All Change

Thursday 7^th July 2009

I’ve secured a ‘proper’ midwife appointment today.  I am in the middle of changing GP surgery, so I’ve found it very laborious getting the right information and even struggled to get an appointment.  The appointment I secured yesterday turns out to be at the Patrick Murphy Unit which is a bit like an abortion clinic and counselling session.  There is no way that I need to attend this now and thankfully it is now cancelled. 

So much has changed since I had my youngest four years ago.  There’s me faffing about worrying over registering at the GPs surgery and getting seen by the Doctor before anything could get done when all along all that I needed to do was a self-referral to the midwife team at Leighton Hospital.  The lady I spoke to today was extremely helpful.  She offered me a booking-in appointment next Wednesday which should last approximately an hour.  I remember this type of appointment from having the other three children however, it is new to me that this is now done at the ante-natal clinic at the hospital rather than at the GP surgery.  Are the NHS cutbacks that bad now that midwives are limited to staying in the hospital?

I am quite lucky that I live near to the hospital but I can imagine some women finding it very inconvenient to travel from the other side of Cheshire just for routine appointments that used to be carried out at their local surgery.  Then of course there is the £3 parking fee, maybe even more if there is a long wait at the clinic.  If there’s one thing I’ll never forget is that the ante-natal clinic at Leighton is never running to time and quite often I spent more than two hours waiting around.  This baby is costing me money before it is born….the sign of things to come.

March seems such a long way off at the moment but from past experience I must remain inpatient and enjoy what little freedoms I have before my life becomes completely taken over by sleepless nights and swollen nipples.  I need to prepare my nest and at the rate I work, March is far too soon for me to have this nest ready.  Time to get off my backside and get the duster out.