Worried about your pregnancy?

What should I do if I am worried about my pregnancy?

Whilst the majority of pregnancies will progress without complications, many women experience problems which they feel they would like support or further information for.

If you develop worrying symptoms during pregnancy, there are several places that you can turn to for advice:

Your general practitioner (GP)

Your GP can be accessed for a range of non-urgent services. If you have a non-urgent concern not related to your pregnancy (chest/urine/ear infections, skin complaints etc,) you should see your GP for advice as they are better placed to help with these problems.  If you are unable to book an appointment, or need to see a GP out of hours, call your surgery and follow the advice provided. You may also consider visiting a walk in centre if your GP is closed, or you cannot get an appointment.

Walk-in Centres

Walk-in centres can be accessed by anyone and have more flexible opening hours. You can visit a walk in centre for any general illness or concern for which you may have visited your GP. You can find your nearest walk in centre at www.nhs.uk. Here are a few walk in centres in the Manchester area:

Accident and Emergency Department

Your local Accident and Emergency department can still be used if you have an emergency or accident not related to your pregnancy (chest pain, difficulty breathing, collapse, etc).  Always inform the staff in the department you are pregnant.  If your condition may affect your pregnancy, you will be referred to Triage for assessment.

Make sure you have your green handheld pregnancy notes with you at all times.

Your Community Midwife

Your community midwife can be contacted using the details given at booking.  Usually these are written on the front of your handheld notes.

Emergency Gynaecology Unit (if you are less than 20 weeks pregnant)

If you are less than 20 weeks pregnant, the Emergency Gynaecology Unit can be contacted on (0161) 276 6204, 24 hours a day.

Obstetric Triage at Saint Mary’s Hospital (if more than 20 weeks pregnant)

If you are more than 20 weeks pregnant contact the Obstetric Triage Department on (0161) 276 6567.

Please have your pregnancy notes to hand when you call, as we make ask you to provide information from them.

About Obstetric Triage

Obstetric Triage is an emergency service.

Accessing the most appropriate service helps to prevent unnecessary delays for those needing to attend  Obstetric Triage. Please consider using some of the other services listed above if you have a problem that is not related to your pregnancy.

Saint Mary’s Obstetric Triage Unit provides a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week emergency assessment service from 20 weeks of pregnancy, up to 28 days following the birth of your baby. Triage works in a similar way to an Accident and Emergency (A&E) department, and, like A&E departments can be an over-used resource. This can cause unnecessary waiting times and delays in providing the right kind of care.

Remember to consider how you will get to the hospital, if required, during your pregnancy.  Ambulances for emergencies only.  If you call an ambulance, you may be taken to the nearest hospital, even if you are booked at Saint Mary’s.

When to contact Triage

The Obstetric Triage department sees pregnant women from 20 weeks of pregnancy onwards. Before 20 weeks, you should contact the Emergency Gynaecology Unit on (0161) 276 6204 for advice.

Some of the reasons to contact Triage:

The following concerns can be seen in your nearest Antenatal Assessment Unit during weekdays and Triage out-of-hours:

• Reduced baby movements.
• Itching (not accompanied by a rash).
• Headaches (not relieved with Paracetamol) and/or visual disturbances.

Reduced movements

The importance of monitoring your baby’s movements and becoming familiar with your baby’s patterns of movements will have been highlighted during your pregnancy.

Don’t ignore any reduction in the amount you feel your baby move.  It may be an important sign that there is a problem.

If you are unsure if you baby is moving around as much as normal, try lying on your left side, and spending an hour or two monitoring movements.  If you don’t feel movements, or you still feel movements are  reduced, contact one of the following numbers for advice:

Antenatal Assessment Units:

• Saint Mary’s Antenatal Assessment Unit – (0161) 276 6404, Monday to Friday, 8.30 am-6.00 pm.
• Salford Antenatal Assessment Unit – (0161) 206 5291, Monday to Friday, 8.00 am-5.00 pm.

Outside of these hours, contact Triage at Saint Mary’s (0161) 276 6567.

Postnatal Issues

After the birth of your baby: Your community midwife will visit you in the immediate postnatal period. Out of hours if you experience any excessively heavy bleeding, feverishness/very high temperature, problems related to healing stitches or Caesarean section scars, or other urgent concerns, please contact Triage for advice.

Community Midwives can be contacted for advice on non-urgent postnatal issues on: (0161) 276 6246.

Visiting Triage

Always try to bring your hand held pregnancy notes to Triage when you attend.  This will provide us with important information about your pregnancy so far.

We aim to see you within 15 minutes of arrival.  Initially you will be assessed by a midwife in a Triage room.  A full set of observations (including blood pressure, pulse and temperature) will be taken, and you will be asked to provide a urine sample.  You can then provide a little more detail about your concern.

Based on the information you provide, the midwife will allocate a ‘priority’, so you have an idea how quickly you can expect a midwife or doctor to provide further care.

Triaging in this way ensure women are treated in order of clinical need, rather than time of arrival.

Red (Emergency) – You will be seen and treated immediately.

Amber (Urgent) – You should be seen within 15 minutes.

Yellow (Moderate) – You should be seen within 45 minutes.

Green (Non urgent) – You should expect to be seen within 4 hours.

Waiting Times

During busy periods, waiting times may be increased.  Some of the reasons for delay may be due to staffing levels, availability of rooms on Triage, or availability of doctors.

It is difficult to predict waiting times, and we understand that waiting can be frustrating.

We appreciate visiting Triage may be a stressful time for you and your family, and we do our best to keep waiting times to a minimum.

We recommend you bring a drink and some light refreshments in case of any delays.  Staff can advise you of the nearest place to buy food and drinks, and fresh water is available in the waiting area.

Please note: If you experience any changes in your condition whilst awaiting review after being  triaged, please inform a member of staff.

This next section gives advice on what to do if you experience the following symptoms in pregnancy: