When to start seeing a midwife

L

Liquorice

Registered User
Hi. I am 23 weeks pregnant and am currently attending hospital or medical centre appointments every 4 weeks or so (public system).

Does it make sense to start seeing a midwife now who can answer questions or concerns in between these appointments? Or do most people start seeing midwives much later?

I was seeing my private doctor occasionally but he is a fertility specialist and, apart from being very expensive, he is not so specialised in general obstetrics and gynaecology. As such, I don't think he would be much help.

I'm just looking for someone to be able to ask questions of and get reassurance when needed (e.g. I have had a deep pain in my right side for a couple of days now that I am starting to worry about).

What do other people do? And if you start to see a midwife can you just call her whenever you want or do you enter into a fixed schedule with her?
 
Hi Liquorice... not sure about a midwife but you could opt to see a private doctor in between appointments. Though I was so comfortable with the public system after my first couple of appointments that I thought I would stop seeing the private doctor, like you mentioned things cropped up in between that I wanted to have checked out so I did end up going in for private appointments between the public one. The doctors in Central tend to be the most expensive... if you don't live in Central, try asking your Chinese friends for recommendations. They will know of cheaper options and the doctors are still good. I am seeing someone near where I live.

About the pain in your right side...I am 23 weeks too and got that pain around 22 weeks. I started getting a crampy feeling first and then it localised on the right side. I checked with my private doctor and she felt it is round ligament pain, where the ligaments attached to the uterus get stretched and sometimes irritate the surrounding nerves. It's more common on the right side. Google "pain in right side 22 weeks" and you'll find that lots of women have the same concern. So it could well be that for you too. But as you said, it's comforting to get a professional opinion.
 
See the midwives at Annerley. The do prenatal checkups just without the scan. They are friendly and helpful!
 
Thanks Banane76, will check them out.

And thanks charade. Very reassuring that a lot of people get this. I googled it and am checking it all out.
 
I also forgot to mention they're cheaper than seeing the doctor. Maybe 300 for an appt now. I plan to split my appointments up with the private doctor and Annerley, plus the public hospital when I get closer to the date.
 
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