Your prenatal or antenatal appointments, also known as midwife or obs and gynaecological appointments, are crucial to your pregnancy care. You need them for monitoring, tests, vaccinations, examinations, support, treatment if necessary, help with your birth plan, and to have your questions answered. In the US, you can expect to have about ten to fifteen appointments, depending on your healthcare provider and whether your pregnancy is high or low risk. In the UK, the number of appointments you have as part of your NHS care depends on whether you are having a high- or low-risk pregnancy and how many times you have given birth. A low-risk pregnancy for a first-time mum usually involves 10 NHS midwife appointments. Any pregnancy after that will involve seven appointments, provided it is also low-risk. Appointments offered by private providers can depend on your health insurance policy and be tailored to your needs.

Regardless of the quantity, the quality of these appointments is extremely important. Research shows that they can vastly improve the health of your pregnancy, as well as outcomes for you and your baby. Given that prenatal appointments allow for the monitoring of your baby and help to shape your labour and birth, some of these outcomes can have a lifelong impact. They will also influence any future pregnancies. To ensure you have the best possible experience each time, Unii has some top tips on making the most of your antenatal appointments, regardless of who your provider is and where you see them. Sadly, there are still inequalities in healthcare for minorities throughout the developed world, and we also offer advice on advocating for yourself at antenatal appointments. This article is concerned with more general advice.

Tackle administrative tasks over the phone.

Your doctor or midwife can answer a wide range of questions, but they work with administrators who can handle the more boring things, such as bookings, forms, and financial information. Administrators can often deal with your case by phone, so you do not need to waste any appointment time, and the precious minutes you have can be devoted to benefiting from your doctor or midwife’s medical expertise. You should try to ask what will happen at the next appointment at the end of each appointment, so you can prepare, but if you forget, you can also call the administrator and ask what to expect.

Plan for the time you have

The time devoted to individual appointments can vary widely, and you can usually find out how long each is from your doctor or midwife’s admin team. Your antenatal care is all about you, and while your midwife or doctor will have their priorities, you are entitled to make appointment plans of your own, from questions you may have to reassurance you need and options you want to explore. Many things take longer than you imagine as a patient, simply because healthcare professionals want to be thorough and provide you with all the information you need. You may also need to have complex or upsetting things explained to you more than once. Make a priorities list of your most urgent topics and stick to it. You can always reach out about anything you don’t get covered afterwards.

Foster open and honest communication.

Lots of healthcare questions are potentially embarrassing, but many first-time mums report their surprise at becoming confident discussing things they would previously have deemed too private or graphic. This is usually because there is now a growing baby with needs to consider, and they recognise how important it is to be completely transparent with anyone looking after them. You must be able to communicate properly with your doctor or midwife about anything that might affect you in pregnancy, from a history of STIs to any persistent drinking or smoking habits to things you think are too mundane to discuss, like whether you’ve had chickenpox before (they will probably ask about this anyway and can check if you’re unsure); it’s all relevant and material to your care. They are not there to judge you; they have seen most things before (and more than once!) and genuinely just want the best for you and your baby, so speak up and keep talking.

Understand how you can submit questions you have after the appointments.

Your pregnancy notes, which are usually given to you at your first antenatal appointment, should contain contact information for your healthcare team. You can also request checks between appointments if you are anxious. Remember, there is a difference between questions you have and symptoms that need to be reported without delay. You should call the hospital or go to A&E if you experience any vaginal bleeding, pain that may be contractions, or if you think your water has broken, have fallen, been injured, experience suicidal ideation, or are feeling faint in pregnancy.

Have someone with you if possible, especially if there are complications to discuss.

Pregnancy is a dynamic experience that can leave you feeling unexpectedly ill, tired, or emotional on any given day. It’s always important to register the information you receive at antenatal appointments, and bringing someone with you can help you to do this comprehensively. If your partner is in full-time work, attending seven or more appointments on top of the antenatal classes you may also want them to attend can seem like a lot. You should be allowed to have them there on speakerphone or facetime during your appointments, but you need to make your healthcare professional aware that they are on the phone and listening for transparency.

Know the routine procedures you can expect and the tests and vaccines you will be offered.

These include weight and blood pressure checks for mum, and a check on the baby’s heartbeat. From the second trimester, you can also expect to have your bump measured. Tests and shots in pregnancy can vary, but understanding routine antenatal tests and antenatal vaccines you are likely to be offered can help you prepare. Vaccine evidence, in particular, can be extremely overwhelming in the first instance and may take time for you to go through, so it is important to have read up before you attend the relevant antenatal clinics.

Dress for ultrasound scans and examinations.

Clean shoes, underwear, and loose clothing that keeps you covered up will ensure you arrive at your appointment comfortably and can change for scans and examinations quickly and with minimal embarrassment.

Understand what “informed patient consent” really means.

You can question and opt out of anything and everything in pregnancy, even if it does not feel possible in the moment. Questions aren’t just important to getting the result you want; they can help decide based on full lists of the pros and cons. You can also learn more about tests, vaccines, treatments, and labour and birth options before you arrive rather than trying to absorb, decide, and consent in the limited time you have during appointments or—worse!—when you are between contractions.

There’s no such thing as a stupid question (and take notes!)

Nobody expects you to be a pregnancy expert, even if you’ve had a baby before, and even healthcare professionals need to engage in continuous study and requalifications to stay on top of all there is to know, so please do ask questions. Many mums now keep a running list of these in the notes app on their phones, but a pen and diary are just as good. In fact, it may be better for scribbling down notes during appointments, as it’s not legal to record these audibly via voicenote. You are entitled to have anything you don’t understand explained to you as many times as is necessary. While there is endless information about all things healthcare online, we encourage you to stick to legitimate and medically-reviewed sources, such as the NICE and NHS websites, for any research you do outside of your appointments.

You can change doctors or midwives if you don’t feel supported.

Hopefully it won’t come to this—most healthcare professionals love what they do and aim to give you the best possible patient experience—but you are usually entitled to see someone else if you are not getting the support you feel you need. Choosing a midwife or doctor can be challenging, so it’s not surprising that sometimes personalities don’t gel and you need to speak to someone new or get a recommendation from a friend or family member. As you don’t have time to waste in pregnancy, it’s a good idea to define exactly why you think your current care is not working out and use this to inform your next choice.

For more advice on taking care of yourself in pregnancy, labour, and birth, check out Unii’s Antenatal Classes, with prenatal video episodes taught by senior NHS midwives, an award-winning obstetrician and gynaecologist, and six other leading healthcare experts. Only at unii.com.

Ten Tips to Optimise Your Antenatal or Prenatal Appointments

Make the most of every moment with your healthcare professional.