Pregnant in Denmark: 2nd trimester

Read my first trimester post here!

I’m officially in the last week of my second trimester, which is wild! I can’t believe our little guy is going to be here in just a few months. But with the second trimester behind me, here is the next installment of What to Expect When You’re Expecting in Denmark.

As before, a quick disclaimer that I am obviously not a medical professional–just a person writing about my own experience in the hopes that others find it useful 🙂

First midwife appointment

About a week after I got my hospital assignment via e-Boks, I got a separate e-Boks from the hospital with the date and time of my first midwife appointment. This message also came with general information about “Graviditet, fødsel, og barsel” (pregnancy, birth, and maternity leave) at the hospital; a permission form for me to indicate who the hospital can share my medical information with (ex: my GP, my husband…); and the “mødekort” (meeting card) that gave a short overview of what each midwife appointment would focus on. (I printed both of the latter documents to take with me to the appointment, but the midwife already had printed copies for me, including the permission form in English.)

According to the mødekort, the first midwife appointment should be between weeks 13-18 (this might vary between hospitals or regions). Ours was scheduled for week 16 — but since we found out at the 1st trimester ultrasound that I was 3 weeks further along than we thought, it ended up being week 19.

At the appointment, our midwife:

• asked me questions about my health and the pregnancy so far to add to my “journalnotater” (basically my online medical records)
• walked me through the permission form to make sure I understood it (even in English, it was a little confusing)
• gave us some further information about labor and delivery at our hospital, and a whole booklet on breastfeeding
• told us how we could access the online versions of the hospital’s birth preparation classes, since the in-person classes are canceled due to Covid
• checked the baby’s heartbeat

In general, our midwife was incredibly kind and patient with us first-time parents, and she had no issue with conducting the whole appointment in English, which is always appreciated! She explained that all of our future midwife appointments will be with her (yay!) but she may or may not be present at our birth.

On a personal note, I was having a lot of anxiety in the week or so leading up to this appointment, mainly because of all of the uncertainty and unanswered questions about having a baby in Denmark. I had been reading pregnancy & birth books in English, which were incredibly helpful and informative, but they were focused around having babies in the US or UK. I still just felt like I didn’t even know what the standard practices were regarding L&D in Denmark. I have heard from a lot of expat moms that the first half of their pregnancy in Denmark is really stressful and difficult, because you have so few medical appointments in the first trimester, so it just feels like you don’t have a chance to talk through your questions and concerns with a medical professional. I absolutely felt like that, and I can understand why many women would choose to go to a private clinic or hire a doula for more personalized care. I had been considering this myself, but after this appointment, I felt completely confident that we were in good hands, and much more relaxed. Our midwife was able to answer a lot of my questions, refer us to helpful resources, and assured me that we’d be able to talk about any of my other questions or concerns in future appointments.

Second trimester ultrasound

The second trimester ultrasound is around week 20, and this is what is referred to as the “anatomy scan” in the US (I’ve seen it called gennemskanning and misdannelsesskanning –malformation scan!! eek!!–in Danish). I scheduled this scan with our assigned hospital. At this ultrasound, the midwife checks to see that the baby’s organs and body parts are developing as they should. Normally this is also when you can find out the baby’s sex (though we found out at our first scan since I was already at 16 weeks).

25 week appointment

The ~25 week appointment is with your GP and is basically a checkup to make sure there are no issues with you or the baby. It’s kind of funny because at this point, you’re already 2/3 of the way through the pregnancy, but this is really the first thorough checkup (assuming a typical, low-risk pregnancy).

At this appointment, I took a urine test so my GP could check for elevated sugar and protein levels (which would be markers for gestational diabetes and preeclampsia). Then my GP checked my blood pressure and weight, then he measured my stomach (to check the size of the uterus) and checked the baby’s heartbeat. He also asked me questions about the baby’s movement, how I was feeling, etc. and I had a chance to ask questions.

Blood test

I have never gotten more blood tests in my life than I have during pregnancy. So fun!! This one was because when I got blood work at 8 weeks, the doctor could see that I am Rh-negative (I don’t fully understand this, to be honest, but I think it just means I have a negative blood type). This could potentially be a risk factor for the baby, but fortunately modern medicine makes it easy to detect and treat. So I just had to get a blood test at 25 weeks to see if the baby’s blood is positive or negative. If it’s positive, I’ll get an injection at my next midwife appointment to prevent any issues for the baby. If the baby is also negative, then it’s not a concern. I had thought that this blood test would be part of the 25 week appointment with my GP, but I actually had to schedule a separate time with the nurse. So if you’re in the same Rh-negative boat, make sure to check whether you need a separate appointment for the blood test.

And… that’s a wrap on the second trimester! Leave your questions, thoughts, and experiences in the comments — I’d love to hear! 🙂