How to opt out of health visiting service ?

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Do i just write or call or do I just ignore appt requests ? It’s still an optional service isn’t it?
If I do this will I still be given a red book but where do I get it from if I’ve opted out ?

Maybe it’s a new thing the pre birth appts ? I have never had them before birth with any of my other pregnancies

Our health visiting team is doing virtually no face to face at the moment. I’d be really surprised if they do actually end up doing a pre-birth visit tbh.

Why would you need a red book if you don’t want the HV to see your D.C.?

I need a red book because it’s where the gp will put the vaccination details and batch number stickers

To me it just seems to be a box ticking exercise to ensure we aren’t putting baby to bed in a drawer.

The wanting to see where baby sleeps is fine as I have nothing to worry about but if I’d known that the appointment really wasn’t anything to do with me but making sure I’m not doing any harm to baby I wouldn’t have said yes

I think I went home with a red bed from hospital

Really can’t remember though (3 years ago now)

Refusals are flagged to SS as refusals are much more likely to have something to hide. It's 2-3visits in a year; if they want you to have many more that would be a flag that they think you need them. I'm sure all will be fine, if it's a covid worry then they can wear a mask, wash their hands on arrival and maintain 2 m distance.

They told us with each baby they didn’t have any red books at the hospital so we always had to get one from the hv

So are pregnancy visits not the norm then ?🤔

With my others we had a new birth visit , 10-12 month check and 2 year check

All vaccination info is logged electronically. You don’t really need a red book. They won’t refuse to do jabs without one.

HV are doing phone calls only in most areas at present. Maybe ask them before you opt out and explain? My red book was posted

I do like to have it though so I have the record myself with all the info to hand

You need a red book for vaccinations.

I’ve declined HV with both my children. It’s a bit of a different situation with me. I’m not registered with an nhs Gp, not are my children as I prefer to use private services. So my children have vaccinations, health checks etc with a private paediatrician. First child 17 years ago they couldn’t get their heads round that and kicked off (she told me that no paediatrician would ever know more than a HV about babies )I had to get the paediatrician to call them in the end. He reminded them that they were no t compulsory and told them to back off.

My second child, one turned up when she was 10 days old and I explained the situation. She was fine with it and I’ve never heard from them again.

I’m due my third in August so we’ll see what happens this time.

My children’s vaccinations aren’t logged because they are outside the nhs, so the red book is pretty vital for me. HVs have given them to me both times.

It depends on your area as to whether pre birth appointments are done, it's not done on an individual basis (if that makes sense). It seems perfectly reasonable to decline that because of covid and the risk of a home visit, but many of the other appointments are being done over the phone at the moment. With lots of other services closed, it could be really useful to have a contact that you can call if you need anything; I would honestly maybe reconsider and just be honest and say that you have had children before and don't really feel that you would benefit from the advice, but you would like to have a contact. They can also flag refusals just to be aware.

I had my fourth child a month ago.

Due to CV the pre birth HV appointment was moved to the telephone. It was less than 10 mins, and I answered the questions whilst homeschooling/fielding snack requests from the older three.

I received the red book in the hospital, along with the newborn hearing test result sheet.

The HV rang again when baby was about 10 days old. Again, less than 10 mins. The most useful information she gave was where to find a weigh in clinic (which I won't use as there's no need). She gave some dodgy breastfeeding "advice" and congratulated me on my first baby

I don't expect to hear from the HV team again until the 9 month / 1 year / 2 year checks (whichever are current by then), so don't want to opt out. Two 10 min calls seem like an ok thing to tolerate to keep the door open in case I want to use the HV to get a referral to something else, or for the later assessments.