Booking Appointment

Until now mum, you may feel like this pregnancy isn’t real, apart from the fact you may be throwing up at every opportunity, but the booking appointment will usually be your first face-to-face with your midwife and an exciting milestone. You may be full of all sorts of emotions and hormones at this point but we will take you through what happens during your booking appointment so you can be fully prepared and ready. Your booking appointment will usually be before you are 10 weeks pregnant and will be with a midwife either at a doctor’s surgery, a hospital, a children’s centre or your home, depending on what they do in your area. The appointment will last about an hour and will involve lots of questions so the midwife can understand what type of care you may need during your pregnancy journey. These questions will likely be about the following: Living situation Baby’s father Previous pregnancies / babies Physical and mental health history Family’s health Your job You will also have some tests taken and measurements, including: Height, weight and BMI Urine test and blood pressure Blood test to see if you have HIV, syphilis or hepatitis B You may also be asked if you want a blood test for sickle cell and thalassaemia if they deem you to be at risk. You will also be given plenty of information about the care you are going to receive, how your baby will develop and a talk through how to have a healthy pregnancy. There will also be an opportunity to ask any questions you may have, it may be best to write them down prior to your appointment, as you may forget with all the other questions and information given. At the end of your appointment, you will be given access to your maternity notes which are now usually online (or if not then paper), these will be updated at all appointments. You may feel a little overwhelmed at first mum as there is a lot of information to take in, ideally if allowed it would be useful taking someone with you like your TOH or close friend to help you digest the information after the appointment. There will be plenty of opportunities to ask any further questions if you have any throughout your pregnancy journey, or why not as the mumandbabyonline members – they can offer great advice, just pop us a message.

Source:

https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/finding-out/your-first-midwife-appointment/