"Maternity Care"

I am currently pregnant with my third child. After 2 slightly complicated pregnancies which were both consultant led and led to elective sections I am understandly apprehensive about a third pregnancy.

After contacting AMU to make my initial booking appointment with a midwife I was informed that there was a long wait for an appointment due to staff absences. This results in me not being seen by a midwife until I am nearly 12 weeks pregnant. From there I will need to be allocated a scan appointment quickly to ensure I am within the windows for Cubs scan and will also mean I will not see my consultant at the 12 week appointment and will need to be referred back to the consultant clinic.

This results in increased anxiety with unanswered questions and worries about my current pregnancy, more appointments that was originally necessary and a short notification times for scans and appointments which will result in problems for my own workplace.

I have nothing but the highest respect for the midwifery staff and Doctors and have always received excellent care. However, I am very disappointment that the health board is not putting measures in place to increase appointment availability. Surely extra clinics could be added to support the amount of pregnant woman or additional staff allocated to support the midwifes who are struggling with patient numbers?