GP receptionist won't give me an appointment

[Givemepickles]

First time pregnant and phoned GP this morning to let them know. The receptionist asked no questions but told me to self refer to my local hospital. Says I can't have a GP appointment til the New Year because they're only taking important calls at the moment.

I've done the referral and says it'll be 10 working days til I hear.

By new year I'll be 8 weeks pregnant before speaking to GP. I'm concerned about the medication I take and also thought in general the GP would want to check if I was taking vitamins and eating the right food etc. Is it normal to not see the GP til after 8 weeks? Does it matter? All new to this and confused already.

Your GP will have nothing to do with your pregnancy, it's all handled by midwives.

8 weeks before you see someone is (sadly) pretty normal.

If your concerned about medication I'd talk to a pharmacist and then try to get a GP appointment.

In terms of diet and food to avoid this is all easily Googled, the NHS website will be the best place for this. The only vitamin you need to take will a pre-natal one (pregnacare is good).

Congratulations!

Gps do not deal with pregnancy. If you got an app they would say congratulations and now ask receptionist for the midwives' number.

@MotherWilliam no they don’t get paid for antenatal care anymore. That contract was taken away from GPs many many years ago and patients are mean to liaise directly with community midwives for all antenatal care. If there’s a medical issue that arises during pregnancy, GPs will of course see you but not for any antenatal care

In my area you phone and book an appointment straight with the booking team, and then you get assigned a midwife (or go on the high risk team if needed)

Having had a baby pre covid and another during covid I'd also say manage your expectations about even seeing much of the midwives. During covid I first actually saw a midwife in person at 28 weeks. Was a high risk pregnancy but because of services being cut back during covid that wasn't identified until I actually saw a midwife.
You'll get the 12 and 20 week scans before then though so have some reassurance if they go smoothly.

Not entirely true @Redcart21. In my trust, FTM, and (as I've found out) those with previous pre-eclampsia, see their GP at 25, 30, and 34 weeks. Might be 38 weeks too, but I didn't get that far last time.

To confuse matters, in my first two pregnancies I self referred to the midwife. In this one I had to go through the GP first before they referred me. All very strange. Is it down to Covid? Is it due to not having enough community midwives? Both?

I didnt see a GP for my entire pregnancy! I self referred to midwife on the hospital website. They saw me for an initial visit then you have your first scan. Nothing much happens until the scan confirms everything.
I would say if youre worried about the medication try to get a phone appointment with GP, or contact the midwife department, there should be a non emergency number. Or pharmacy?

@dyra I assume you are seeing your GP for medical issues related to the pre eclampsia which fall outside the scope of practice of a midwife?

The OP is asking why she isn’t seeing her GP for general pregnancy wellbeing which is what midwife care is for.

Normal, with my last baby the first face to face I had with anyone was 12 week scan. Didn't see a gp at all throughout pregnancy

I agree that your first port of call should be a pharmacist. They are highly trained and will be able to let you know whether there are any known risks, and whether you need to see your GP about it. It doesn't have to be the one where you get your prescriptions, although when taking long term medication it is a good idea to build up a relationship with your main pharmacist/pharmacy team. Mine have been invaluable during the pandemic. Then you can call back to the surgery if need be saying that the pharmacist says I must speak to my GP within X hours/days (or whatever) about my medication in pregnancy. I would do this today if possible, or if not, tomorrow morning.

Do also contact the midwives/hospital ASAP too, and the 111 tip is also useful.

In general, I find that a good way to cut through this type of problem is to send an email for attention of your named doctor (or duty doctor if away) or even a written letter on paper. I find this cuts through any nonsense or long queue on the phone, and I invariably get sent an appointment time or a bit of information as the GP really has to respond if addressed directly (sometimes after I've had a standard reply to say "we don't deal with this via email requests"). I got this tip from someone else and it works a treat (at my surgery anyway) when used for genuine concerns that couldn't be dealt with by another healthcare provider.

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

No.

Going from my experience in my first pregnancy, where I also saw the GP at those weeks, it's exactly the same antenatal appointment I'd get with a midwife. Just with a GP. The only reason I'm getting them this time is to keep a closer eye on my BP.

I assume it's purely to take some of the strain off the community midwives.

I found and filled out a referral form online and was then contacted by my local midwives.

@Givemepickles don’t wait for them to get in touch - ask your gp surgery who your local midwife team is and then call them.