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Antenatal appointment schedule

pregnant person writing in notebook

Consultant led care birthing people will have an individualised schedule as deemed appropriate by the consultant. Please also see your community midwife at least twice during your pregnancy.

The schedule presents the recommended number of antenatal care appointments for women/birthing people who are under midwifery led care and whose pregnancies remain under midwifery-led care in the antenatal period. Please do not hesitate to contact your midwife if you need advice between these appointments.

Here's what to expect at each stage: 

Eight - 10 weeks

12 - 14 weeks

  • Dating ultrasound
  • Routine bloods
     

16 weeks

  • Antenatal check with midwife
  • Review blood results
  • GTT arranged by midwife if BMI > 30

Encouraging parents to connect with their baby

20 - 22 weeks

  • Anomaly ultrasound
     

25 weeks (first baby only)

  • Antenatal check with midwife
  • Reminder of vaccinations if wanted
     

28 weeks

  • Antenatal check with midwife
  • Place of birth discussion
  • Discussion of new born screening
  • Weight
  • Encourage to attend parent craft classes
  • Recheck VTE scoring – add VTE sticker into book
  • Did you look at Every Child?
  • Discuss talking, singing, playing music, reading to baby – involve all the family.  This will help your baby’s brain to develop and grow healthily.
  • Information on feeding
     

31 weeks

  • Antenatal check with midwife
     

34 weeks

  • Antenatal check with midwife
  • Signpost to birthplace decisions booklet in antenatal pack

Skin Contact

  • The value of skin-to-skin contact
  • What this means for mother and baby

Responding to Baby’s needs

How closeness, comfort and love can help baby’s brains develop

  • Responsiveness – not leave baby to cry, talking to baby, not being possible to ‘spoil’ a baby
  • Closeness – skin contact, keeping baby in the same room at night, responding to feeding cues
  • Positioning and attachment (CHIN) – Every Child

Feeding

  • Value of breastfeeding as protection, comfort and food
  • Hand expressing discussion for all women/birthing people at risk i.e diabetes, small for gestational age and give colostrum pack
  • How to get off to a good start, breastfeeding exclusively not needing formula ‘top up’
  • If bottle feeding – importance of giving first bottle feed on skin to skin
     

36 weeks

38 weeks

  •  Antenatal check with midwife
     

40 weeks

  • Antenatal check with midwife
  • Membrane sweep offered to those pregnant with first baby
     

41 weeks

  • Antenatal check with midwife
  • Membrane sweep offered to all
  • Discuss induction of labour in line with induction guideline
  • Milk stimulation/expressing colostrum packs available from community midwife if needed

 

Antenatal check by midwife includes: review of history, blood pressure and urinalysis, abdominal palpitation to assess fundal height, foetal lie and presentation.

 

If you are unsure about your plan of care, please use BRAINS for useful questions to ask your doctor or midwife. 

  • B - benefits: - what are the benefits of this procedure? How can this positively affect the baby?
  • R - risks: what are the risks to consider? What other procedures may follow this?
  • A - alternatives: what are the alternatives? Are there other options?
  • I - intuition: how do you feel about this? How does your partner feel?
  • N - nothing: what if we choose to do nothing? Can we make a decision in an hour?
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