At 22 weeks the midwife said she would get in touch with me to arrange seeing me at 24 weeks. 3 weeks later I finally managed to get hold of her!!!!!!!!!!! (Despite her saying she'd write it in her diary to phone me etc.) and arranged an appointment for today. She's cancelled because she didn't feel well and wanted to go home.

I know most people don't see the midwife till 28 weeks so its not a problem, its just concerning me how unreliable she is! I didnt get to meet her at my first appointment cus she was on holiday (despite me being booked in to see her.) And I met her for the last 5 mins of my 16 week appointment cus she'd been in a meeting.

Is this the case with all midwives or just mine? I feel like asking for another midwife but don't know if its reasonable on the grounds of "she's just unreliable."

She said she will contact me next week to arrange another appointment. If she doesn't I will kick up a fuss. I know everythings okay with the baby cus I had the 20 week scan (but didnt see the midwife then) and I had a 3D scan on wednesday.

Sorry for the rant I'm just annoyed.

can't you contact the hospital and explain the situation asking to see another midwife?
I think it's crazy that you haven't seen her yet. You could have high blood pressure or sugar in your urine and these are all things that get detected during the antenatal checkups. I would definitely complain with them.
Good luck!

i know exactly what you mean when i reached 31 weeks they waited 5 more weeks to give me another appointment then when i did manage to get to see her they told me that my midwife had been changed + trying to contact her is very hard but without them where would we be

Mines not very reliable either. She is always forgetting my notes,or forgetten my blood test results. And then ontop of that she never explains anything. I had app with her few weeks bk,and she had a trainee mw there who did all the tests including feeling how baby was laying. When she was finished feeling tummy my mw asked her if baby was head down,to which she replied oh dear didnt feel for that. Then my mw looked at me and went.." oh doesnt matter you know he is head down anyway" I just thought,how can you teach a new mw how to do her job properly like that. Besides i would have liked them to confirm that he was head down,and if he was engaged at all or not. All the mw that i had were crappy,havent met a gd one yet. So you arent alone hunny.

What a lot of new mummies to be don't know is that your GP can do everything your MW can.
I know I harp on a lot about it but my MIL has worked for the NHS for over 20 years as a parentcraft teacher, midwife, nursery nurse and health visitor. I was having serious issues getting in touch with my MW. As soon as I told her she said 'Well what's wrong with your GP'.
All you do hun is ask for an antenatal appointment with your GP. He or she will measure fundal height, heart rate, your blood pressure and your urine and if neccesary your bloods. He or She will also ask how your general health is, provide information about classes and also book your next appointment for you while you are there and can check your diary.

I have been thinking about my midwife and how often I see her etc...

Looking back I saw..

Doc twice for booking in and referring me to mw.

MW at about 11/12 weeks (but saw another mw as mine was off)
MW at about 18 for bloods for sb and downs etc and referral to hosp research thing.
MW at 21 weeks for erm dunno then told to call back in Feb for making appointment in MARCH at 34 weeks!!!

I have now moved practice anyhow and am booked in to meet my new mw next week (at 32 weeks) hopefully get info on antenatal classes.

But I am not bothered much as I will probably not actually see these mw during my stay in hosp but only when they come to see baby afterwards. Plus I am getting more of my care at the hospital due to the research so getting urine and bloodpressure done every 2 weeks, scanned every 2/3 weeks(due to diabetes) and bloods when they need done.

But alot of my friends raved about how great their midwife is etc etc and to be honest I couldnt even tell you her name!

Emma.xx

That is true elmaxie, these days you dont even contact your MW when your in labour you contact labour ward! I know my MW has her phone off constantly and its not like you can wait around is it!!! Lol. Labour ward have a team of brilliant MW's as do the community MW section at your local hospital. If you do feel as if you want to be seen by a MW theres always an option to call them and explain the situation they've always been helpful to me xxx

i would be annoyed too, definitely if she fails to see you next week as arranged i'd ask for another midwife