Introduction According to latest CEMACH 2003 – 2005 (Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health) report, delay in booking is an absolute risk factor for maternal death, so CEMACH recommended that all pregnant women should have had their full booking antenatal visit by 12 completed weeks of pregnancy and those who are already more-than 12 weeks should be seen within two weeks of referral.

Aim To determine the time interval from referral to full booking visit and reasons for delay, against CEMACH recommendation.

Methods All antenatal women referred for booking at a tertiary level Obstetric unit in East of Scotland from August and September 2008 were included. Data were collected prospectively from antenatal booking office.

Results Out of 326 women, 304 (93.25%) women (Group 1) were referred at or before 12 weeks gestation and 22 women were more-than 12 weeks gestation (Group 2).

Only 43% in Group 1 and 45.5% in Group 2 had full booking visit as recommended by CEMACH. The mean waiting period from referral to full booking visit was 34.28 days (Range 2 to 70) in Group 1 and 16 days (Range 6 to 29 days) in Group 2.

Conclusion There was delay in both groups when compared to the recommendation by CEMACH. Common reasons for delays were due to delay in receiving referral letters, waiting time for scan and clinic appointments.