First doctor's appointment when pregnant?

Hi all,
We just found out we're pregnant last week (probably four-ish weeks along). I called my GP this morning, and she made my first appointment at 10 weeks...which would be 7 December.

That seems so far away. Is this normal? I figured they would at least confirm that I was actually pregnant, but maybe not. She said they won't let you meet with the midwife until you're 10 weeks along.

I asked the receptionist what I should do if there were any complications, and she just said, "Like what?"

I just wanted to see if this is normal. When do you typically have appointments (and how many) for pregnancy in the UK?

Thanks!

Here's a really good page from the NHS that explains the appointments and how many you'll have. I can't really relate my experience to yours because we didn't find out until 15 weeks that we were actally pregnant! So I had a few less than others and in the end ended up being under Consultant led care instead of midwife led care.

Anyway, here's that page: http://www.nhs.uk/Planners/pregnancycareplanner/pages/Antenatalcare.aspx I found this to be very similar to the books I was given when I had my first Midwife appointment.

Thank you, WebyJ, that page is super helpful.

Sounds like from that, it's not unusual to have your first appointment as late as 12 weeks.

My husband is going on about wanting "confirmation" of the pregnancy, and to make sure nothing's wrong. But to be honest, the several home pregnancy tests I took should be confirmation enough. And if something felt wrong, I guess I'd just call the GP anyway.

I wish I had found out later, like you. It's KILLING me not telling people.

You're welcome!

Even though we found out at 15 weeks we waited until we visited my family (I was around 25 weeks at that time) to tell them. It just wasn't something that I wanted to do over the phone and we had planned that trip way before we found out so we just decided to do it in person and I'm so glad we did.

Though we did tell my MIL on Christmas Day, but I never told my mom that we told my MIL first. Shhhhh!

katy - most GPs don't "confirm" the pregnancy at all anymore as home pregnancy tests are seen as sophisticated & reliable enough.  Actually, most of the ones sold are identical to what the doctor would use anyway!

If you have problems (i.e., bleeding) before your first appointment, you can make an emergency appointment in order to get a referral to your local Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit in the hospital.  But for all 'normal' pregnancies, not seeing someone until 10 weeks is perfectly normal...my booking-in appointment was until almost 12 weeks!

Good luck

I remember feeling the exact same way when I got pregnant.  I wanted the dr to confirm it and it wasn't until the 12 week scan that I stopped having these completely silly "omg, what if I am not pregnant and I just look like a lunatic" feelings.  Our GP did see us about 2 weeks after we found out we were pregnant....so maybe 6 weeks pregnant.  This is how the appointment went:

DH took the afternoon off work.  We rocked up to the surgery all giddy and happy.  Called into GP's office, he asked why were there.  We told him that I was pregnant.  He said "When was your last period?".  He worked out the due date, that I had already done on-line, and then said "The midwife will be in contact shortly".  I think I said something like "Is that it?  No tests or anything?".  So he took my blood pressure and once again stated that the midwife would be in contact. 

Total time in Dr's office - 5 min.  Feeling of elation completely burst.  Not even a congratulations.  haha...I just wanted someone in a position of authority to do something to confirm I was pregnant and make a fuss over me.  No such luck!  I think that is a first time mum thing.  The next time round, I know what to expect from the dr's and def won't make DH take an afternoon off work. 

Good luck.  Once you get into the swing of the Midwife led care, it gets better.  But at the start you do feel a bit overwhlemed.  Ask a lot of questions at your first appt with the midwife. 

From my experiences, what will happen is you go to see your GP, they record the info and send it to a local hospital where you will be seen. At anywhere between 12-14 weeks you will be seen for a "booking in" appointment and a scan (my hospital doesn't do those on the same day, so you have to come back. After that you will have a 20 week(ish) scan and after that you won't see anyone until you are maybe 24-28 weeks pregnant where you will see a midwife every fortnight. Its pretty hands off, which I love.

congrats!

I find this kind of disappointing. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I loved nothing more than going to the OB/GYN, who was the one person I could chat to non-stop about my pregnancy. And I always had so many questions to ask! I could never WAIT until my next appointment.

Oh well. I'm glad, on the one hand, that the UK doesn't view pregnancy as something that needs to be monitored non-stop. But on the other hand, it was a lot of fun.

If you want to see your GP, just make an appointment and go see him/her. I had my pregnancy confirmed at a family planning clinic . I was so clueless I just rang my GP surgery the next day and made an appointment to see a midwife. When I got there and she found out how far along I was she sent me in to see one of the doctors who gave me a physical examination and advised me about alcohol and taking folic acid, and told me about choosing a hospital etc.

I find this odd personally since I just found out I was pregnant about a month ago. I was 4 weeks when I saw my GP who did just ask if I took an at home test and seemed happy with the fact I had two positive tests from 2 different days. Then he referred me to the Local midwife. I had an appointment that next week to meet her, during which she just gave me a lot of information on what to do and what not to do plus the paper work to get free dental and prescriptions. Then she booked me the week after to do my booking appointment. Now i wont see her till December after my Scan appointment at the hospital.

When I was talking to other mom's who had the same midwife a couple of them said they are surprised that i got in to see her so early. Though the reason we though might make the most sense is because I'm only 22 and my chances of miscarry are lower in the first trimester. I am not sure though just a thought. And if you ever have been pregnant before and miscarried or had major complications they will wait awhile to see you. I could be wrong but its just a thought.    

Congratulations by the way!

I had a similar experience to Karin when I went to my GP the first time after finding out I was pregnant -- I felt a bit blown off, even though I was having some problems. (I told her I was having severe pain on one side, and she just said "Pain is normal during pregnancy" -- that's it, no asking about my medical or gyno history, or examining me or anything.) It seemed the only point of going to the GP was so that they could fill out forms and refer me to the hospital and midwives, but do you need a doctor to do that? It was confusing.

I was supposed to see the midwives at 12 weeks but since they notified me about my appointment by mail and we were having all those unofficial postal actions in London, I never got the letter and missed the appointment. (Side rant: why do they notify people of important medical appointments by mail? especially when everyone knows the post isn't working properly? sigh...) So I didn't see the midwives until 15 weeks.

As a first-time mom I had loads of questions -- not just about pregnancy, which obviously you can buy books for, but about how things work here in the UK, which is a bit more difficult to find out about because every locality and practice does things differently. I do think the laidback approach is better overall, but I think if it's the first time it is a bit stressful not being able to see anybody for the first couple months, which after all is when you have the most questions and probably worry the most about symptoms and complications.

For the OP, I would echo the earlier suggestion about the Early Pregnancy Unit at your local hospital, and suggest finding out if you can self-refer if you are having problems. At my hospital they prefer you to have a GP referral but it is possible to refer yourself to the emergency gynecology unit (which is open 24 hours) including for early pregnancy problems like pain and bleeding. I eventually went there for a scan and they were great.

Also I highly recommend getting the What to Expect book, it's great at talking about early pregnancy symptoms and when you should call the doctor, it's SO reassuring!

As a first-time mom I had loads of questions -- not just about pregnancy, which obviously you can buy books for, but about how things work here in the UK, which is a bit more difficult to find out about because every locality and practice does things differently.

This is exactly why. I have loads of questions more about the system and just my area in general. I've got the What to Expect book, and I've been on netmums quite a bit this weekend, and the NHS website. I have private health insurance as well through my employer, but I have no idea how it works. I also have no idea even what hospitals are in our area or which ones you can give birth. I also read something about independent midwives (seems a common complaint here is that you never see the same one twice), so that may be worth looking into.

I definitely feel the several home tests I took were adequate for confirming (especially the digital one, haha--we needed a clear answer, and the blue pluses on the others were looking kind of faint). But I just wanted to know that a first doctor's visit at 10 weeks was normal. Every doctor's visit I've ever had here (prior to being pregnant) has lasted less than 2 minutes, so I was hoping it wasn't just a shoddy GP I had or something. It's good to hear everyone's experiences, as it seems fairly consistent.

The Early Pregnancy Unit seems reassuring. How do you find which hospitals have this? I mainly just want to  have a plan in case I feel something going wrong. And for my husband's peace of mind.

Even though we found out at 15 weeks we waited until we visited my family (I was around 25 weeks at that time) to tell them.

I feel you...we are visiting BOTH our families in the States at Christmas time...I'd be 12 weeks at that point. I'd like to hold out until then, as I think that'd be an awesome way to tell everyone. But it's really hard keeping it from my mom. I feel like she's going to kill me if she finds out I kept it for so long.

When I was talking to other mom's who had the same midwife a couple of them said they are surprised that i got in to see her so early. Though the reason we though might make the most sense is because I'm only 22 and my chances of miscarry are lower in the first trimester. I am not sure though just a thought. And if you ever have been pregnant before and miscarried or had major complications they will wait awhile to see you. I could be wrong but its just a thought.  

This seems counterintuitive to me: why would they want to see you less if you had complications/miscarriage history and more if you were younger?

I had a similar experience to Karin when I went to my GP the first time after finding out I was pregnant -- I felt a bit blown off, even though I was having some problems. (I told her I was having severe pain on one side, and she just said "Pain is normal during pregnancy" -- that's it, no asking about my medical or gyno history, or examining me or anything.)

That is rough. I am actually glad I didn't get a sooner appointment, if I'd just feel blown off afterward. I am now wondering though if my 10 week appointment will be like this, or if it is the booking in appointment? Hmm..

At the same time, for me, having too many doctors appointments is a really scary thing. I am labelled high risk and from 24 weeks on (next week) I am at the hospital for one test, appointment, growth scan, midwife visit at least every three weeks until I give birth...

Its overkill and has really zapped the joy of pregnancy right out from under my feet.