Does anyone know about NHS preconception care?

[Sevy571]

Hi everyone! First-time poster here.

We are thinking of starting a baby project this year and while looking at the NHS website I found that you can get "preconception care" where your health and your partner's health is assessed and you get advice plus very likely, vitamins that you should be taking one to 3 months before even starting to TRY and get pregnant.

nhs.uk/common-health-questi...

Has anyone done that? My GP office doesn't know what this care is about, so who should I call, the hospital maternity directly? That seems odd as I'm not even pregnant yet.

Also can these vitamins be taken without medical advice over the counter?

Any insight highly appreciated!

Thank you!

[Seb9]

From looking at the link you posted it looks like this is for people who may have pre-existing conditions such as epilepsy or diabetes.,that have had problems getting pregnant or that have genetic problem that may be passed on during a pregnancy. If you don't have any of these you probably wouldn't need any preconception assistance.

From my understanding you only get assistance with conception when you have been trying for up to one year without success.

You also do not get assistance if you can get pregnant until you have had up to three miscarriages which is when they will start investigations into why this is happening.

You can pick up pre pregnancy vitamins from any supermarket or pharmacy. You only really need to take folic acid and vitamin D as long as you're having a healthy varied diet. You can take a multivitamin if you would like as long as this is for pregnancy or pre pregnancy. There are branded makes or you can use the supermarket own brand there is hardly any difference only the price. You do not need to be prescribed these vitamins and they are perfectly safe to take.

I would recommend downloading an app to chart your periods and your ovulation. So that you can work out when your most fertile period is and have sex around these days for the best chance of conception.

Eat a healthy diet, cut down on drinking give up smoking and be healthy BMI. That's about it, the rest is up to nature.

Best of luck

[Sevy571 in reply to Seb9]

Hello Seb9,

Thanks a million for taking the time to answer me and so thoroughly.

I wasn't sure if that web page was aimed at a wider audience or not and you are most probably right. (Funny but I would have thought that it was encouraged to have an appointment where we are basically told all you said above).

I'll have a wander at the vitamins section then. The rest of my lifestyle is rather in check so I hope it goes fine once we start.

You see, knowledgeable, may I ask a further question please.

Is it true that a woman is deemed "geriatric mother" after 35? How hard a rule is that? I am turning 36 in a few months and this concept causes me a lot of anger inside, being labelled like that.

And I wonder if (everything going well aside) I will be denied some things - like a possibility of home birth should I choose that - because I'm above 35 for my first child. Or does it depend on the personal beliefs of the midwife, where she'll deny or support depending on her background.

Any clue much appreciated, thank you ^^

Have a nice day!

[Seb9 in reply to Sevy571]

I personally was never referred to directly as a 'geriatric mother'. When you have your midwife appointment they go through all your risks. Such as weight, age and any existing conditions. These determine what risks they think you may have and where they suggest you give birth.

I had a high BMI and was 37 during my pregnancy so they recommended birth in the maternity ward in the hospital and to be consultant led. The maternity suites would not take anyone with a high BMI, but my age wasn't a factor for them. I think that you have to have more than one risk factor before you get put on to a different care pathway.

If you want a home birth and have no significant risk factors then your midwife can arrange this. I don't think they're allowed to force anything on you that you don't want to, so as long as the risk is not high you can stand your ground for a home birth.

That being said, you can have any birth plan you like and baby won't always follow it. So be prepared to go with the flow. If you set your plan in place and it doesn't go the way you want you can feel a bit like you've failed, which is absolutely not the case.

I ended up with an induction, an epidural, gas and air... pretty much the full works! But I was happy with the choices I made and my baby was born healthy which was the only important thing.

There's a lot of pressure on women to have the perfect pregnancy, the perfect birth and be the perfect mother which is just impossible! So go easy on yourself and do whats best for you and baby, if that's a home birth go for it, if that's a hospital birth with all the pain relief going go for it.

There's a section on birth on the NHS link about where to give birth which is quite helpful as well. nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy...

Best of luck with everything

[Sevy571 in reply to Seb9]

Thanks for your kind and measured words. I can see you got experience and maturity on the topic, which I don't have yet I am really worried about hospital birth (for a normal pregnancy obviously, fingers crossed!) as I have both the belief that this will risk cascading unnecessary medicalization (a hammer sees nails everywhere) leading to more intervention; but more importantly, I panic at the slightest thought of going in a hospital for more than a few minutes. Members of my family have had long sickness of many years, and eventually died in the hospital, and my mum had a traumatic birth in hospital (even if that was more than 30 years ago) and I am subconsciously affected and prejudiced by that. I just can't see myself relaxing in a hospital environment. I have this inner conflict of "birth is not an illness so why go to the hospital" so if anything, I think that this mindset in and of itself is a nudge in the direction of not-hospital. Maybe a birthing unit could be a compromise. I just don't know.

As you say a lot of it is unpredictable anyway, so I am trying to work on my hospital-fears to prepare myself in case that happens... But most of the time I prefer not to think about it.

I appreciate the concept of the pressure of having a perfect birth. I con't have enough room in my head right now to see how much of that is true for me, certainly a good deal. I hope that this will be addressed by preparation to childbirth techniques like hypnobirthing though. Do you know?

Many thanks again. It is reassuring to have measured and interesting feedback like yours!

[Seb9 in reply to Sevy571]

One good thing I found was that once you speak to your midwife at your booking in appointment you normally see the same one through your pregnancy and build up a rapport with them. So you can discuss any fears or concerns with them and go through your birth plan in detail. Mine was lovely and really made me feel confident with my pregnancy and choices. I went to the birthing unit near us for most of my appointments and although some aspects are hospital like, it definitely doesn't have that depressing hospital feeling. Everyone was lovely. I have to say even in the maternity ward of the hospital it was lovely, I had my own room and it was decorated pleasant colours, didn't feel too hospital like.

Hypnobirthing is meant to be really good, I never tried it, but I did an Nct course which I found really helpful and I met other pregnant mums at it too who I'm still in touch with. It's nice to have mum's with babies the same age to chat too.

I think you have to be guided by your pregnancy so much. I agree that pregnancy isn't an illness but by gosh there's a lot your body goes through in pregnancy and birth. I felt lucky I only had gestational diabetes through my pregnancy and only a small tear and graze after birth. Thees lots of stories about pregnancy and birth both the good, the bad and the ugly and your journey will be unique to you too. Best of luck

[TabbyT]

I was 40 when I got pregnant and yes, I was classed as a geriatric mum!! 🤣 (much to my disgust! 😉).... I lost count of the number of times the words, “at your age...” were used!!

Also, I have a pre existing medical condition so went to my GP prior to trying. I was referred to a specialist nurse who recommended I took a prescription dose of folic acid because the meds I’m on affect its efficiency. I also had 8 weekly blood tests to check my med levels, as the pregnancy hormones can degrease their effectiveness, so my meds where adjusted accordingly.

2 months of trying, and Bingo! baby girl was conceived 😀

[Sevy571 in reply to TabbyT]

Sigh. I think I would get proper pedantic if they said that to me. Like, show me the real numbers! ^^ But, I guess this is something you can voice either way? Saying it makes you feel really bad and worried so can they please not say that? I don't know.

Thanks for your feedback. 2 months to conception, that's amazing! I'm happy for you

Take care.