Antenatal Clinics

Service hours:   

Tuesday to Friday: 9am to 5pm.

If you require urgent advice, please contact:

The aim of all antenatal care is to ensure the safety of mother and baby.  Regular contact with a midwife can ensure that potential problems are picked up and dealt with.  You can have antenatal care at the antenatal clinic at Noble's Hospital and also at your GP practice with the community midwives and GP.  All pregnant women on the Isle of Man are booked under 1 of our 4 Consultant Obstetricians, Mr Fayle, Mr Divers, Mr Ghosh and Mrs Moroney. 

Your GP will refer you to the hospital antenatal clinic for your antenatal care.  Your first visit is your booking appointment with a midwife, usually at 8 to 10 weeks of pregnancy.  At this appointment the midwife will check your blood pressure, measure your height and weight, test your urine and measure your carbon monoxide level.  She will ask you about your health including medical problems, any operations you have had and details of any previous pregnancies.  It would be useful for you to ask both your family and your partner's about any possible inherited disorders prior to this appointment.  You will also be counselled about all the routine antenatal screening we offer such as blood tests and scans.  This initial appointment lasts for about an hour and you will be asked many questions and given a lot of information; please bear this in mind if you have young children. 

You will get a separate appointment in the post for your first routine scan at approximately 11 to 12 weeks and immediately following that, the blood clinic will be able to take your bloods as previously discussed at the booking appointment. 

At your booking appointment, you will be given a date and time for your next visit to clinic, usually at around 13 to 16 weeks.  By the time you have this appointment we should have your medical history, blood results and scan findings to hand to be able to make a plan for your antenatal care and possibly even your baby's birth.  You will be seen by a midwife and a doctor at this time and you may or may not see your named consultant. 

For most women, antenatal care with the community midwives and GP is most convenient and sensible, but some women may be seen more regularly at the hospital.  This is decided on an individual basis and may alter during the pregnancy.  You can always be referred back to hospital care if your midwife or GP is concerned about some aspect of your pregnancy or vice versa if a potential problem is resolved.  You may not need to return to the hospital antenatal clinic at all, but if you go past your due date, you will have an appointment to discuss the possibility of induction of labour. 

Whenever you come to clinic, we will always test a sample of your urine and check your blood pressure.  Please ask for a sample pots so that you can bring one with you to every visit.  Your abdomen will be felt and measured and we will ask you about baby's movements and listen to his or her heartbeat.  Periodically we will request to take more blood from you, either routinely or in response to a particular concern.  If you are found to be Rhesus Negative, you will need to be seen at 28 weeks at the hospital antenatal clinic for the administration of an anti D injection.