Anyone else not seen just 1 midwife?

[Summergurl]

Duno about anyone else but this being my first pregnancy (currently 22+3) I'm feeling a little uneasy that I've not yet seen the same midwife more that once.

My booking appt was at my old surgery.
Moved house so that midwife told me to go to X centre as that's the one local to my new house, got my bloods taken there then told I would have to go to X surgery for my 16 week appt where I saw the doctor.

Since then I've obviously had the 20 week scan and all was fine.

Anybody else feel a little uneasy at this, if it's happened to you also?

I know I can obviously ring the surgery if I need to if I feel anything is wrong but like I wanted to hand in my antenatal form the other day and had no midwife to give it to and didn't want to wait until week 25 appt so popped along to the surgery who didn't seem at all interested.

Just as a first time pregnancy a little bit of structure would be nice.

 

[fcroxy]

My first pregnancy I didn't see the same midwife throughout but so far this one I've had the same midwife and believe she'll be the only one i see as she's the only one at the surgery now. X

 

[sammielou]

There are three community midwives at the surgery I'm registered with. Karen, Jodie and Louise.
Karen booked me in.
Next appointment I saw Jodie.
The one after that, I got Louise.
The one after that - Karen again.
The one after that - a student midwife, supervised by Karen.

I have fun sitting in the waiting room wondering which midwife I'm going to get this time! I don't really mind. They seem to be on top of things with regards to my particular needs, they've followed up on specific things that aren't common to all pregnancies - so they must hold pretty good notes.

 

[MissMcleodx]

Mine are never the same neither! It's quite annoying you should be assigned a certain midwife who will look after you! X

 

[flinty84]

With my first I saw 2 different midwives and a student midwife, I had quite afew appointments. I've moved since and so far had 2 appointments and got 2 different midwives. Thing I find annoying is that my doctors only have a midwife on a Thursday morning.

 

[fairyprincess]

I can imagine this would be really frustrating! I'm with one-to-one midwives which isn't available in all areas and have the same midwife who I can contact 24hrs. It's a really great service so I guess I'm lucky x

 

[russellmuscle]

My first gp surgery had like 15 MW so, I always seen different ones, which I disliked because each had different moods and personalities.

This time I have moved gps and our wing only has 2mw. They try to keep to one and Ive yet to have met the other one so all is well for now. I dont think Id mind 2, working in the NHS I understand the pressures on the boards and realize Im not the only pregnant one however its nice to have patient continuity. They dont care about that now. Staff are numbers, patients are customers we dont get good continuity with that attitude.

You could express your concerns to your mw unit. I would if I disliked any, from what I understand you can ask to switch if you dont feel comfortable with a certain one. Your MW appts should be something you look forward to. Its not so bad we only see the MW every couple months until the end, unless we need her and as Im literally across from the surgery shes offered to do home visits towards the end if its alot getting Jackson to appts with me etc, so thats nice.

Good luck.

xxxx

 

[Mictho29]

Very rarely see the same one xx

 

[Brooksy]

I was messed about a bit at first as my gp's mw went on mat leave and they didn't have cover, then they moved into the community. Mentioned it to the mw at the centre who I went to see at my 16 weeks apt, and she took pity on me and took me under her wing so I only see her now!

 

[kittykitchn]

I've been lucky and seen the same one, but I think it's pretty normal to be passed around!

 

[mrs_z]

I've seen seven different ones so far. I find it really frustrating as there's no communication between them, I keep repeating myself, and end up getting different answers every time I ask about something. Was told at my booking appointment not to bother calling my community midwife as I'd likely not be able to get a hold of her anyway, and phone the hospital helpline straight ahead. Feels a bit lonely, really.

MissMcleod - I'm in Lincolnshire, too, seems like it's a thing here that antenatal care is totally fragmented?

Summergurl - agree that structure would help just to feel a little more confident with things, and having a healthcare team to rely on. Fingers crossed all goes well in your pregnancy and you won't really need too much support until the end.

 

[flexilexi394]

In our community each midwife is assigned an area so I have the same midwife all the time and she was my midwife last time I was pregnant so there's lots of familiarity for me... But I've heard that this is rare and she won't be at the birth because all our midwife appointments are done at GP surgeries until we go into labour which is then dealt with by the hospital.

It is hard having a different midwife each time because they're only going off notes and don't actually get any personal info about you and stuff so I think that's a shame xx

 

[Mictho29]

I'm. Also Lincolnshire where abouts are u Lincolnshire ladies from xxxx

 

[Summergurl]

Comforting to know, thanks ladies.
I just wanted to go the the local centre by me that I had my bloods done because my brothers wife went there and they were lovely but even though I'm in the catchment area I was told no. Put my nose out a bit really. It'll just be nice to finally meet the midwife at the surgery. Only a couple weeks to wait!