What can I expect at first GP/midwife apt?

38yo first pregnancy. Would like to know what to expect at first GP/midwife apt.

I've read apt locations may vary - GP / home / hospital - what seems to be most common for first and subsequent appointments?

I am in UK (Wales)

Thanks

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It will be your Midwife dealing with your pregnancy, not a GP. Location totally varies depending where you live!
First booking appointment is quite long, takes all your details, medical history etc, often bloods done at the appointment as well.

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At least in the UK your GP will have nothing to do with your pregnancy. It's all handled by midwives or perhaps a consultant if you're high risk.

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It should be with your Midwife,, mine was at the local communityHospital. Instead of the big one if you live rurally.
And then because I was consultant lead care, I had a mixture of Midwife check-ups and consultant reviews at the county hospital in the antenatal department.

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The appointment is about 1.5 hours, with a midwife usually at midwife centre (depending on where you live this could be in a hospital or birth centre), they take urine sample, bloods, height and weight and you answer a long questionnaire about medical history and your circumstances, I went alone which is fine if you know your partners medical history. My most recent appt was for my second baby and I’m 38 I thought I’d be referred to a consultant because of my age but it was all treated as a normal pregnancy

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Thank you for all your replies. So how does my GP arrange midwife apt or do I need to try to find & get in touch with local MW team?

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Hey so how many weeks are you? Is it your 12w scan or before that? X

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My first appointment was around 7 weeks just met with the midwife and she went though a bunch of questions like family history, medical history etc also took a pee sample. My next appointment was the 12 week scan where the midwife took obs like blood pressure, weight height etc and then had blood tests done and they just examined the process then (I’m in UK) x

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You can make an appointment with a midwife at the hospital you wish to have your baby. You don’t need a GP’s referral or anything like that. I’m based in London.

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@demi 6 weeks. Just found out on holiday and trying to get my head round what to do when i get home about informing GP or whoever.

Was waiting for IVF apt due to infertility & 7y TTC. it's come as a bolt out of the blue and no clue what to do or expect.

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This should help, OP! https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/your-pregnancy-care/your-antenatal-appointments/

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Your GP should have a midwife, so maybe ask for a midwife appointment. They should then refer you to hospital and first appointment between 10-12 weeks, they’ll book your scan then to go back for… you won’t really see anyone until then

Congratulations though!

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@Emma thank you. I'll call them and ask. Thanks for congrats too 🥰

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In my area the midwives deal with it and you self refer online. Then they send you an appointment between 8-10 weeks to take bloods go through health history and refer you for a scan x

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There’s an online self-referral form - my GP said they didn’t deal with it anymore - you’ll find the form on your choice of hospital’s website. Also, take your partner with you as there are lots of family history questions. If you’re not already, start taking folic acid asap. Congratulations mama ❤️

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Congratulations! So when you find out ring the GP clinic and tell them your pregnant, they’ll ask you how many weeks etc then put you on the midwife list, you’ll get a call then a couple of days later off the midwife who will arrange to see you and then they’ll explain everything from there! Xx

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Also agree with the above start taking some pregnancy vitamins with folic acid as soon as you can x

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@demi thanks so much. Appreciate the info. Was taking pre-conception vits with folic acid so will use up last few and move over to pregnancy version instead. X

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