carl
Despite 2022 being one of the ‘slowest’ years in recent memory for birth rates in the UK, we still saw over 600,000 new lives brought into the world – a staggering number, and one you may be looking forward to counting amongst in the coming months. Pregnancy is at once awe-inspiring and terrifying, particularly when you need to think about maternity care; what do you need to know about your options?
Maternity Team
The saying ‘it takes a village’ applies just as much to the birthing process itself as it does the raising of a child – and the NHS is a world leader in helping ensure the safest, healthiest possible pregnancy. Maternity wards are staffed by a variety of medical professionals, from midwives and paediatricians to anaesthesiologists and sonographers. Each has its expert part to play in comfort, care and emergency treatment, meaning you’ll be in good hands during your journey.
Antenatal Appointments
At key milestones during your pregnancy, from early signs right through to your final weeks, you’ll be checked in with regularly via antenatal appointments. These regular check-ups are essential for charting the progress of your pregnancy, and the health of the foetus as it continues to grow. One such check-up is a rite of passage for new pregnancies, being a session of ultrasound imaging – which gives you your first glimpse at the life you’re creating, and can also reveal the respected sex of that which you’re expecting!
Birth Plan
A birth plan is not a necessary part of any pregnancy, but is something which you will be highly encouraged to think about in the early weeks and months of your pregnancy; simply put, it’s an informal document that allows you to outline what your ideal birth experience looks like and includes some basic decisions. These decisions include your preferences for pain relief, your ideal location for giving birth and the people you’d like present, permitted in, or indeed forbidden from, the delivery room.
Informed Consent
The other side of the coin is that the NHS will be keen to use methods of their own to check on you and ensure a smooth pregnancy, from the aforementioned antenatal appointments to emergency caesarean sections. You need to be able to give informed consent for such procedures to take place, though, so you will be walked through the procedures, their purposes and the risks inherent to them – before being allowed to decline or refuse a given method.
Knowing Your Rights
The above is a key example of why knowing your medical rights is so important. Failure of a medical professional to properly avail of your options, or to attain your consent for a given intervention – particularly if that intervention leads to injury on your or your child’s part – can amount to maternity negligence on the part of the department caring for you. This is a thankfully rare occurrence, but knowing the civil avenues available after the fact can be, if anything, relieving.
In Conclusion
With such a strong team of talented and caring individuals undoubtedly in your corner for your pregnancy journey, you have everything to learn and little to worry about. Still, having an idea of what to expect can only help. All that remains is to wish you luck on your pregnancy journey!
