Antenatal Care - Plymouth Hospitals

Antenatal Care
Throughout your pregnancy you will have regular care, either at your GP
surgery, local Children’s Centre or Derriford Hospital by your GP, Consultant
or Community Midwife. This is to check that you and your baby are well and
that any problems can be picked up as early as possible. This is the time to
get any questions answered and to discuss your plans for the baby’s birth.
The Booking Visit
Most women will have their first and longest appointment around the 8 th to
12 th week of pregnancy. You can expect to be asked a lot of questions about
your health or any previous pregnancies or miscarriages. You will be asked
for any information you have on your own family and your partner’s family.
You will also be asked about your ethnic origin. This is because certain
conditions are inherited. All this information will help your midwife decide what
type of care you will require. You will also be offered an appointment for a
scan at 12 weeks of pregnancy to confirm when your baby is due.
Blood Tests and Screening
In the first few weeks of your pregnancy, you will be offered a blood test to
check for sickle cell anemia and thalassaemia. Your midwife will give you a
leaflet which describes the screening process for these conditions. It explains
why the test may be offered and helps you decide whether to accept it.
For further information please visit:
www.screening.nhs.uk/sickleandthalassaemia
In Plymouth the current policy is to offer women over 35 years a double test.
This is a blood test that will check to see if you are at risk of having a baby
with Down’s syndrome. In the future all women will be offered Downs
Syndrome screening in early pregnancy. For further information ask your
midwife or GP
Infections in pregnancy
At your first antenatal visit you will be offered and recommended tests for
hepatitis B, HIV, rubella and syphilis. The tests can all be done on one blood
sample, and are offered to help protect the health of you and your baby.
Although the infections may not make you feel ill, if they are not detected they
can cause serious damage to your baby. If you doctor or midwife is aware of
these infections, you can receive special care or medicine to reduce the risk
of possible problems for your baby. It is better to have the tests as early as
possible, but they can be done at any time during your pregnancy. If you
decide not to have any of them, it will not affect the rest of your care in any
way.

Your midwife will tell you how the results of these tests will be given to you. If
a test suggests that you have an infection, a second test will be done to check
the result. Insurance companies are not concerned about you having any of
these tests. It is only if you are actually found to have HIV, syphilis or hepatitis
B infection that future insurance cover might be affected.
Confidentiality
The results of these tests will be dealt with in strict confidence. No information
about you, or your results, will be given to anyone outside the health care
team without your consent and knowledge.
Please read our local leaflet Ante-natal blood test caring for you & your baby.
For further information ask your midwife
Follow on Appointments
Having regular antenatal care is important for your health and the health of
your baby. At your first appointment your Community Midwife will give you
your ‘hand held’ records. Your midwife will ask you to keep these records safe
and take them to every antenatal appointment. Always ask your doctor or
midwife if there is anything in your records that you don’t understand.
You will continue to have regular check ups with your Community Midwife and
GP until your baby is born.
For further information on low risk antenatal care: www.nice.org.uk