How to go about changing consultant after a bad appointment?

[tots2ten]

I am pg with number 6, I saw the consultant on Friday. It was quite a crap appointment in that she decided because i was fat overweight that i needed to have extra scans at 24/28/32/36 weeks as people who are fat overweight stunt the growth of their babies i did say thank god i was overweight then dd1 is 7lb 15, dd2 9lb, ds1 9lb 12, dd3 7lb 11, ds2 8lb 14. So if i stunted their growth can you imagine what size they would have been otherwise. I stated that it would not be needed, she wrote in my notes declined for growth scans. And told me that it would be in my best interest to have the scans. She insisted that I had a GTT at 28 weeks, when i asked was it necessary she said 'are you going to question everything?' i got the feeling she didnt like me, i didnt really like her, i didnt feel very confortable with her. I am seeing my midwife on thursday so will she be able to request change of consultant or would i have to phone the hospital.

I have had the same consultant with the last 5 and he was great, very laid back, didnt bother seeing you until you went overdue, or if there was a problem and the midwife referred you.

[mrswee]

You can always ask for a second opinion.

was she really skinny?

We were getting fertility investigations and the doctor we got was very skinny... She said to me ' at your BMI you shouldn't even be thinking about having children, you will put yourself at risk and your baby at risk' my BMI was only 35 I was a size 16-18 and of course now that I am pregnant I always have those worrying words in the back of my mind even though my midwife wrote low risk on my notes in that section!

[tots2ten]

Thank you, I am going to request changing consultants, when i see my midwife.

She wasnt very skinny, its just the way she spoke, very off hand. I felt as though i was wasting her time, and that being fat overweight meant that I was putting a great risk to my baby.

My midwife has classed me as low risk, i was only being booked in with a consultant as I go overdue.

[NorthernLurker]

What a load of nonsense!You don't have to have a GTT - you don't have to have anything you don't feel is warrented. An appropriate HCP will be clear about why they recommend an intervention and be prepared to back that up with evidence. Just riding roughshod over you and dismissing your right to question their recommendations is not a good sign!

Good luck getting another consultant!

[treedelivery]

You can change - it isn't a problem. You could ring and ask to speak to the head of midwifery who could handle it for you.

The policies they follow for good practice suggest a GTT for higher BMI's. Some do at over 30, some at 35. The more pregnancies we have the more our glucose tolerance isstretched and challenged, so it may be a good idea for you [though of course I don't kow your history]
It is good practice to offer this screening to those who may be at higher risk of the condition - but obviously terrible practice to make people feel like shit.

If you read the NICE stuff, at the end of the big investigation into best practice there is a grey box that puts the findings into bite size chunks. Very Handy! There is also the intra partum guidelines too, on the site.

It's good to read the NICE stuff, it can be a good place to start when you ahve a concern about either your health, pregnancy or the people looking after you and their management.

Good luck!

[OracleInaCoracle]

from the otehr side of the coin i have quite a low bmi and am very short and slim. my fertility cons was v harsh with me about my weight and quite insistant that even though i was slimmer than this when i had ds i should bear in mind that all pgs are different and being underweight would not help me or thany baby that we conceived. as a result i have managed to put on a bit of weight and am now a size 8.

i understand that you didnt like her, and sometimes we do have chemical reactions to people. good luck with the rest of your pg.