midwife care

[Jamie]

With my first baby I saw my midwife every 4 weeks until I was 31 weeks and ill with pre-eclampsia so I went into hospital.

I'm at a different practice this time round as I moved house (but only 4 miles from my last one). This time round, I've seen her at 7 weeks for booking in, 11 weeks for my blood tests and 15+3 for my triple test. Now she says she doesn't want to see me for ten weeks, by which time I'll be almost 26 weeks! Does this sound right? I know there has been midwife cuts etc, in the news, but since I had lots of problems in my previous pregnancy they said they would be keeping a close eye on me!

Also, I had to ask to hear the heartbeat at my 15+3 appointment, and she had to write "maternal request" next to where she wrote FHHR. With my daughter the midwife listened at every appointment from 12wks.

I'm going to go crazy not knowing if Little Bean is okay until I feel him/her start to kick...there was a Saturday midwife drop in at my old practice so I'm going to go on the next two Saturdays to see if it's still there, and if they can listen for the heartbeat for me, by which time hopefully I'll feel Bean kicking!! I also have my 20 week scan but it's not until 25th May argh!

Sorry for the moan...I think the care I am getting is not really up to much especially as they are supposed to be keeping a closer eye on me this time!

 

[Baileysmummy]

I was told this as well, i was gobsmacked, as with the first pregnancy i was seen nearly every 4 weeks till i was 28 weeks, then it went down to every 2 weeks then once i got to 34 weeks it was every week..

I see my mw every 2 weeks due to problems, i think if they detect anything wrong then they will see you and make sure all is ok..

but other than that pregnancy isnt an illness they say so they let you get on with it now..

same for everyone who has had more than 1 baby..

 

[eightball]

I agree, 10 weeks is a very long time to wait. I guess they are taking the 20 week scan as a substitute for an actual midwife appointment.
I hope the drop in centre is still open for you and they can help you get more care and give you advice on how to organise more midwife appointments, especially as you had complications before.
I had to request a urine test at my last appointment as they hadn't tested me for 2 months, and I'm sure that it is compulsory for every appointment? It seems like you have to be really pushy for anything you want!

 

[Hells]

I think it's mostly down to the RCOG (royal college of obstetricians and gynaecologists) guidelines. These say that a woman needs 10 antenatal checks in a 1st pregnancy, and only 7 checks for other pregnancies. And the 20 week scan does count as an antenatal check. The guideline also says that hearing the heartbeat has no diagnostic effect, and isn't necessary unless the woman asks for it.

Jamie, as you had pre-eclampsia in your last pregnancy you should be checked more thorougly and more often. I think you should be having consultant-lead care, not midwife-lead care anyway. The amount of checks partly depends on how severe and how early the pre-eclampsia struck you. You should look up the APEC (Action on pre-eclampsia) guidelines. Their website and forums are also very good. They also have a helpline staffed by a couple of lovely people, who will be able to tell you exactly what you should expect (or even demand!) according to your history.

To give you some idea, I am 13 weeks pregnant, and I have to be seen every two weeks until 20 weeks, then I'll be getting scans every 4 weeks and checks every week until 28 weeks. If there is any doubt for me or the baby then these will become more frequent. My midwife told me to make an appointment to see her again at 24 weeks at my booking in. Luckily I saw the consultant a week later, who told me that would have been ridiculous.

Sorry for the long post.

 

[Jamie]

Thank you Hells I will check out the apec website right now

 

[BEX101]

I saw my midwife once at about 8 weeks!
since then i had pain and went to A&E turned out i had a cyst and was kept in. I've had a few scans for the cyst in the gyney dep.
At 20 weeks i had a scan for the baby, saw a diferent midwife who then said they didnt need to see me till 25 weeks. When i mentioned the cyst it turned out the maternity dep didnt know about it, they panicked and made me stay another 3 hours so i could see the consultant. He's not happy with the level of care i've had and has taken it over himself so it doesnt look like i'll be seeing much of the midwife now. Cant say i've got much faith in the midwives.

 

[Hells]

I'm sad to say that I agree with you - I have little faith in midwives now. I had rubbish care with my daughter, no blood pressure/urine checks at all. When I told her I'd gained a stone in about a week she told me to lay off the chocloate. Now I know that I was swollen up, but at the time I didn't know what I should have expectd from her.

I was lucky that I saw my doctor for something at 28 weeks, because she did my a/n check while I was there. She sent me straight to the hospital and I ended up delivering my daughter that night. My pre-eclampsia should have been picked up before that. I have since been told that if the pregnancy had gone on much longer she may have been stillborn and I was at risk of stroke.

I'm sure there are many wonderful midwives out there, but all the ones I have met were not (although the cleaning lady in the hospital was brilliant - I'll never forget her kindness).

 

[Sabrina]

Jamie, if you are unhappy at the frequency of your MW check ups you should raise this with the surgery. I had the same problem as you with my first pregnancy plus my placenta died off 4 weeks early. When the surgery MW tried to "fob me off" with excuses I spoke to the GP and he said I could go in as often as I liked for checkups on my BP and Urine.

Even now at 29 weeks I have only seen the MW twice. The rest of the time, if she's not around, I go to the surgery and get checked over by the GP. I have found two really nice GPs who are much better than the MW and what's more they are there not on holiday or too busy!

 

[FeeFee]

I agree, my GP is my midwife lol
Shes wonderful and i have a very trusting relationship with her regards to her seeing me whenever i need her etc, i spoke to her about my concerns with regards to my natal care and she said right lets not worry you i'll be your midwife and see you every 4 weeks or as often as you want