Now what? Qs about appointments

[usernametaken]

I am now somewhere between 5 and 6 weeks pg, at what point do I make an appointment with the midwife? Do I need to see a doctor first or can I just phone the surgery and ask for a booking in appointment. How does one go about arranging scans etc?

I am completly clueless as to how it works here in the UK as DD was born abroad.

Many thanks.

it differs with each surgery I think
I would just ring your gp and ask the reception if you need to see the gp or the midwife
whoever you see should book you in for the relevant scans
I had a 12 week and a 20 week one with my 2 but I know in some places there is only a 20 wk scan

oh and congratulations

Depends on teh area.

My first pg I made an appointment with GP and then felt very silly when he did nothing - he just told me when to book appointments with nurse/MW.

Secon pg I rang surgery explained I was pg and asked what appointments I needed to book. She sorted out MW for me and then MW sorted out scan.

doesn't work like that in all areas though.

Each time I've seen the GP first, who has then booked me into the system. The most important thing to do is to make sure that you have an appointment for the 12 week ultrasound scan, as those can fill up fast. In my case, the midwife phoned me up the day after my GP appointment and gave me the details of the clinic at the hospital - then I arranged it myself. You probably won't see the midwife for another month, as there isn't much that they can do at this stage.
Congratulations!

Thank you all for such quick replies and for the congratulations!

When should the first MW appointment be? Knowing my surgery I'll have to book 3 weeks in advance!

Thanks again,

I never saw a midwife in the UK before about 12 weeks and I also didn't have a 12 week dating scan.

I made appt with doc at 7wk, she then contacted midwife, i recieved my booking in with midwife at 10wk & also scan date for 12wk.

I made an appt to see my gp, was asked to hand in urine sample following morning and call back in a couple of days for results.

I rang back on the mon got the good news, and on the tues i got a letter with a date for the following week to attend booking appt. Also lots of leaflets telling me what to expect from my first mw visit and numbers of mw to contact if i had any pain,bleeding or Q before my appt.

I was really impressed at how quick i was seen.

I also had scan at 8+3 weeks and my next one is 12 weeks. I'm in Scotland by the way.

i only saw someone quickly because i startes spotting at about 6 weeks and i'd have a missed m/c with ERPC a couple of months before.

i had booking appointment at about 14 weeks - same as in Edinburgh, where i had my first two children.

i had a nuchal scan with bloods at 12 weeks and an anomaly scan and another scan at 32 weeks because the lady who did my 20 weeks scan at Paisley didn't write down where the placenta was and it needs to be way up there if i'm going to give birth at a midwife-led unit.