As soon as we know you are pregnant we will arrange your first appointment with a midwife. This is known as the 'booking appointment' and during this appointment you and your midwife will begin planning your antenatal care.
When attending your first appointment at North Mid, please bring:
Your pregnancy appointment, also known as your booking appointment, will either take place at North Mid or in your local GP surgery or Children’s Centre.
At this appointment the midwife will ask you a series of questions about your medical history, previous pregnancies and health and well-being. The midwife will give you information for your pregnancy, including information about:
Your booking appointment usually takes around one hour and is also an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have. You will also receive information about your first scan.
At your appointment you will be given your maternity notes. Please always take them with you when you have an appointment to see your midwife, GP or attend the hospital for any reason during your pregnancy.
We follow NICE guidance when planning your antenatal care and your appointments.
Your antenatal care at North Mid will be either midwifery-led, consultant-led or shared care.
Antenatal care is usually provided by the team of midwives, though if any complications arise, or if you have a known medical problem, the midwives will refer you to an obstetrician, who will then become the lead professional in your care.
The midwife may also refer you to other professional colleagues such as an anaesthetist, dietician, or psychologist during your pregnancy.
If everything is normal during your pregnancy, you will follow our low-risk midwifery-led pathway.
This means you will see a midwife for the majority of your appointments. If there is any deviation from the normal, your midwife will refer you to one of our consultants.
If you have any medical conditions that will affect your pregnancy you will be following the consultant-led care pathway. A midwife will still be involved in your care.
If you have medical conditions which wont detrimentally affect your pregnancy, you will have consultations with a consultant and a midwife.
We offer preparation classes for parents-to-be that are informal and covers things that happen during your birth and beyond.
You can book your classes through your midwife.
We also offer hypnobirthing at North Mid. This is an alternative birth education programme that teaches simple but specific self-hypnosis, relaxation and breathing techniques for a better birth.
Hypnobirthing is a complete antenatal education that will equip you with knowledge and understanding on how hypnobirthing works within the whole process of pregnancy and birthing experience.
There is a cost for hypnobirthing at North Mid, which our team can talk you though.
If your interested in hypnobirthing, get in touch with the team.
North Middlesex Maternity Department understands the importance of having the right support for women during their pregnancy journey. We are reviewing this on a regular basis, and we are now able to support / welcome two consistent birth partners with you into our Labour Ward, Birth Centre, Induction of Labour. On the Maternity Ward we have now advanced to 24hr visiting for one designated birth partner.
This can be a member of your family, a friend, a doula, Birth Companion or an independent midwife. We need to keep everybody safe. All birth partners must follow these rules and any other instructions from staff, at all times:
Thank you for ensuring that these rules are followed and keeping yourselves, our families and our staff safe. These guidelines remain under constant review.
Professional Midwifery Advocates (PMA) are experienced practising midwives trained to support and guide midwives to deliver the best possible care. Every midwife will meet with a PMA at least once a year to support them in their role as a midwife and help equip them to deliver a high standard of care for you and your family.
What do Professional Midwifery Advocates do?
· Give guidance and support to both you and your midwife
· Ensure your care is appropriate and delivered, in the right place, by the right person and that it will benefit you and your baby.
· Help midwives to access additional education and training in practice as necessary.
How can professional midwifery advocates help you?
Our Professional Midwifery Advocates work closely with our two consultant midwives by:
If you become pregnant and feel that you had a previous difficult birth experience, a PMA will work with you to address any issues you may have experienced, and can work with you to plan for your next birth.
You can email us at: Northmid.pma@nhs.net and someone will respond to your email as soon as possible.
The process for diagnosing COVID-19 infection is changing rapidly within the UK. Testing is now available to anyone, including pregnant woman, if you have COVID-19 symptoms.
If you have not displayed any symptoms for COVID-19, it is likely that your result will come back as negative. Should this not be the case and your test result is positive, if you are in hospital when your result is received you will be moved to a single room and cared for with the necessary infection control measures.
Testing positive for COVID-19 alone does not necessarily mean you need to stay in hospital so when your obstetric team feel it is safe for you to be discharged home, this will be arranged and you should continue to self-isolate at home.
You should not attend any non-urgent appointments during the isolation period; these will be re arranged.
Live in Enfield? Find out how to book a test
Live in Haringey? Find out how to book a test
Watch this video about taking a test
Pregnant women who have been advised to self-isolate should stay indoors and avoid contact with others for 7 days. If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home.
The NHS guidance on self-isolation currently recommends people should:
You may wish to consider online fitness routines to keep active, such as pregnancy yoga or Pilates.
If you have concerns about the wellbeing of yourself or your unborn baby during your self-isolation period, contact your midwife or, out-of-hours, your maternity team. They will provide further advice, including whether you need to attend hospital.
If you are advised to go to the maternity unit, please attend via private transport and alert the maternity unit reception once on site, before going into the hospital.
If you go into labour during self-isolation, you should call the maternity unit for advice and inform them that you have confirmed COVID-19 infection.
The Midwife will make an assessment over the telephone and give advice on whether to continue to remain at home if thought to be in early labour or whether to attend the hospital.
Your maternity team has been advised on ways to ensure that you and your baby receive safe, quality care, respecting your birth choices as closely as possible.
When you and your maternity team decide you need to attend the maternity unit, general recommendations about hospital attendance will apply:
Screening for COVID-19 is an optional test and requires consent before the swab is taken. Should you decide not to accept this screening test and are not displaying any symptoms of COVID-19; there is no increased risk to yourself and your maternity care will not be affected.
All maternity staff are currently wearing the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) which is the same for all women regardless of those who have not had a COVID-19 screening test.
Should you decide not to have the COVID-19 screening test but you are displaying symptoms of the virus, you will be cared for with the appropriate infection control measures whilst in hospital and will be asked to self-isolate for at least 7 days with other members of your household needing to isolate for 14 days.
If you wish to discuss a non-urgent matter with a Midwife you can either contact your named Midwife directly or contact the maternity advice and information line, open 7 days a week, 10-6pm: 020 8887 4238
If you need to speak to a Midwife urgently, please contact the Maternity Triage, telephone number 020 8887 3682
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises that pregnant women have the Covid-19 vaccination in pregnancy.
Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are the preferred vaccines for pregnant women of any age who are having their first dose.
Anyone who has already had the first vaccination and is offered a second dose while pregnant should have a second dose with the same vaccine unless they had a serious side effect after the first dose. Click here to find out more.
When you have been contacted to book your Covid-19 vaccination, you can do so by visiting the National Booking System here.
Further information on the Covid-19 vaccination is available in other languages here and accessible formats including British Sign Language here.
Download the Mum & Baby app for links to the latest government information on Covid-19 and pregnancy. It is available for download on Apple and Android devices — just search 'mum & baby' in your app store.
To keep all pregnant women, people in labour and their support people safe while using maternity services during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, we are asking women and their support people to take a lateral flow test the day before their routine appointment.
You can find out how to do a lateral flow test and how to order one here.
Testing twice a week is recommended.
When you come into hospital, we will ask you for the date, time and result of your last lateral flow test and will record this in your notes. We will also ask your support person for the date, time and result of their last lateral flow test and record this.
Please note: if you cannot provide proof of your lateral flow test result this does not mean we will not see you but we ask you and your support person to do the tests to help us keep our staff and everyone using our maternity services safe during the pandemic. Thank you for your support.