Antenatal Care - get out what you put in (Antenatal Care)

Member Name: LIZR315

Product:	Antenatal Care
Date:	19/12/08 (112 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Meet peopleand get cared for

Disadvantages: Time

When you become pregnant you have a range of options open to you for antenatal care.

In my opinion there are three aspects to antenatal care

1. Hospital / Midwife checks and scans
2. Antenatal classes for you and your partner
3. Other groups such as Aqua natal or Antenatal Yoga

Hospital / Midwife checks and scans

Once you have been to you GP and told them you are pregnant (mine just took my word for it) they will refer you up to the hospital and in our area to the community midwife service.
The first contact you get in our area should be a home visit from the midwife just before you r scan. They call this you booking session. I missed mine because I was on holiday so I had it at the hospital. Here they will discuss healthy eating, weigh and measure you, check blood pressure, discuss birth options and talk about the tests you can have. They will also take samples of your blood to check your rubella immunity (rubella is dangerous to baby if you get it while pregnant) and your rhesus status (if you are Rhesus negative you will need injections to prevent you damaging the baby or yourself if baby is rhesus positive). They will also check your urine for glucose.

You will be called for a 12 week ultrasound. This scan is really just to check baby is alive and well. They will measure baby and give an estimated due date (EDD) based on the measurements and your last period date. They will give you a little photo of baby to take home (some hospitals charge). At this scan it is lovely to have your partner with you. I will never forget seeing the little moving person inside me. It was all the more moving as I had a friend who found out her baby had died inside her at that scan.

The next option is to have a blood test at 16 weeks which is called a triple test which calculated for the risk of Down syndrome. I didn't have it. I decided that even if it came back that I had a risk factor for Down's I wouldn't have the Amniocentesis as that runs the risk of miscarriage.

Then there is no contact until you go for your second scan at 20-24 weeks. This is the one where they look for major abnormities and they can tell you the sex of the baby but only if you ask.
After that I just had monthly appointment with the community mid wives that went to every fortnight nearer to my due date then in the last 3 weeks every week. They measure you bump to check baby is growing, check blood pressure and urine. They'll answer any questions you have about your care.

Antenatal classes for you and your partner

There is a range out there from free to fee paying. Some people opt for National childbirth trust classes (NCT) with a group of other people. These are more detailed, held in someone's home and you have to pay. I didn't do these.

We opted for the free ones at our local hospital. There were two sessions for mum and partner about birth and labour. I also attend one about breast feeding and another about caring for a new baby. I didn't attend one by the physio's about exercise for pregnancy. Overall I found the classes ok and useful for first time parents. They were run by midwives who were quite matter of fact. Some people may just choose to read up but it's good to meet other people.

Other groups such as Aqua natal or Antenatal Yoga

Obviously aimed for mums. I went weekly to both classes. Aqua natal from 26 weeks and yoga form about 30 weeks. The aqua natal was a really good social event as well as helping you to keep fit and active. I'm still in touch with people I met and now our babies play together. The yoga was really good for relaxation and tips for helping with pain management in labour.

All in all you can have the very basic level of care or you can choose to go to classes. You'll get out what you put in. Everyone is different so choose what is best for you.

Summary: Antenatal care varies widely from area to area and from person to person