The long wait to see an obstetrician

foxy06

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0819/health.html

This article is on RTE today about the extremely long wait to see an obstetrician at the moment. One woman has had to wait until she was 7 and a half months!

slarkin123

I seen this yesterday. Its really maddening. I've got my first appointment when I'm 6 and a half months pregnant. I'm close to 40, had a miscarriage last year and am more than worried.

langers

If you are really worried as i was and wanted to check everything was ok, i went into the A&E in Portlaoise hospital, pretending i had a few cramps. They have an early pregnancy clinic mon-fri 9-5pm & I just had to wait an hour & then i got a scan & thankfully everything was ok. I dont know if other hospitals do that but it might be worth checking out. Anything for peace of mind because i also had a miscarriage & constantly paranoid!

foxy06

slarkin123 wrote: »

I seen this yesterday. Its really maddening. I've got my first appointment when I'm 6 and a half months pregnant. I'm close to 40, had a miscarriage last year and am more than worried.

I thought I was bad at six months but I have had no miscarriages or any other problems. If you have had previous problems during pregnancy you should be a priority. Hope everything goes ok for you

crazy cat lady

I had my first appointment at 16 weeks and had an early scan at 7 weeks as I had a mc last year too.

Where is it you are having to wait so long for your first appointments?

I know from working as a midwife (no longer practicing!) that maternity services in Dublin are stretched to the limit. I'm attending a satellite clinic so I don't know if thats why I was seen at 16 weeks, maybe I would have to wait longer if I was going to the hospital for visits.

I wouldn't be attending emergency clinics if there was nothing wrong, it just puts even more pressure on services and can impact on services for people who have genuine problems in their pregnancy.

If you've had a miscarriage in the past, you should be offered an early scan. Your gp can request this for you.

Your GP can also do the same things that your obs can do if you need some reassurance before you have your first obs visit - test your pee, take your blood pressure and listen to the fetal heartbeat (usually after 10-11 weeks)

Also if your hospital offers it, try and take advantage of midwife led services. You'll find its a much more personal service, and midwives look at pregnancy more as a normal part of life as opposed to obstetricians who can confuse pregnancy with a medical condition.

tomcollins97

slarkin123 wrote: »

I seen this yesterday. Its really maddening. I've got my first appointment when I'm 6 and a half months pregnant. I'm close to 40, had a miscarriage last year and am more than worried.

May I ask what stage your pregnancy was at when you first requested an appointment?

slarkin123

I was about 8 or 9 weeks gone, I phoned the day after I got the pregnancy confirmed at my gp.

tomcollins97

Ok, don't get me wrong, the situation is pretty bad but it is no different to any other public waiting list. Maybe women should be attending GP's rearlier & requesting gyne appts. earlier in the prenancy?

Look, we are all too aware of the waiting times for a colonoscopy, the fact that kids who urgently need treatment in Crumlin cannot get it, Breast Check not being available in all areas of the country etc etc

It is frustrating, but it is a pregnancy not an illness and maybe the HSE do not see a scan and check up by a gyne as more urgent that potentially life saving treatment.

As a parent it must be a nightmare all the tings that go through your head, wondering & hoping that the growing baby is OK and the scan certainly puts a lot of that worry to rest. And in most cases everything IS fine.

But we need to get a bit more realistic, there are limited resources available and a lot of people in a much worse state health wise than pregnant women. My only advice to those planning kids is to save up and go private, not much consolation I know, but in these times there may be others more deserving of immediate treatment/appointments.

Once again, I do not mean to be harsh, but I think that the media are blowing this way out of proportion and not providing a balanced arguement.

Nevyn

Ok it is not just being pregnant, pregnancy is not risk free for a lot of women,
which is why we have pregnancy women monitored to the level we do in this country.
Early intervention when something goes wrong with any medical issue is very important,
and women still can face very serious health risks just from being pregnant.

As for going private current esp in Dublin it does not make a blind bit of difference and
private wait times for a first appointment can often be longer then public ones.

Ireland is currently in the middle of a baby boom and it was unforseen, we could still have a booming economy with the country being a billion in the black and we would still have these issues due to lack of physical recourses such as beds and appointments slots.

foxy06

Early intervention when something goes wrong with any medical issue is very important,
and women still can face very serious health risks just from being pregnant.

This is exactly the reason why pregnant women need to be seen at least once early on in the pregnancy. Even if it was to replace one of the appointments they would normally get later on in the pregnancy. Blood tests at 7 months pregnant is just too late.

elainee40

Im pregnant at the moment, im 15wks and 3 days today, living in portlaoise, my pg was confirmed at 4 wks by my GP and i phoned the hospital and gp sent letter in that day to get the ball rolling.
My dad has diabetes type 2, my aunt had to have a termination last year due to her baby having saver downs and edwards syndrome, plus im a week out of the swine flu and i still have no date from the hospital and all the above does not matter to them.

I think its terrible to be honest.
Someone i know is 2 and half wks behind me and she is going private in dublin and she has had scan bloods etc already done.
Money talks in this country

Das Kitty

Your GP can do your first antenatal visit on your combined care card. You could also ask them to contact the hospital for a cancellation slot.

Squeaky wheel gets the grease.

elainee40

Das Kitty wrote: »

Your GP can do your first antenatal visit on your combined care card. You could also ask them to contact the hospital for a cancellation slot.

Squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Tried, tried and tried lol

Das Kitty

Your GP won't do your first antenatal visit?

Flip, I'd be looking for a new GP if I were you.

In Galway I got my appointment letter 2 weeks after my GP sending the letter in. My GP told me if it was for more than 18 weeks to go in and get it done by her.

gowayouttadat

I went public in cork and went to my GP when I found out I was pregnant (was around 6 weeks). It was Christmas and my GP was off on holidays so it was only a locum. Went back to the nurse in the GP's office the following day and she did my first set of bloods and organised combined care and sent the letter to the hospital to organise appointments. Like Das Kitty I got a letter about two weeks later with the dates for my first two hospital visits... the first one was when I was 13 weeks (I think it would have been before this if there hadn't been a slight delay over it being christmas time) and the second one for 19 weeks.

nayorleck114

My wife had 2 babies in Castlebar, we went public. Dr Maeve saw her as soon as our GP sent details. She later had complications and Dr. Maeve and Dr Mohommad saw her every week. I have to say that Castlebar has a great maternity service.