Can 1st OB Visit Be Skipped?

[sere234]

Just found out on Saturday that I'm pregnant with our first baby I'm probably going to skip going to an OB and just find a local midwife by February. This is okay, right??

I'm taking a prenatal vitamin, Calcium, DHA, and Vitamin D. My diet is already pretty healthy and I'm continuing with my normal exercising/activities. I'm having just mild cramping and occasional nausea.

So this is fine, right? It just seems weird to wait a month or two....

[Peony]

The MW's in my area don't see patients until after 12 weeks. It is fine not to go in until then!

[fruitfulmomma]

Same as pp, midwife doesn't see me until around 12 weeks. I've never seen an OB, except the two on-call when I had to deliver in the hospital.

[Ruthla]

Well, no. You can't skip the first visit. Even if you don't see an OB until the 39th week, that would still be your *first* visit to that OB. You can avoid seeing an OB at all, but you can't skip the first visit and just jump to the 2nd or 12th visit. You have to do the first visit first.

Seriously, there's no real reason for a 1st trimester OB or MW appointment in a normal, helathy pregnancy. There definitely are specific medical reasons that some women need to see an OB sooner, and somebody being treated for infertility is likely to have early visits to confirm the pg (and these women tend to post a lot about their visits, sometimes making it look like early OB visits are more common than they really are.)

[1babysmom]

If I were seeing a care provider I probably wouldn't go until closer to 20is weeks at the earliest. I didn't start with my MW for prenatals last pregnancy until 24 weeks. So yeah, I see no problem in skipping!

[Tulafina]

I just had my 1st prenatal appt at 14 weeks with my mw. I see no reason in going earlier...so in my opinion Feb should be fine The only thing I was concerned about was contacting as early as possible so I would have a spot. It's crazy in Alberta when trying to find a mw. Have a great pregnancy!


(And a big to 1babysmom. We were in the May 08 DDC together. Congrats on your upcoming arrival! We're expecting #3 in June

[Jelinifer]

Since it's your first, they may want to do a medical history intake on your during your first visit... my midwives did that with me, despite me being a patient of theirs for well-woman care already. I went early and got that boring intake visit over with so I have it done with so we could spend our next visit doing better things-like hearing the heartbeat.

[newmommy7-08]

We did infertility treatments and because of that our RE sees us at 6 and 8 weeks for an ultrasound to confirm a viable pregnancy.... and that we have implantation in the uterus as opposed to the tubes. My midwives don't see us until 10-12 week. (the OB i started w/ during my 1st pregnancy was the same.

[sere234]

Thanks everyone I'm glad not seeing doc/midwife for a couple months makes sense to you all too!!!!

[Drummer's Wife]

yep, many providers don't want to see you until the end of the first trimester, anyway. Unless, of course, you have any issues or concerns. There really isn't much that can done as far as 'care' besides your history intake, and an rx for prenatals. I can't recall for each of my four pregnancies, but I remember for the last one I went in for my first visit with my MW (who is also my mom) at 16 weeks.

oh, and congratulations!!

[GuavaGirl]

My Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) sees you at 8 weeks. I'm glad I did it then because they did blood tests to make sure everything was in check, and having the heartbeat confirmed with an ultrasound made it feel real. We started telling people after that appt.

I would at least call and make an appt as soon as you can. Especially if you want to get a certain midwife.

[jillmamma]

I agree with the others...unless you have a medical condition that could affect your pregnancy, are taking medications you want to be sure are safe, or have any other questions/concerns/history you want to see them about, I think waiting till about the end of first tri is fine. I did see my CNMs at 8 weeks because I am taking depression meds and wanted to make sure that I was managing that safely during pregnancy.

[Pinoikoi]

Originally Posted by Peony

The MW's in my area don't see patients until after 12 weeks. It is fine not to go in until then!

Yes, but some also limit the number of patients that they have delivering in any given month... so if the OP waits too long she might not have a slot left.

I would at least do some interviews. Get my foot in the door and make my appt for the 12 week appt or so.

One of pregnancies had low progesterone though. I wouldn't have known about it except that I had a blood draw to confirm my pregnancy and my numbers came back low. I got on the supplements after that.

[GuavaGirl]

Just curious.....What is the reason that one would want to delay seeing a health care provider in early pregnancy? I just seems like a good thing.

[JL83]

With my first pregnancy, I had an 8 week consult/intake appointment. We went through my medical history and made sure I was a candidate for midwifery care. Then I left with the form to get blood work done. My midwife was happy to have those results sent to another care provider if I'd gone with someone else.

Then I had a 12 week appointment as my 1st real appointment.

Personally, I would recommend starting your search now. In my area, by the time you are 6 or 7 weeks, the homebirth midwives are already full. I called the 1st time at 6 weeks and got put on the waiting list.

[Pinoikoi]

Originally Posted by JL83

Personally, I would recommend starting your search now. In my area, by the time you are 6 or 7 weeks, the homebirth midwives are already full. I called the 1st time at 6 weeks and got put on the waiting list.

This was my concern too. I guess it depends on what area the OP lives though as to whether there are enough midwives to meet demand or not. AK does not have enough medical personnel in ANY category I think (midwifery included!)

[darcytrue]

I didn't go in until after 11 weeks (14 weeks with my second pregnancy) with my last two pregnancies and I saw an OB both times.

[sere234]

EEEK!!! You are right!! I better start searching now so midwives don't get booked up!!

Knowing me I'll do it all today cause I'm want to get a good midwife but I'll try to hold off until next week! Who's going to be checking e-mail/voicemail 2 days before Christmas There's a local homebirth group I'll get a hold of to give me info too.

Thanks for your help!

[xixstar]

I prefer seeing my mw starting about 20 weeks. We don't do any additional testing, so really all I'm doing is going checking in each month, checking heart rate, and fundal measurements. So really, there isn't any reason to jump on that bandwagon too early.

However, I did call my mw around 6 weeks just to get on her calendar for the next year.

[Lauren31]

I might go and get blood tests to just check your blood type. I found out I was O negative and DH was B positive so I was vigilant in checking for bleeding/spotting just in case I had to get the rhogam. I never even thought about blood type prior to finding out I was pregnant. Beyond that though, it seems unnecessary to me to see a provider. Make sure you book early though, especially if you want a good midwife. Some birth centers and homebirth midwifes fill up fast!!!