to conceiving that it would be ok in pregnancy, the gp was happy to go with this. My history of mental illness meant my pregnancy was high risk so I was seen by the consultant after my 12 week scan who confirmed it was safe to continue taking and highlighted how important it was for me to keep taking it,

If you want extra reassurance I would phone the surgery back and ask to speak to a dr because you are concerned about your anxiety and your anxiety meds in pregnancy to see if that gets you past the receptionist. They are right for most people there is no need to see a GP but for some particularly those on medication or with pre-existing conditions might benefit from seeing them. I had my annual medication review at 6ish weeks and my GP put in the referral to the perinatal mh team so I was on their radar before I needed them.