Are health visitors always so….hands off?

[Suprima]

I had my second HV appointment today, which was very similar then first.

Baby was weighed but I expected her to be checked all over. They also haven’t been interested in seeing where she slept or the state of the house.

I could have had her sleeping in a cot in another room, full of bumpers + soft toys and she would have been none the wiser.

Are they

Mine didn’t ask to look around I would find that very intrusive tbh!

Posted too soon:

*Are they only interested or thorough if they judge the person to warrant more of a check or deep dive?

Just seems like family intervention is so scarce and we have no idea what goes on behind closed doors, that I would have thought they would have taken advantage of getting to glimpse inside homes? I do believe children should be routinely checked by HCPs as well as standard.

But they’re there for the children’s development, health and safety- not the parents’ feelings.

I’ve never known a HV look around the house - and I wouldn’t like it either. Surely anyone with anything to hide would just tidy up anyway.

What do you mean by ‘checked all over’? Like, looking for marks or similar?

Are you mixing up health visitors with social workers maybe?

Congratulations on the birth of your baby.

your baby will have been checked by MW and will be getting a 6 week check with the GP, there won’t be much need for the HV to examine every baby. I imagine if the general appearance of your home made it look unsuitable the HV would have checked further. I know someone who was in a static caravan (building work on house not completed) and the HV checked there was hot running water from the taps.

They're not social workers, they're only there to check weight and see how you're both doing

No mine never looked around when she came to my house and Joe would I have let her. That’s not her job.

Why do you think a HV would check where the baby sleeps? I'm not being goady I'm curious as to why you would think this is within their things of stuff to do . They aren't social workers.

Is this your first baby op.

nor*

Yes - marks. Or any signs or illness that aren’t obvious.

It’s not about people hiding things, but that they might not be aware they are doing anything wrong- safe sleeping, or co-sleeping with a large dog in the bed. Or a house being filthy and the parents seeing that as normal. Or baby rice being out in the kitchen even though the baby is only 2 weeks old.

If anything is missing in the home as well- a soft mat for tummy time or age appropriate toys, a chance for the HVs to point the parents to support/charities/services that can provide this.

I really just didn’t see the point. I could have weighed my baby myself if that’s all they are there for.

I just assumed health visitors were there to objectively check the baby’s health and provide support and enforce safeguarding where necessary. But this might be done being based on snap judgements about the family’s education or class, which isn’t really consistent.

I've had two kids, both by section. I had just the one visit from a HV. She took a look at my scar and saw my son (I think she weighed him but can't remember) and discussed a couple things. She recommended I join the local NHS post natal group (which I did). That's it. Didn't go in to any other rooms, didn't ask to meet my husband who I told her was in the kitchen. Never came back and I wasn't even assigned a health visitor for my second.
I guess if something felt off or there were red flags they'd be more pushy but I think it's a case of too few staff spread too thin.

I know exactly what a social worker is. I’ve had many dealings with them professionally.

I just figured the HV system would be a bit more thorough to identify early issues or direct support where needed.

No wonder we have so many issues flagged up when children arrive at school if literally no one has an interest in their home lives before they attend nursery.

When I had DS1 the HV offered to check my latch for breastfeeding but otherwise she weighed him and asked if I had any questions. DS2, just weighed him.

I can’t tell if this is a joke or not? Age appropriate toys for a newborn 🙄 tummy time mat 🤣 I never bought one of those!

Must be your first OP.

Neither of mine looked around the house although they would have been perfectly welcome too if they had wanted. They just weighed the baby and had a chat with me about my job, family circumstances etc, all very nice. Asked how I was getting on etc.

I think they are trained to pick up on subtle things. I mean the things you mention (no toys/baby rice/sleeping with toys) may mean someone needs advice but the HV can't force people to buy toys or to remove cuddly toys from a cot or to bot give baby rice. None of that is breaking the law, all they can do is give advice and maybe flag with GP.

I know someone who had awful PND and struggled to cope and got amazing support from the HV team so they can be very useful.

Health Visitors can't win on MN. The usual complaint is that they are too nosy and the majority of people hide from them/avoid them. Now they are not interrogating and investigating enough.

That's not what health visitors do love. If you have any concerns regarding your baby then you take them to a GP. Every visit I had was just weigh in, height, quick chat regarding development and that's it.

No wonder we have so many issues flagged up when children arrive at school if literally no one has an interest in their home lives before they attend nursery.
Bizarre.

Do you really think every child should be allocated a social worker at birth to check that their "home lives" are unfolding as they should?
Resources are already stretched to breaking point.
Besides, who on earth (besides you, apparently) would welcome the local authority scrutinising all aspects of their lives so that those in charge can give them a gold star for doing it right?
You sound desperate for validation, tbh. If you have any specific worries, the hv will be more than happy to address them.

I may regret posting but I was a HV up.until recently.
During my primary visits I.did not di a formal exam of baby however just weighing baby involves.a.lot.more than just writing and plotting the baby weight. During a weight check I would.be seeing baby naked, this allowed me.a chance to check baby was OK, no paleness, mottling good.limb tone for age, that the umbilicus was healing, I could see if baby was struggling with breathing ie recession, I would be able.to see any.marks or rashes, depending on how parents lifted them I may not need to role baby as i could see their backs and bottoms this way, I could see how parents were handling baby and managing with a newborn, when I measured babies head I would.always stroke their head which allowed me to check their soft spots I would be close enough then to see if there eyes.and mouth were clear (especially.if they cried when weighing). What I'm trying to say is weighing may seem so little but we get so much info from that. In terms of checking bedrooms no I didn't check unless asked by parents. However I always discussed safe sleeping including clear cot etc. We are about encouraging parents to.make safe Informed choices.not policing them xxx

Excuse my spelling using phone and also out and about x

People patronisingly saying oh must be your first baby OP need to bore off. I am due my second and have never seen a HV in the flesh I've only had a phone call with my first because of covid. I have no idea what health visitors usually do or even the point of them?

The health visitor is there to see how you are both doing, so if you were tearful and struggling to cope she would offer support, she will advise on things like keep routines, bathing, weaning, and do developmental checks to make sure the baby is reaching their milestones.
She can flag any concerns about DV or signpost to appropriate agencies.
The safeguarding stuff you are referring to would be for childrens services, although if there was a dog in the house she may check verbally that the baby and the dog aren’t left alone together or whatever.
She is there to give advice and support rather than to scrutinise every parent, because largely we are trusted to raise our children.
She will have made quiet observations that go unnoticed, about the general state of the house, but unless anything is a concern, she won’t go poking around.

Normally the baby would be fully undressed to weigh them. This gives the HV an opportunity to subtly check any visible issues and also to watch how confident the parent might be in the handling of the child.

Assessment can happen during conversations with the parents but because time is limited, most help is targeted to individuals who have been identified as at greater need.

This is a great post- thank you for your insight. I hope you don’t regret posting at all. :)

My HV came to talk AT me, she didn’t weigh my premature twins and said with shock that wasn’t her job! She was more interested in asking about me mental health continually (I had no mental health problems or concerns). I asked her not to both with a follow up visit.