First appt with midwife at hospital

Hi all,
I'm now 16wks and 1 day today - and was wondering what goes on at the first midwife appt at the hospital? My appt is next Wednesday and I have no idea what to expect!
Can anyone give me a heads up?
Cheers :-)

i had my 1st appt at 12 wks with my midwife and i had to take in any previous scans and test results etc. Other than that it was just a general chat on how the pg was going and any concerns or q's i had and then the normal weight, bloood pressure and urine test. Nothing too much to be worried about. i'm sure you will be fine. With pg No1 my DH came with me to my 1st appt but i soon decided i didnt need him with me he'd be better off staying at work than taking unneccessary time off. This time around i've been going alone. If been your first you may want your partner or someone else to go with you for some reassurance but its generally nothing to scary.

I had a booking in appt at about 10 weeks, where I just sat down with midwife and we went through my medical history. It took about 2 hours as she had to ask lots of questions.
My first proper appt at the antenatal clinic was when I was 20 weeks, and it took about 5 minutes. All the midwife did was take my blood pressure, feel my tummy and measure fundal height.. and ask how I was feeling and if I had any questions. She also reconfirmed that everything from my ultrasound a couple weeks earlier was fine.

Um, call me clueless - but what is 'fundal' height Katrina?

Hi Leesa,
A fundal height is when they measure your tummy from the top (the fundus) to your pubic bone. Supposedly the cms correspond to how many weeks you are, but it varies wildly depending on whose doing it. Don't get too hung up on it :-)
Are you going through a group practice then?

Next clueless question - I seriously know nothing about the things I should! Clearly.

What is group practice Sam?

I think I recall seeing Tori Spelling and 'Dean' in love shorts with Tori having her fundal height measured. Hope I don't sound overly dizzy with that last comment :-)

Hi Leesa,

Sorry I just assumed you were going into a group practice (one to one midwifery) care model as the Flinders one generally see's women for the first time at about 16-20 weeks.
Flinders has a group practice as does WCH. It just means that you have a primary midwife who is on call for you, and a back up midwife, for your pregnancy, birth and postnatal periods.

My first and subsequent appts with the midwifes were great. I guarantee though, when you're at 40 weeks and visiting the midwife you'll be thinking - why am I still sitting here??????

You can ask all sorts of questions. I was TOTALLY ignorant - until I started frequenting this website. I had no idea what a fundal was either. A lot of the time they would say stuff and I would just nod my head. DH and I would leave the appt and I would ask him what he thought a blah, blah was and he'd say, "I thought you knew."

I tell you what though, my first Drs appt left little to be desired. He yelled at me because he said I hadn't gone in early enough in the pg. If I had my time again............ boy, oh, boy.......... I'd smack him in the gob.

I was perfectly relaxed b4 that. Don't ever let anyone force their opinions on you. You'll get plenty of it - ESPECIALLY when the baby is born. All the experts come out of the woodwork then.

I found all of the midwives to be extraordinarily knowledgeable, trustworthy and kind. I always looked forward to talking to them and asking them questions. Never be afraid to ask them questions. Most midwives have had children themselves - unlike male doctors........ grrrrrrrrr......

I must say, I never got that dr again and the dr at the birth was great...

I had my first antenatal appt on wed last week. Was a little nervous but the midwife that I saw soon put me at ease. She was very normal and just told me how it was.....none of this Dr. BS!!! I have since decided to go with a midwife (I had decided that before hand) but she made it soooo much easier to make the final choice. There is something much more appealing about seeing someone that knows what they are talking about from a personal experience than just a medical one. Midwifes seem to support your feelings and wishes much more than a Dr. too!
Expect to be asked heaps of questions about your medical history. They also got me to fill out a domestic violence form....Joel was very offended but she told us that it was just a normal procedure.
She got a urine sample, asked me how I was going to feed my baby, what food I was eating and if I was smoking or drinking. I also had a blood test to check for DS. We also got to hear the bubba's heartbeat! It was sooo cool. She said that in my next visit they would cover some more topics about the birthplan and more about midwifery. All in all it was a very positive experience. Can't wait for the next one.

I really have no idea about the birth - I think I like the sound of a midwife as opposed to a Dr - and unless necessary I don't want a C-Sect, I'd prefer a vaginal birth - with gas. (I've read not to call it a natural birth as there is some form of human intervention - is that right?).

But I don't know how the midwife thing works. I assume there is a Dr on deck should they be required - then again, I asusme every hospital works differently? I'm sure all things will make sense on my appt on Wednesday morning.

I feel like there is so much I need to learn - but I don't know where to start or in what order. Any hints?

Leesa
Don't stress honey it will all work out soon enough - the midwife is basically there to answer your questions, take blood pressure checks and fundal height checks just to make sure everything is growing etc. You only get to see a doctor if there are any problems (as far as i am aware) and the midwife will call upon one when she needs their assistance.

You will be given loads of pamphlets full of information and will be given paperwork to book your classes (birth classes etc where you get more specialist information from midwifes). Those will be carried out in the third trimester so don't worry about things yet. You have plenty of time for everything to start making sense.

Hope this helps, just make sure if you have any questions that you write them down and take them with you to the midwife.
Good luck, T.

I agree with Tess.

I stressed about the birth from the very moment I found out I was pg (at the time I was about 3wks pg - so I worried for a long time). In the end I've learned - a) ask as many questions as you want (this website is just fantastic for that) b) go to an ante natal class and ask heaps of questions there and c) your body takes over and knows what it's doing. My mum told me 'c' when I was pg and I thought "yeah, whatever!" But, guess what, she's right. It does know what it's doing and will do what it wants and it doesn't even ask you........ how ruuuuude!!!!!!!

Of course, having the right people around you is a great help. But I worked out pretty quick smart that the people I had around me were calm and knew exactly what they were doing. I was right.

And now, 7 months down the track, I don't really remember much about the labour/birth. All I know is that I now have a cheeky little boy I love more than my own life......... just amazing.

I'm so relieved - although I woke up feeling very dizzy this morning and m/s visited me again! I had the appt and all was so informative - AND I received one of those 'bounty' bags full of vouchers, magazines, sales kit basically but with stacks of info in it too.
I now know that I'll be in a birthing suite with DP (double bed) for the duration, and 24 hrs after the birth - then we come home and have a 'maternity help' person come around for the following 6 days for 6 hours each day to assist with the baby, cooking, cleaning, whatever we need!!! How is that for service. They'll be sending out info for antenatal classes in the next week - with my times etc for them too.

The midwife was so lovely and concerned about my dizzy spell she left the room and returned with a Dr who checked me over, in addition to the midwife checking me over and gave me a sick certificate for the day! I didn't even have to ask her to - as I was prepared to wait until tomorrows GP appt.

wow....that all sounds great Leesa! How nice are midwifes? Although I am a bit bummed....you got so much more information than me. I hate living in Darwin.The quality of service wherever you go is sooo bad. I just hope that it gets better when I move to Brisbane, although god knows when that is....Damn army! :P

noice Leesa. See, told ya.