How often to go to Rotunda?

suzanne01

Hi all,

I am 14 weeks pregnant, I've seen my GP already 2 times and I have my first appointment in Rotunda in 5 weeks.
I want to go public with combined care. How often will I have to go to Rotunda when it's combined care?

eviltwin

I'm doing combined care in the Rotunda too. I had my first appointment at 16 weeks and its been roughly one appointment a month after that. I'm seeing my GP every fortnight.

I'm 34 weeks and its been a normal pregnancy so far so I'm not sure if it would be more commen if there were issues.

Combined care has been great though...the hospital queues are a pain !

janbaby

I'm 28 weeks and just met with the midwife yesterdy for a check up. She told me to go to my own GP in 2 weeks and then I'm back to her in a month. Is it necessary to go that often? I will def go to the midwife but do I need to go to my GP if everything seems ok.

eviltwin

janbaby wrote: »

I'm 28 weeks and just met with the midwife yesterdy for a check up. She told me to go to my own GP in 2 weeks and then I'm back to her in a month. Is it necessary to go that often? I will def go to the midwife but do I need to go to my GP if everything seems ok.

God yes you have to go!!!

You can feel fantastic and still have serious illnesses like pre eclampsia. I went for a normal check up with my GP at 25 weeks, I was feeling fine and turned out I had very dangerously high blood pressue. Had I not had the check up the doctor says I could have gone into labour!!!!

Dont take the chance..go to every appointment you have

fi1979

Ya definately go at the intervals told. Apparently pregnant women are prone to kidney infections, and could get anaemia easily as well. Anyway when the doctors is free, why not go and be reassured.
I'm in Cork, and was told go to the Docs every 4 weeks, and so far had a hospital visit end Sep, and next is end Nov. I'm 15 weeks.
A bit surprised you guys are so much more regular, I guess its this combined care thing?

LegacyUser

I'm starting to get worried. I went to the doctor when I found out I was pregnant at 4 weeks as I hadn't a clue what to do. Had my first and only hospital appointment so far at 16 weeks and I don't have my next scheduled until 25 weeks (I'm now 18.5 weeks). Should I be going to the doctor myself anyway?

foxy06

You should make an appointment for your gp anyway in between. Ask your gp to give you all the info you need on visits. You should have gotten a white card to bring to all your visits and this has the frequency of visits required.

Definitely go to all the visits your given. They are free under the combined care anyway and as eviltwin and fi1979 said you can have an illness and not realise. I had a kidney infection at about 35 weeks and started having contractions which may have turned into early labour as I just put the pain down to usual pregnancy aches and pains. Its worth the effort to look after yourself during this time as your body is not just looking after you. Baby needs your to stay healthy too.

LegacyUser

I don't think I'm under combined care as the hospital never said anything about that and I don't have a white card.

I suppose for peace of mind I should get myself to the doctor every month or so. The €60 per visit should be worth it.

What should I ask them to check? I suppose blood pressure but what else? They did blood tests at my hospital visit so I'll probably see the results at the next hospital visit.

foxy06

You are entitled to free visits if you are going public. Are you thinking of going private or semi private? If so there will be costs involved but otherwise your entitled to 6 free doctors visits and your hospital visits and your stay there when you have your baby. Your doc will usually check your blood pressure, Urine sample and listen to the heartbeat. You may need to have your doc organise the white card for you as I think that is how they get paid for the visits but do go and they should be very helpful.

Hope all goes well

LegacyUser

Thanks for that. I'm going public but neither the doctor nor hospital mentioned anything about free visits or the white card. I think I'll make an appointment. Thankfully I've been feeling great throughout the pregnancy and I've booked a scan in a private clinic for Wednesday as the hospital one was useless.

eviltwin

babyontheway wrote: »

Thanks for that. I'm going public but neither the doctor nor hospital mentioned anything about free visits or the white card. I think I'll make an appointment. Thankfully I've been feeling great throughout the pregnancy and I've booked a scan in a private clinic for Wednesday as the hospital one was useless.

You have to ask for the white card sometimes. I only got mine at week 22 because I asked for it, wouldnt have got it otherwise

Its just a white card that your doctor fills in at each appointment and its got information on it about when your next visit is and so on. The Rotunda have their own card they give you on your first visit and you have to bring that to every appointment ... they will write on that what GP visits they recommend so you cant forget

hacked

That seems really frequent compared to what I'm doing at Holles Street. They saw me at 17 weeks, told me to go to the GP in another month, and then back to the hospital a month after that.

I would go in as much as a they tell you to to be honest with you. I'm hardly in there to see a dcotor, and the one time I went in with a serious concern I was treated like dirt.

Sounds like they have a good care plan!