Antenatal appointment schedule in the UK

What you are entitled to

NHS antenatal care is free and the schedule is set nationally by NICE guideline NG201. If this is your first baby you should be offered 10 routine antenatal appointments. If you have given birth before, you should be offered 7. On top of that everyone is offered two ultrasound scans: a dating scan between 11 and 14 weeks and a screening scan between 18 and 21 weeks.

Those numbers are a floor, not a ceiling. NICE is explicit that additional or longer appointments should be offered where your medical, social or emotional needs call for it. Twin and triplet pregnancies, diabetes, high blood pressure and previous complications all trigger different, more frequent schedules.

When each appointment happens

The booking appointment

Your first appointment is the booking appointment and it is the longest — usually around an hour. NICE says it should happen by 10 weeks 0 days. The NHS books people between 8 and 12 weeks in practice. If you contact or are referred to maternity services after 9 weeks, NICE says you should be seen ideally within two weeks, because several screening tests have windows that close.

You do not need to see a GP first. In most areas you can self-refer to your local maternity service directly through your hospital trust's website, and doing so early is the single most useful thing you can do — late booking is the main reason people miss screening windows.

The rest of the schedule

The NHS schedule of routine appointments after booking runs at weeks 16, 25, 28, 31, 34, 36, 38, 40 and 41. The appointments at 25 and 31 weeks are for first pregnancies only, which is where the difference between 10 and 7 appointments comes from.

• 11 to 14 weeks: dating scan, which confirms your due date and checks how the baby is developing. Screening for Down's, Edwards' and Patau's syndromes is usually done at the same visit.
• 16 weeks: blood test results reviewed, blood pressure and urine checked. The whooping cough vaccine can be given from this point.
• 18 to 21 weeks: the 20-week screening scan, which examines the baby's physical development.
• 25 weeks (first pregnancy): the first fundal height measurement is usually taken from around this point.
• 28 weeks: a longer appointment. Blood tests for anaemia are repeated, anti-D is offered if your blood group is RhD negative, and the RSV vaccine is offered.
• 31 weeks (first pregnancy): growth and results review.
• 34 weeks: discussion of labour and birth, and your birth plan.
• 36 weeks: the baby's position is checked. Feeding and postnatal care are discussed.
• 38, 40 and 41 weeks: continued monitoring. At 41 weeks you will be offered a membrane sweep and a discussion about induction.

What happens every time

From 16 weeks onwards, a routine appointment follows the same shape: your blood pressure is taken, your urine is tested for protein, your bump is measured to track growth, and you are asked about the baby's movements and about your mental health. From 36 weeks the midwife will also feel your bump to check the baby's position. None of this takes long, which is why appointments after booking are typically 10 to 15 minutes.

Booking and rearranging

Antenatal appointments are usually arranged by your midwifery team and sent to you as a schedule at the booking appointment. NICE specifically recommends that you are given this schedule up front so you know what is coming.

You have a statutory right to paid time off work for antenatal appointments if you are an employee, and that includes travel and waiting time. Your employer can ask to see an appointment card and confirmation of pregnancy after the first appointment, but cannot refuse reasonable time off. Fathers and partners have a right to unpaid time off for up to two appointments.

If you cannot make an appointment, telephone the maternity unit rather than simply not attending. Repeatedly missed appointments are flagged as a safeguarding concern in most trusts, and rebooking is straightforward if you call.

What happens if you miss appointments or book late

Nothing is refused to you for booking late, but some options genuinely expire. The combined test for Down's, Edwards' and Patau's syndromes has to be done between 10 and 14 weeks; after that only the less accurate quadruple test is available, and it screens for Down's syndrome only. Screening for sickle cell and thalassaemia is meant to be completed by around 10 weeks so that partner testing and further options remain open.

If you have moved area, changed hospital, or arrived in the UK partway through your pregnancy, contact any maternity unit directly. NHS maternity care is free to everyone in England regardless of immigration status at the point of delivery, and NICE guidance covers care for recent migrants, asylum seekers and refugees specifically.

NICE also names several other groups whose care should be adapted rather than simply slotted into the standard schedule: women who misuse substances, women aged under 20, women who experience domestic abuse, and women who have difficulty reading or speaking English. If any of these apply, say so at booking. Reliable interpreting services, including British Sign Language, should be arranged where needed, and NICE is explicit that an interpreter should be independent of you rather than a family member or friend.

Where to get help

The NHS pregnancy pages set out the appointment schedule and what happens at each one. NICE guideline NG201 is the underlying clinical standard your trust is measured against, and it is publicly readable if you want to check what you should have been offered. Your named midwife or the maternity triage line at your hospital is the right first call for anything urgent between appointments — reduced fetal movements, bleeding, severe headache or sudden swelling should never wait for the next scheduled visit.