Yesterday I did the first booking appointment of the year. Woohoo. Booking appointments are quite special as it could be the first time you are properly meeting your client, and they are probably the longest appointment in pregnancy.
The NHS allocates around 1h to this appointment, as opposed to the usual 20 minutes, whereas we independent midwives give you 2-3h of our time for the booking and 1-2h for regular appointments. Bottom line, our appointments are unrushed and at a time that suits you and your family. I for instance offer weekend appointments and late afternoons weekdays as evenings are hard with our busy household.
Another benefit of our care is that we can tailor our information and freebies to your needs. We will be in communication throughout your pregnancy by email or WhatsApp and share our knowledge, sources and also basic information that our guidelines suggest we do. For instance, at the booking appointment we’ll go through healthy eating, foods to avoid, supplements, common pregnancy symptoms, mental health, vaccines, blood tests, ultrasound scans, etc. We will always present you with the basic NHS information first and if you want to know more about any topic we’ll delve deeply into it. Take healthy eating and supplements, did you know that the NHS recommends you avoid vitamin A in the form of supplements and organ meat (liver)? But did you know that the research behind this recommendation was not thorough and it involved mainly supplements? And that as a result some nutritionists do recommend liver in pregnancy as a great source of iron and other nutrients? As independent midwives we also have clients that decline routine checks like ultrasound scans. This is not a problem for us!
Booking Appointment Freebies
With regards to freebies, as you can see in the picture I tend to include a pregnancy journal, some flyers from local businesses (osteopaths, Doulas, baby clothing, pregnancy classes, etc) and discount codes I’ve acquired (cloth nappies, EC, room decorating stickers, etc.). In this pack there is also some coconut baby oil, tea for the bath and lip balm. For this particular client I’ve brought some Christmas sweets from Spain as she has lived in Spain in the past! So they are all personalised to the client, the season and whatever I’ve got access to.
Another difference between NHS care and Independent Midwife (IM) care is that we don’t usually take the booking bloods during the appointment. These bloods include a full blood count, your blood group, screening for sickle-cell and thalassemia, HVI, Hep B and syphilis. Most of our clients receive care on the NHS, as you are still entitled to NHS even if you hire private care, so these blood tests and scans get done there. If someone wants to have all their care private, there are ways. For instance in Suffolk pregnancy scans and blood tests can be done at ultrasound direct.
Finally, it should be noted that the purpose of the booking appointment is to gather all your medical history to better tailor the care around your needs and involve the multidisciplinary team should you need it and should you want it. It’s also an opportunity to get to know your midwife and take your first step in the discovery journey pregnancy puts you on.
Hello! My name is Irene Vine and I am an independent midwife covering Suffolk, Essex, Cambridge and East London. I provide full antenatal, postnatal and birth care including homebirths and outside of guidelines care. I am passionate about supporting women achieve a birth experience where they feel empowered, heard and understood. If you would like to experience the best possible care with unrushed appointments and a midwife who is always at the other end of the phone, give me a call!