Medium risk - what does that mean?

[Yazoop]

When I went to my midwife booking in appointment last week, they classified me as medium risk and I will have an appointment with an obstetrician in a few weeks.

Midwife was lovely and thorough - but she “rounded up” my bmi from just over 29 to 30 to ensure I flagged as medium risk for extra monitoring. Think this was because I had been through several failed rounds of IVF (but conceived this time naturally), am 39 (will be 40 at due date) and my mum had a clot on the lung when having me. She indicated I will likely need heparin injections later on in pregnancy to avoid clotting risk.

I think the extra monitoring will be good but just a bit worried that it might unnecessarily restrict me on eg birthing options later on? Particularly on bmi grounds - when I weigh myself at home my bmi seems to be “only” 28 (I was wearing heavy clothes at the appointment, though I’m sure their scales are better than mine!).

any one who can help explain what comes next on medium risk care?

I had similar. I was weighed with my trainers on and she said my BMI was only just over 29 😀 I did point out she told me not to take my shoes off and she agreed but hey ho. I've been told I need to take aspirin (age, 10 year gap between pregnancy and small first baby) and I will have more appointments. Due to birth last time, elective C-section mentioned but would probably be consultant led anyway. I was consultant led with my daughter due to autoimmune issues but was allowed water birth on midwife led unit. Ended up in consultant unit with emcs anyway but 🤷‍♀️

Thanks @Nocoffeenotalkie - I guess you never really know what you might need, will try and go with the flow a bit and see what happens next!

I was high risk due to my BMI plus being over 40 so I had a scan once a month and met a antenatal doctor afterwards to discuss the results and how I am getting on. I met with obstetrician as well and he assessed me for natural birth etc we discussed about my options. I wanted a natural birth and he said he was happy to support that but he said he thought they would have to intervene. I ended up in emergency c section in the end.

Medium risk is an odd phrase, and I’m a midwife..

your bmi won’t affect anything, your age may possibly… they may recommend IOL at 40wks (very trust dependent). Not sure about the blood clot, depends why she had it (post op/post travel etc)

Thanks @Olika and @Mummyme87

my mum’s blood clot was, as I understand it, spontaneous in the final trimester. So guess likely related to her pregnancy, though don’t know the specifics. She had stay in hospital until the birth, which must have been awful!

I googled medium risk pregnancy out of curiosity and didn't find too much info about it so I wouldn't worry too much. On one NHS site I saw it says still individual plan according to circumstances so I think it's just about extra checks, obstetrician and injections. Personally I didn't mind going for the scans and appointments often as it was good to see the baby growing so there was no space for dreading for nothing. 🙂