Antenatal appointments
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Mine last ages...!! I must have been in there 30 or 40 minutes today. She did have a student though, so that added on a little more time. However, even without a student, they've always been long.
I would recommend writing questions, thoughts and things you'd like to discuss ahead of time. It shouldn't be this way, but their services are so stretched. Unless you tell them what help you need, they aren't going to go into detail with every single mum. I agree it feels rushed, it would be nice to sit and chat about the pregnancy in depth. I also recognise that they just don't have the time and want to make sure the key health checks are completed. But if you have questions prepared and say up front you have some things you'd like to discuss, they will make the time or sign post you to where you can find the information from another team or resource 🥰
With my first baby I had 2 longer appointments towards the end. One we discussed birthing in details & preferences, and the other was feeding & baby care related. I can’t remember the exact weeks, but maybe like 34-38 week appointments. Not sure if it works the same for all areas though
My midwife booked me in for my 36 weeks appointment at the same time as my 34 because I asked about the appointment where birth plans are discussed. So I'm expecting that to be a longer appointment and will ask my husband to come too
This is my second baby, my appointments last a little longer as I have more questions because things are different to when I was pregnant with my first. However with my first appointments were so quick for the same reason as you I had no clue about anything but had nothing to ask 😂 I have a few longer appointments when I was coming close to full term where we went over birthing options, pain relief, birth plan, all that jazz so at the moment they are just to check you are okay in yourself but once you get closer to due date you should be getting longer appointments
Mine are very quick - which I see as positive as I don't have any concerns to be discussed and so far, everything has been very smooth. My midwife always asks if I'm going to antenatal classes, so I assume they expect you to get info from there.