What does the mw do at the booking appointment?

[Doob]

Hi, as the title says really what actually happens at the booking in appointment? I have mine on wednesday and she says she'll need approx 40 mins.

 

[mrz85]

she takes alot of family history down ,checks ur weight and takes bloods, gives u lots of leaflets and u can ask any questions u may have

 

[CARNAT22]

Height, Weight, blood pressure, wee sample.

I had to go to a separate part of the maternity wing for bloods, but your MW may well take your bloods there and then.

We went through my medical history (they didn't ask about OH too much) they also ask if there are certain conditions on either side with mine and OH's parents - heart problems, diabetes, high BP.

MW asked if I wanted down's screening and went through a few things with me - healthy eating, exercise, caffeine etc.

She also asked if I wanted shared care (IE shared between GP and MW at hospital) and asked for my initial feelings on where I went to give birth... labour ward / birthing centre / home birth.

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[ChloeNat]

My whole appointment including scan took just over an hour. Asked a lot of questions about family illnesses , any alergies, previous conditions like asthma, heart problems etc. Then my height and weight and blood pressure and urine sample was taken and my bloods were attempted to be taken lol. Poked by needles 8 times over a period of two days until they could get any. Was given a big booklet with loads of information about the stages of pregnancy in it and a breastfeeding dvd aswell as the first bounty pack. Then was taken to the lady who does the antenatal classes and she spoke to us for a bit.

So quite a lot of stuff but I enjoyed it Made the pregnancy feel real.

 

[Doob]

Thanks for the replies. Its all at my doctors surgery so I'm guessing she'll do everything. Haven't even thought properly about options on where to give birth so I'll have to start looking into that I guess before I go

 

[CARNAT22]

Thanks fir the replies. Its all at my doctors surgery so I'm guessing she'll do everything. Haven't even thought properly about options on where to give birth so I'll have to start looking into that I guess before I go

You don't have to decide this early on, it's just I knew so I mentioned it to the MW. I don't think they ask you properly until the 16 week appointment or even later??

There are normally just 3 options
1) Home birth
2) Birthing centre - which is normally a floor away from labour ward but has a much more relaxed atmosphere. You will have your own room with a bed and a bath. However you have limited options for pain relief here (no epidurals for example). You also have to fit a specific criteria to be legible- you must be a low risk pregnancy and even if you get the OK, on the day it may be that you are not suitable for some reason [elevated BP, or you may want more pain relief]
3) Labout Ward - this is where most people end up. You will end up giving birth in a delivery suite but will have lots of pain relief options on offer. Also if you need any medical intervention the labour ward is where you need to be!

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[Doob]

That's really interesting thanks carnat! I reckon I'll be too scared to have a home birth but it's good to know the options x