I'm a health visitor, AMA

[KittyMcAllister]

Just as it says really!

I know we're not exactly the most well liked group on here but happy to answer any of your questions...

The point is that it is mandatory to offef the visits/appointments. It is not mandatory to accept them. Mothers should not be told to attend clinics; they are an optional service. It is a question of honesty and transparency and I did not and would not engage with people who did not tell me the truth.

To convey the impression that mothers can be instructed to do these things is just wrong.

Further if an HV is there to advise on infant care I expect their knowledge to be spot on and absolutely correct. If women are told they have to engage then surely the advice should be tip top and absolutely contemporaneous. Why should any woman waste time otherwise.

If one of my nabies had failed to thrive I'd have made an appointment with my GP and requested referral to a paediatrician. I did not need that or anything similar facilitated by a nurse whose response to everything was "I'm not an expert".

@OhtheRoses - we understand, why are you repeatedly going on about it? I agree with a pp, if you still feel this strongly about this over 20 years after you last dealt with HV I suggest you seek counselling to discuss it rather than derail this thread. You are coming across as incredibly irrational to the point that I'm not surprised HV were on your case if this was what you were like when your dcs were babies. Contact your MP and ask for the service to be abolished if you feel this strongly. Whining on here isn't going to do anything.

Presumably things have changed somewhat since you last saw a HV? I gave birth 3 years ago and I knew HV visits were not compulsory. I think I saw one on day 14ish (which I was grateful for as it coincided with DP first day back at work - the brief company was nice) and I had dd weighed 3 times as a baby, as my choice because I was confident she was thriving. I knew the service was there if I needed it, and in my case it was very useful on one occasion as my GP surgery was bloody hopeless and the HV was able to help me.

Thanks for the supportive messages. I definitely think it sounds there are gaps in some HVs' knowledge with premies given PP's experiences.

*Chocolatedeficit
*
No, as long as you're a qualified nurse or midwife you can train to be a HV. I have colleagues who were previously learning disability or mental health nurses.

Hi there. When I was postnatally depressed and had twins with reflux and was unable to breastfeed are you able to comprehend how devastated I felt when I reached out and asked for simple advice about any bottlefeeding techniques to be told by a hv " we don't give out formula advice, because we don't encourage it." ? Fwiw I self harmed after that comment.

Thanks for your responses and thank you to the poster who said sleeping arrangements are checked in some areas!

Do you feel trapped by policy/having to tick boxes? At my 6 week appointment, the HV handed me a load of info about weaning and talked at me about it (tbh, she did a lot of talking AT me, but that's not your fault!) but I kind of got the impression that she knew it was an odd thing to talk about when I wouldn't be weaning for quite a while after her visit!

No, as long as you're a qualified nurse or midwife you can train to be a HV. I have colleagues who were previously learning disability or mental health nurses.

I guess you're in England? It's not the case in my UK country.

A link for you Chocolatedeficit:

www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/public-health/roles-public-health/health-visitor/entry-requirements-health

Sorry you had such hurtful advice Baubletrouble43. If a family chooses to formula feed I never judge that decision and try to support them to do what's best for their baby.

I know it's weird to talk about weaning at 6 weeks - it seems so wrong when there's a little baby in front of you! It's just we have no more home contacts after that (well not in my area anyway).

Thanks Kitty, it does seem to be the case in England. It's definitely not in Scotland. I'm not sure about Wales and NI.
From NHS Scotland:
To gain entry to any of these courses, you need to be a Registered Nurse or Midwife in parts 1 or 2 of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) website. You should also be educated to degree level, although some universities will take previous academic credit, or prior learning into account.

I'm a HV too :) I don't dare say that very often on MN.

I'm 0-19 trained as also have the school nurse branch of SCPHN that I did an additional 12weeks to achieve. But I'm on the register as a HV.

You seem like a lovely and non-judgemental HV. I would like to ask if you have colleagues you do evidence-based training alongside, why might some choose to ignore this best practice and current research and stuck to suggesting baby whisperer and self settling bollocks? Even when it is just a big myth? Do they butter away in the classroom that it wasn’t like that in their day?!

Mutter not butter!

Will I be judged at my 9-12 month review for never having taken my babies to clinic for weighing? We had no issues with growth (they're a clothes size up from their age and have been for months and months so we knew they were growing properly) and they weaned perfectly so just never felt the need, also taking twins to clinic alone is very hard work!

Thanks leperitpont!

I guess like any profession there are those who will stick to their preferred methods even though the evidence is against them. Although there was a big recruitment drive 5 years ago, I do have a number of colleagues who've been doing the job for decades and habits are ingrained.

I'm lucky to work in a trust which very much values what we call "infant mental health" and strongly emphasises the importance of responsive parenting (something I didn't know about when I had my own children)!

Also, waves to mcdog as a fellow HV!

No ASucculentChinesemeal, I certainly wouldn't judge you for not taking twins regularly to clinic! I was always in awe of those mums who did manage to do it because it's quite an operation!

I think as PP said, it's very easy to become obsessed with growth charts and centile lines which can be very anxiety-provoking (I've been there myself). Encouraging people to trust their instincts is powerful but challenging.

I wish you had been my hv op. You sound like my first I had with dd1 , when I was a young parent. She was like a kind aunt. Shame they're such a mixed bag. You do sound great.

Oh and succulent, I've barely ever made it to weigh my twins either! X

Both the HVs I had with DS when I was foundering in a pit of PND with a refluxy colicky nonsleeping baby who turned out to have a genetic issue were lovely, supportive, kind and knowledgable. I’m really grateful for their involvement and for how willing they were to continue supporting us long after most mums stop seeing the HV.

My question is: there’s a 3.5 year old boy at my DS’s nursery who keeps biting the other children. Nursery say they’ve asked the HV to get involved - what kind of intervention is she likely to have suggested?

When you do home visits do you secretly judge people by their homes?

succulent and bauble I've had my twins weighed weekly ever since they were big enough that I was allowed to take them out of the house. (DT1 was v v small at birth so was keen to keep an eye.) Last week I had a KiT day at work so missed weighing clinic for the first time ever. They are 20w old. This week I got grilled about where I'd been!!! "You weren't here last week. Did you go away? You hadn't said...."

No bothering next week, I can tell you that!

I am feeling nervous about my dd's two year review in September time, as she is only beginning to put two words together. Will she be referred for speech and language therapy? I have spoken to other mums who have really made me worried about it, and said I'll be told off because she still has a dummy for sleeps (not during the day since she was a small baby).

With that being said, I have really fond memories of the HV I saw when DD was a small baby. We had lots of feeding issues and she wasn't gaining weight, and the HV at the time came quite a few times, and often staying for a long time. I liked her very much but haven't seen a HV since (I called when DD was suppossed to last see the HV and they told me they didn't see them from 6 weeks until they start school, which I later found was incorrect).

Do you have any male colleagues? I was allocated a male hv when ds2 was small, and it made me quite uncomfortable. Do you think men should be hv’s?

Have you been involved in child protection cases? How did you feel about it?

Re: the 3 yo biting at nursery who the nursery have asked HV to help. In my area the nursery nurses often deal with behavioural issues like these in the first instance with advice on firm boundaries and possibly reward charts for positive behaviour.

Re: the 2 yo just starting to put 2 words together. Sounds spot on for development for me and she'll probably be doing it even more by Sept! Certainly wouldn't warrant. A speech & language referral at this stage although it might be followed up with a phonecall in a few months if you had concerns

Will be back later to reply to more, need to pick up DC from after school club!