Team Naked Doula

Every pregnancy is different but there’s a general shape to how it goes on an NHS pathway. Your postcode can affect the details though, so ask your midwife early on what your local setup looks like. The booking appointment is usually around 8-10 weeks. It’s usually your first proper appointment and it’s long. They’ll ask about your health, your family history, the biological father’s family history. They’ll go through all the tests and screenings they offer too. All of it is a choice. Every...

In the UK, your booking appointment is usually your first proper in-person thing with the NHS. It happens around 10 weeks. And it's much less medical than people expect. No scans or real tests, it’s just a long conversation about you. If you've gone private, your independent midwife will have their own schedule. Worth checking it lines up with what you actually want. It's mostly questions. A lot of questions. About your health. Your partner's health (or whoever the biological other parent...

The first trimester does a lot to your body in not very long. HCG (pregnancy hormone) is behind most of the new symptoms, and a fair chunk of the emotional chaos too. So if your brain has been on a low hum of is ‘everything okay?’ since the test came back, that’s the hormones talking as much as anything else. Anxiety is one piece of it. There’s also the crying at adverts. The rage at your partner for breathing. The sudden disconnect from a body that doesn’t quite feel like yours yet. The...