Hi

I'm from the UK, where everything seemed to be really straight forward with my first pregnancy: HPT at 5 weeks, phoned GP and made midwife appt (they work as a team visiting surgeries in the UK so you rarely go to the hospital to see them). First appt they do your weight, BP, urine proteins, take a medical history of you and the father, register you so you will receive an appt for your first scan, give you an NHS card to prove your pregnant (free prescriptions and dental treatment for all pregnant women) and loads of info. You also get booked into antenatal classes (or parenthood as they now call them!) if you are interested.

You have monthly midwife appts until 3rd tri then fortnightly (weight, urine proteins, BP, heart beat). A scan at 12 wks (combined dating & NT - everyone has both but you don't need to be told the results unless you sign a disclaimer) and another scan at 20 wks. The scans are done at a local hospital.

At some point during the pregnancy you decide what you want to do re: the birth, but usually you have plenty of time for this. The main thing is to express a preference for home births, so they can book you a midwife, or hospital, so they can let them know to expect you round about that time. Some places you need to say if you want a water birth as they have limited pools, most places it's first come first served. Not that it matters, because you just call and say 'my baby's coming now!!' and any hospital with a maternity unit will admit you.

I was also referred to an OB at the hospital where I'd have the baby because I was overweight and they needed to test me for gestational diabetes at 34 weeks. The OB said I should never have been referred as was perfectly healthy and unsurprisingly the test was negative. I did get to have an extra scan though, which was brilliant

I now live in Boronia, Victoria and have found out I'm expecting my second baby. I've been told I need to go see my GP asap as I need to be booked into hospital straight away because they get full (they never turn you away surely? what happens if I move??). I will be calling my GP to make an appt on Monday just in case!

I've been reading through some threads and found loads of stuff on HCG tests. Whahh?? In the UK they don't do these at all. If your HPT says your pregnant, unless you have any doubts about this you're not expected to get your GP to confirm it. It just sounds like there's so much variation on what people's HCGs can be and it's just another thing to scare all us expectant mothers with! Is this normal practice and will I be expected to have one? I don't think I could cope with them telling me it was low and probably meant I would lose the baby.

When do you normally have scans? I've seen a few people say not until 16 weeks I think...?

Please help. I just need any general info or perhaps some summaries of what normally happens here (preferably local to me) so I can try and understand what I need to do and what to expect.

Thanks!