No appointments yet and worried

[Priwi]

Hi all,

I'm 5 weeks pregnant and I haven't had any appointments yet. All the information I have is because I've found it such as what vitamins I should take from the beginning of the pregnancy (e.g. folic acid) or what things I should not eat (e.g. pâté, rare beef or runny eggs, sushi, etc). It says on the self-referral I completed that my first appointment will be booked on week 10-14, which really concerns me because by that time I would probably not have taken things very important for the development of the baby or would have eaten food that can affect the baby.
Is that normal? Have you had any appointments before your week 10-14 to talk about diet, vitamins, do's and don'ts? Thank you all, this is a great community!

the NHS has a schedule of appointments online. It’s totally normal. You don’t need a special appointment to talk about food and supplements, it’s all online too.

Hi OP, honestly this is really normal. You typically have a “booking appointment” between 8-10 weeks and then your dating scan at 12 ish weeks, but by 5 weeks you wouldn’t expect to have had anything and you’ll get appointments for those appointments shortly. Try not to worry! Honestly I was surprised by how few appointments you actually get (in England NHS) in pregnancy, you only really have your booking appointment, your 12 week scan, 16 week appointment then 20 week scan, and then your next appointment is 24/25 weeks! It’s only really in the third trimester you see the midwife every 2/3 weeks. You are just left to it really up to about 6 months! You don’t ever really have an appointment to discuss eating/vitamins really, all the info is on the NHS website x

I just called my GP and they ran through everything with me as it was my first pregnancy. Could you do that?
the NHS website is very comprehensive for everything you need to know also!

All you need to do is check the NHS website for foods you should avoid and take a pregnancy vitamin (folic acid at a minimum). As someone else mentioned you’ll have a booking appointment around 8 weeks and then your scan around 12.

You know about taking folic acid and what foods not to have. I had my DC over 28 years ago, I didn’t see a midwife until 12 weeks, first scan was 20 weeks.

It's normal, you don't actually need many appointments. As you have discovered most information can be found with a quick Google and 5 weeks is barely pregnant.

8-10 weeks to get the booked appt with the midwife is normal.

my first appointment will be booked on week 10-14, which really concerns me because by that time I would probably not have taken things very important for the development of the baby or would have eaten food that can affect the baby

Do you generally struggle to employ common sense and/or take care of your own health on a day to day basis? Because that's basically all you need to continue doing. As a PP mentioned, there's very good information available on the NHS website and in a whole variety of other books and online resources. You won't be told anything at your first appointment that you can't find yourself beforehand.

Thank you all for you replies. One of the problems is that there is a lot of misleading information online. I checked if I could eat sesame seeds (I love the flavour), some pages say that sesame seeds and derived foods such as tahini or hummus are things to avoid, but other websites say it's full of vitamins and recommended. That's why I wanted a more professional point of view

Just follow the NHS and ignore all the crap online.

If you're in the U.K. follow the NHS guidlines on what food to avoid. Other countries have different guidelines based on their own food standards.

T'ha k you for the link!

Totally normal, was similar in the USA too, had one in each country, first appointment was around 10 weeks no dating scan then so next appointment was 18 weeks for the scan! They ramp up towards the end but there's nothing to do at the beginning. I got posted a leaflet on food, avoiding alcohol etc but this was before the internet was as developed. Few had home connections then.

Stick to nhs link on what to avoid(there really isn’t that much) do not google other stuff. Alongside folic acid you need to be taking vitamin D also. Your booking appointment will be 8-12 weeks and your first scan 11-14 weeks

I'm not sure if it's a Scottish thing but when I phoned up to register for my booking appointment they told me where I could collect a pregnancy pack. It contained a massive book called Ready Steady Baby (issued by Public Health Scotland and talks about pregnancy, birth and early parenting - it's been a great read). The pack also contained lots of different leaflets (different scans and what to expect, vaccines I and the baby will be offered, contact details for the Early Pregnancy Unit etc) as well as a tub of free vitamins and a booklet on breastfeeding. I found it really worthwhile, maybe contact your GP or midwife team to see if they have something similar?

I find the lack of appointments in early pregnancy a bit of a bummer but at the same time totally understand why. You should be able to call your EPU or GP with any concerns such as pain or bleeding and just follow the NHS guidelines for everything else.