right a bit of background to explain. sorry this may be long.

im registered at a GP about 15miles away. we moved house just over a year ago and stayed with the practise as i had PND and needed to keep my care consistant etc. now heres where it gets complicated....i see the midwife that covers that area during prenantal care, but when ive had the baby my care transfers to the midwives 5 miles down the road. not only that but the round trip of 30 miles is hard when im ill or when i get bigger and i have to stop driving. (no public transport) no add to this that hubby is due away the whole of march and april, so wont be able to take me or the children if we need to go.

i like the surgery im registered with. its only 3 doctors, reception staff are fantastic, and they know my history. plus there have a walkin clinc every morning and evening which is very handy. bbbbuuutttt do i really need to think practically about this. when baby gets here it will be myself and 3 children registered at the far away one. but i am at high risk for PND again and not sure i would feel comfy talking to a stranger if i needed to.

what would you do???

Hmmm, its a difficult one.

I stayed with my parent's docs for years after moving out, which involved 40 mile motorway drive! It was only when i had my last lo that i decided to move gp to the one at the top of the road. I left it late though, i filled in the paperwork in the morning and went into labour in the evening lol

I understand the issues with getting there, etc, with OH being away. But i would also worry about your PND and strange docs.

Could you maybe arrange an appointment with your local gp, to check him/her out and see their care/interest in PND.

Unfortunately a good set of gps are hard to find.

Good luck though xxx

thank you, i did just wonder if i was looking for excuses to stay. but i really was in a dark place after DD2 and im really worried about it returning and having to explain it all over again.

I was in a similar dilema...i have a long-term illness that my previous gp dealt with since i was 15. I didn't want to have to go through the whole story everytime i saw a gp at the new practice. I had to in the end though, mainly so my girls were close to their docs.

Maybe you could change gps and ask your current gp to write a letter detailing your history in a more 'sensitive' manner, rather than just transferring notes over. That way you wouldn't have to go over all of it?

It really is a difficult to decide, i know xxx

so if i moved GP would my Midwife change automatically or would i have to do that as well. and also im under consultant care at the hospital.

if you changed GP your midwife would probabily change to one connected with the new surgery , but it should not affect your hospital care, unless the 15miles puts you in a diffrent 'area' so to speak, (eg from North yorkshire to cleveland?) I work ina gp surgery and we deal with registrations all the time. I would suggest changing your gp and getting your old gp to write a letter like someone mentioned for the new gp to see. Also when you register and see a go at the new surgery they should take your full history and have a good chat to you and document it all on the computer system so that any doctor you saw after that had the info there and you shouldnt have to thru it ALL every time. Hope that makes sense? xxx

thank you rihanna, it did make sense. it shouldnt make a difference to the hospital, do i just let them know ive changed when im next there then?

Although i was registered at the GP, i chose to have my midwife care at the hospital where i lived. So you could do that, just have all your apps at the hospital where you see the consultant.

well i spoke to hubby and the HV and they both think its a good idea to move practically speaking. the HV said there are 3 lovely lady docs there and alot of "her mums" like seeing them. she thinks i will get as good care there as at current practise. and my Prenatal care will be with the same group of MW's as my post natal care will be. im gonna have a chat with my gp tho and explain my reasons for moving etc so they dont think its them or aything and see if he will do a letter for me.

thank you for your replies and advice ladies, as always.....fab!!!

Yes just mention to the hospital your Gp has changed when it has so they can send the corrispondence to the new GPs. Dont worry tho, any letters, summaries etc from the hospital that may get sent to the old gps will just be forwarded to the new surgery or sent back to where they came from so the hospital staff would check the details again and sent to the new Gp.

** Just as a note, it sometimes takes the Health Authority at York 2/3 weeks to actually get the paper notes from your old surgery to the new surgery so i would ask your GP for a ''summary printout'' for you to keep and take to the new gp.
It only takes them a minute to print should be no problem, then you will have it with you to take to the new gps so they can start your care etc right away instead of waiting for notes to read up on.

xxx