Qualify for NHS consultant led maternity care

[tiantian1005]

I am currently with a private midwife led maternity care but they already mentioned I might need to transfer to consultant led so I am wondering whether I would qualify for NHS consultant care - I didnt contact NHS yet about this pregnancy so hopefully will get some info here.

natural pregnancy (hopefully for our 1st), 39YO by the time baby is due, 1 MMC and 1 CP, no other medical condition very fit and healthy

does NHS have a cut off age by how old you would need to go under consultant care even if the pregnancy itself is low risk?

Not sure whether age meets criteria, but I'm under consultant care and they operate a 'triage' kind of system so will look at the information sent with the referral and decide. I heard back just under 2 weeks later, and they wanted me straight on aspirin at 12 weeks so if you're not in the very early stages then I'd try to get it sorted ASAP.

I don't understand the question sorry? There's no cut off age where you'd be classed as to old for Consultant care but it's not a guaranteed thing, have your midwives explained why they want Consultant led? Is it just due to your age?

It doesn't sound like you have any factors that would automatically put you under consultant led care. What are you
Midwife's concerns?

You’ll have to inform the NHS at some point. If your delivery doesn’t go as expected I take it it will be the NHS dealing with the outcome? Private maternity care only goes so far and is only really suitable for very low risk and straightforward pregnancies/births.

At 39, you are old for a first time mum, and more likely to need a c-section. I don’t know if this in itself would need consultant care but you need to contact your local NHS midwife and talk it through with them.

My local trust would only put you into consultant-let care for age if you'll be over 40 on the due date - I suspect this varies slightly depending on where you are

Why the hang up about age? It's just one of many factors which medical professionals would consider when deciding on the best course of care for you and your baby?

Thanks for everyone's replies! Its just purely my age, they said they would decide it this week as I am only 9 weeks this week. Very useful to know I would not automatically quality for NHS consultant care.

Why would you need consultant care? Do you have any existing conditions?

Very helpful, thank you for your help.
I am with Portland and I already had 2 operations there so I assumed they would be able to care for emergency C section either under midwife plan or under consultant plan. I will ring my GP this week as i am not too late into the process!

I would get that checked, in my experience, even the most exclusive places simply do not have the facilities or staff to deal with things like crash c sections, and in the end, it wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.

Nobody had answered your question. At my trust you would be referred for consultant review at 35+.

Don't ask mumsnet! They don't know! People are just guessing.

You should book with the NHS as well. Any glimmer of a complication and you'll be needing them. Best to book now than have them haphazard guesses about you in an emergency.

Not necessarily @PepperSprayFirstApologiseLater1 I had my last at 39. I was only referred to consultant because of previous labour problems. Not because of my age. Different Trusts have different policies. Some want to induce older mothers at 38 weeks, some will happily go to 42.

@CornishGem1975 and that's exactly why I'm telling her not to presume the answer.

All trusts are different.

I have to refer women who are 35 or over for consultant review.

She needs to check with her local trust before taking random people off mumsnet as gospel.

@PepperSprayFirstApologiseLater1 in my London trust is over 40 if you are a first time mother or have 8+ years between pregnancies. They also try to do induction rather than an elective C-section unless you are over 45. However there are other criteria which could mean the OP's pregnancy is high risk.

@RedWingBoots as above, all trusts are different.

OP needs to clarify what her trust guidelines are.

Not from personal experience, but have you read ‘This is going to hurt’? He talked about the lack of resource in private hospitals and how they’re not prepared for emergencies. I would follow your midwives’ advice and transfer to NHS.

Sorry that didn’t answer your question at all. As pp mentioned it depends on your trust. Also you’re still early. I was 31 when I was pregnant and at booking was told I was super low risk and should consider home birth with my first and had gestational diabetes (found out at around 22 weeks) so was under consultant care and had an emergency c section at the end

@tiantian1005
I'm 39 and consultant led, but that's due to my history of 4 miscarriages before this pregnancy, now 26+ 3 days.