Pregnancy GP appointment

[CheeseSammich]

I recently found out that I'm pregnant and was advised to contact my GP to make an appointment, so I called up and the receptionist said they don't give appointments for pregnancy but that she would book me in to see a midwife at 12 weeks. I'm around 4weeks 3days now so that's quite a while away for a first appointment surely?
I would have thought they'd want to confirm the pregnancy and make sure I'm doing everything right etc.. I'm new to this though so maybe this is normal?? could anyone tell me if this is correct?

Yeh unfortunately that’s the procedure. It does seem like a long wait till 12 weeks.

Congratulations on your pregnancy

It varies depending on where you are. I had to self refer to midwife. First appointment is usually around 8ish weeks with first scan at 11-14 weeks

This is normal. You'll likely see the midwife closer to 8 weeks for your booking in.

There isn't anything much to do at this stage. If you get any pain or bleeding though you should contact the GP.

Congrats on your pregnancy

they'll probably ring you at about 8 weeks to fill in all your forms over the phone

Our GP’s don’t see pregnant women, they are advised to self refer to the MW at 7 weeks, MW sends a booking in appointment but I believe the time can be between 10-12 weeks.
Congratulations.

Where I am they give you the number for the midwife and you self refer to them.

Usually you would have your booking in appointment with the midwife, due to coronavirus mine was over the phone and I had mine around 6/7 weeks, not sure what the normal for over places is though.

It does seem a long time to wait until the 12 weeks but nobody confirms your pregnancy before the 12 week scan, the booking in appointment is usually just questions about you and the dad, such as health questions and last period etc. It's not really anything that can't wait until the 12 week appointment though so that could be why they're doing it this way in your area. Main thing is that you take folic acid and vitamin D

Normal to see the midwife here as well. First pregnancy usually has a GP appointment around 25 weeks but not before unless a specific reason.

Totally normal. Albeit annoyingly.

With covid restrictions I had my booking in done at 12 week scan, it was a long appointment! But with previous pregnancies I had booking at 8 weeks and scan separately.

For doing things right you just need to google NHS pregnancy. If you have a high then you need to get the GP to prescribe a higher dose folic acid.

No one checks you are pregnant. Obviously the sonographer would notice at your scan.

GPs don't confirm your pregnancy. A lot of GPs don't even bother with appointments at all when you're pregnant.

Your first appointment is with the midwife, in the booking appointment. That is usually around 8 to 10 weeks

That was normal years ago as well. We never saw anyone until we'd missed 3 periods, then we had a pregnancy test. They couldn't do them before then, the tests weren't reliable before the 3 months. Obviously we all assumed we were pregnant anyway. But then we were seen every month for 6 months, then every 2 weeks for 2 months then weekly. This was for blood pressure, urine samples etc. But of course no scans, things have changed enormously since the 70s.

As others have said you will probably have a booking in appointment before the 12w scan, when it is done varies on how the midwives operate. Mine is being done at 6w but last time it was done at 9ish weeks I think.

Just take Folic acid everyday. you can get a private scan if you want reassurance

I had a booking appointment with midwife around 8 weeks, scan at 12 weeks, phone call at 16 weeks then 20 week scan. Have only started seeing midwife more regularly now I'm 3rd trimester. Haven't seen a GP at all. As pp said nhs website has lots of info. If you have a straightforward pregnancy you don't need too many appointments, although agree the wait until 12 week scan feels very long (esp if you're sick as a dog like I was).

I went on my local hospitals website on the maternity section their was a form for self-referral, filled in my details and was sent an instant reply to email with info and advice and said I will get a response/ booking appointment date within 10 days. (My last booking appointment was around 9 weeks )

Self referral to midwives here too, booking in appointment is between 8-10 weeks usually. No need to have your pregnancy confirmed, the test you do at home is the same as a GP would use, they would take a positive on those as a positive. For everything else the NHS website has it all.

Completely normal. Where I am based, a booking appointment is arranged via GP and community midwives at around 10 wks, but since covid it's combined with your first scan at 12 weeks or done over the phone.

What do you expect them to confirm? You already know you're pregnant?

NHS website re pregnancy has lots of useful advice re what foods to avoid and generally some pregnancy tips. There's a wealth of knowledge online too, from reliable sources and also fora like MN where experiences can be exchanged.

Thank you all, I'm glad to hear that it's normal! Just seemed like such a long time!! And always thought everyone needed a doctors appointment when they found out.. not sure why! Thank you!

OP definitely recommend you check your local hospital maternity dept website and see if you can self refer- my booking appointments have both been with the hospital itself and they then book the scan. I won’t see my community midwife until 16 weeks.

Congratulations on your pregnancies. The GPs don’t confirm the pregnancy because home pregnancy tests are now so good. I had my first midwife appt at 10 weeks, scan at 12 weeks and then the next appointment after that will be 16 weeks.

I just self referred online at our local hospital (the midwives aren’t even in our GPs surgery anymore having been kicked out when Covid hit in March!) If you have any problems relating to your pregnancy, bleeding or pain, call your midwife.