Midwife Appointments and time off work when they don't know you are expecting

[paddingtonbear26]

Hello! New round here. I'm due my second baby in the summer. First time round I was working for a small local business where I picked my days each week so could easily just not work days when I had a midwife appointment early on (before telling people I was expecting). This time round I'm working full time for NHS. I just started working for them and have just said I need a morning off for an unspecified hospital appointment, I've been told to submit a special leave request for the morning (when the appointment is and apply for annual leave for the rest of the day as its a training day) is this right? Would it be different if they knew it was for a midwife appointment and if so should I tell them that's what it is? Don't really think I should be having to use leave for something like this.
THANKS!!!

you are legally allowed paid time off for antenatal appointments however, this is from the Gov.uk website
"Employees cannot take time off for antenatal appointments until they’ve told the employer about the pregnancy."

@wimbler is correct, you are legally allowed time off for antenatal appointments but you do have to tell them. Also, if you work for the nhs, its likely they will want to do a risk assessment for you to see if you need any reasonable adjustments. Im a civil servant but told my manager at 7 weeks as my morning sickness was very bad and it meant we could put some alternative arrangements in place in terms of flexible working (i basically started a bit later, took a break in the afternoon and worked a bit later to make up the time).

If it’s a booking-in appointment you must be 9-10 weeks. Most people would disclose the pregnancy confidentially to their line manager. You are entitled to time for antenatal appointments. You certainly shouldn’t need to use annual leave.

Once your employer knows you're pregnant you should be able to take paid time off but depending on the timing of the appointment I'd expect you'd need to take some leave if you want the whole day off. Unless it's some all day / long appointment. Basically in my workplace you'd be expected to return to work following a medical appointment unless you had booked planned leave

There aren't that many appointments early on, if you really don't want to say, use the special leave form and work the afternoon. You are entitled to the time of your appointments but not the full day. If you want more time maybe taking annual leave will suit you better.