GP or midwife appointment

[Lata7384]

Hello ladies,

i am thinking to call my GP to get an appointment in the coming 2 weeks so that they can book my antenatal care. But do I need to tell them I have conceived via ivf and using an egg donor… please share your thoughts…

[Dinfertilitylady]

Hi Lata7384, personally I would be totally honest on both counts. If your midwife knows about the IVF she/he may understand your anxieties more. With regard to using an egg donor I think it’s important to be upfront as the donor may have a different medical history to yourself which may have a bearing on your antenatal care. Congratulations x

[User20]

Hi!

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

I agree, i would be totally honest. The egg donor thing is important when they test for downs, edwards etc as the range for test results depend on the age - they want lower numbers if the donor is younger and also in regards to testing for sickle cell/thalassemia they need to know.

I am pregnant after egg donor IVF and have been totallyhonest. It's only really ever been mentioned at my initial booking appointment and the 12 weeks scan where they do all the tests.

[Jess1981]

first of all congratulations.

Secondly in my area you cannot book to see a midwife is 8 weeks pregnant - this is sadly due to not all pregnancies being viable ( I've 4 losses) Depending on your health you may be to see a GP before hand. I told my GP very early as it was agreed I could have steroids and progesterone till 12 weeks.

Thirdly when I told the midwife I had had a 7 year struggle prior to conceiving my first daughter who is 3 years old I was asked if she was conceived naturally or IVF. I think there is extra antenatal care for IVF ( tho with my youngest daughter I had extra care as I had suffered a late loss as well as recurring miscarriages which I was under a specialist ) personally I wanted the extra care as I was a nervous wreck!

Thirdly I can't comment on egg donation ( other ladies may have further insight) but if it was me I'd be honest - everything you tell them will be confidential.

Lastly all the best with your pregnancy Xx

[Savvy_teapot in reply to Jess1981]

I saw the midwife at 7 weeks so that might depend on the service offered

[Jess1981 in reply to Savvy_teapot]

I think different areas will do things differently. I just stated what policy was in my area. It always surprises me how things vary within the NHS!

[Imperfect89]

I would let them know at the appointment. It doesn’t change much these days though, as soon as you’re passed over to NhS you’re just another pregnant lady. (Assuming you’re UK, sorry if I’m wrong).

Don’t let anyone take away from you how special you’re pregnancy is & if you have to fight for extra care then be firm- you’re allowed to not feel worried xxxx

Congratulations xxx

[Hidden]

I’ve been totally open about IVF and DE. The DE is important because as User20 says they will note down donor age etc as it’s used for screening purposes. I found the NHS struggled a bit with donor in that they only had a couple of fields on their system and got a bit confused about things like date of last period etc. (was it mine was it donor lols) but I think it was just lack of experience of the person I was dealing with! x

[HollyT7]

in our area the midwife ticks and extra box with ivf and we were consultant led because of this, extra scans... bonus 👌🏼❤️ second time around we were also consultant led but only because of our bigger first baby

[Savvy_teapot]

Come and join the Pregnancy after fertility forum. 😊 They will ask you all these questions at your 1st midwife appointment. I registered online through my local hospital. They had a website to use.

[Peonie100]

you should tell your booking in midwife because you get extra care with IVF pregnancy - extra scans and extra doc appointments