Early Pregnancy Support/Referrals

[satsumaqueen]

Hi mumsnetters.

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with early pregnancy units at the hospital and whether there are any tests I can have done privately that I can pay for?

I am currently 7wk 2 days pregnant. I already have 3 year old so this will hopefully be my second baby. This has been a long slog to get to this stage, after trying unsuccessfully for a year, we unfortunately had a chemical pregnancy in August last year and this is only other time we have fell pregnant since.

Everything has been going well/as expected until earlier this evening. I went to the toilet and noticed I had some very light brown staining on my panty liner and about 30 mins after there was a small mid brown coloured blob of mucus type material there as well. I know spotting is common but it’s sent me into panic mode.

I found out when I was 4 weeks pregnant after just doing a random pregnancy test to use it up as it was making feel crap looking at it every day, so it’s been a really long 3 weeks so far as I’m so paranoid about every ache and pain due to losing the baby last time.

I haven’t been contacted by the hospital yet to arrange blood tests etc but I called them up directly earlier to talk about what was going on. The midwife was really lovely and was really supportive but said there wasn’t anything else they could do for me at this stage and the EPU would only see me if I had actual (red) bleeding. She said i could book a private scan but at this stage it probably wouldn’t show anything which may make me feel even worse than I currently am which is why they don’t recommend it.

Does anyone know if there are any blood tests I can request from a GP or anything else I can ask for or pay for privately that might help settle my nerves? When I was pregnant first time round everything was dealt with by my GP until I had the 1st scan and then I went over to local midwife’s based in my home town (this was during covid though so could have been amended because of that). This time round I told my GP and they said they don’t see you anymore and to self refer to the hospital which is what I’ve done.

I honestly don’t know how I’m going to get through the next 5 weeks until my 1st scan. I just need some form of reassurance that things are progressing in the right way. Or if it’s not going to work out, I would like to be made aware of it as early as I can.

Unfortunately there is very little to no early pregnancy support for most women. A chemical won’t put you in the category of needing extra support. It’s really difficult but until your booking appointment and then the 12 week scan, there’s nothing.

I did a private scan at 8 weeks for the reassurance. I deliberately waited until 8 weeks as all being well, there should be a heartbeat by then and that way I avoided the stress around scanning too early. You’re almost 8 weeks so maybe a private scan soon could be helpful to check everything is ok so far?

I’m sorry you’re struggling OP, early pregnancy is such an anxious time I totally get it. Unfortunately there isn’t really anything you can do that will give you absolute reassurance at this stage, you could get a private scan or bloods done privately if you wanted to but at this stage of pregnancy even if everything looks good on the scan it’s not a guarantee that it will continue to be that way.

If you feel like a reassurance scan would give you some peace of mind for right now then you could book one. When I was pregnant last year I did have an early scan and I don’t regret it because it did at the time make me feel better but I got the scan knowing all it would tell me is that everything was okay that day, it wasn’t a guarantee of the future but it did settle my nerves at least for a little while which was worth it to me x

@YellowDiamondsInTheSky i know it really is awful in the UK. Even the midwife said her and her colleague had literally just been talking about how bad the early pregnancy care is before I called. It’s very much just get on with it. I know in America they have scans at 6 weeks but I guess they pay for everything so of course the doctors will do as much as they can.

Thank you for that! I might have a look and see if there is any availability next week for something in my area. I wasn’t sure when the heartbeat could be heard on a scan so I just presumed that’s why the midwife said to not bother with it.

it’s such a difficult space to be in, spending your whole time worrying, worried to go to the toilet in case you see something you don’t want to, worried about cramps. And you just have to figure it out until you get to 12 weeks. I would rather just know one or another so I can prepare either way. I know nothing is guaranteed but at least is there is a real issue at this stage, i would know by having a early scan and if it was all going in the right direction to would put my mind at rest until the next symptom showed it head lol

@Mrsttcno1 yes I think I might just go for it. My head is in such a bad place right now, I would happily pay for someone to just take it away, even if it’s a temporary fix. I just keep thinking about another 5 weeks until my first proper scan and without knowing anything I think I will be in a real state by that point.