to think that a Bounty photo salesperson has no place on a post natal ward?

[Boboli]

Is this the norm nationwide? At our hospital, one of the first people you'll see after you've given birth is a photographer from Bounty who will give you a sales pitch for photos of your newborn. The photos are not cheap and I find it pretty incredible that mums are approached hours after given birth when they are likely not quite in the state of mind to decide on pricy photo packages.

My SIL had the pleasure of this Bounty lady an hour after reaching the post natal ward in the morning having been in labour all night. She had to specifically insist that she did not want her baby woken and photographed.

When had DD1, no-one except birth partners were allowed on the wards because of the swine flu outbreak yet the Bounty lady made it through. In other words, she was allowed to my bedside but my mum wasn't. This can't be right, can it?

oh, and something about a requirement to be clear and upfront about what they will do with your details, the fact that you are under no obligation to give them and the fact that they pay the hospital for access to you!

Im sorry some people have had bad experiences, but i really liked it. I wished i'd have bought the pictures now, i didn't as i just thought as their going on the internet i can print them out cheaper, but now i can't how to get them or anything..

Even if they don't do anything - or rather hospital trusts don't do anything, because that's who we'd want to make changes, isn't it? The hospital trusts can put rules in place. And they would if enough people made enough noise! - even if they don't do anything, but awareness is raised and women go into hospital knowing that they will face the Bounty woman but they don't HAVE to give their details, no matter how 'official' the person tries to present themselves to be, no matter what they say - and going by this thread - some of them will say anything to get your details! and you don't need them to get your CB.

If women know that in advance, then it's made a difference.

But certainly hospitals should have rules to stop these women being allowed to pull closed curtains back, pretend that you HAVE to give them your details, get nasty with you (when you've JUST had a baby ), or otherwise harrass you.

But they're not going to do that if nobody does or says anything because they think they won't change things so what's the point

A code of conduct.

That's what there should be.

the hospital where i gave birth to dd never had bounty, the midwifes handed out the packs to get the cb forms

when my dn was bornm the bounty woman was bloody lucky to leave the room still breathing after what she did to my dsis

What did she do?

Which hospital blackout?

I was also told by BW that she had to take my baby's photo 'for security reasons'. What a crock of shit.
I told her to leave the pack but I wasn't giving my details as I knew it was just all for marketing and junk mail, and I didn't agree with salespeople on hospital wards.

I was a first timer but had read a thread on MN just weeks earlier and was enraged. Was quite proud of myself!

The post that astounds me most here is the one about the BW wearing a similar tunic to the HCAs, to blend in. Dirty tricks.

I believe NCT have a campaign to try and stop this happenning, I think I read it in one of the NCT mags but I can't find it on the website but here's the link to NCT Campaigns

The hospital I delivered in had a separate company doing photographs, I delivered my son at 4am and the photographer and the bounty lady had been round before my husband came back at 11. The photos were awful and we didn't buy them. I had a 20 hour labour and didn't get any sleep at all for nearly 24 hours after giving birth, wish I'd had the sence to tell these people to f**k off!

my friend specifically did not want the bounty sales pitch then this woman came and said she needed to take pics of the baby - later it turned out that it was bounty - she had been under the impression that the hospital took photos for their records- she was furious!

it was walsgrave hospital in coventry

dsis 'died' in labour so as soon as dn was out she was taken straight to have an op to stop the blood loss. so after arguing the toss with the mw to let me have a bottle of formula for my newborn dn (no one could tell us how long the op would be or even if my sister would live, and dn screaming for a feed)

so when dsis came back from her op after having her heart started again, blood trasfusions and drugged up from morphine so decided to stick to ff. the stupid bitch started going on about the evils of formula

I'm going to try and find out if the NCT have been campaigning around this. I'm shocked at some of the stories on here. The problem is that mums are so overtaken with events post their labour that they are usually not in a position to complain at the time and then, like me, they forget.

The issues seem to be:

• hard selling to a group of individuals who are not in a)full physical health b)'normal' state of mind c)a position to afford photograph packages but may feel pressured to buy

(when would the above ever be allowed in other situations - why are post natal mums so different??)

• misselling. a)women not being made aware their details will be sold on+will be subject to marketing calls/ mail and their right to opt out b)photographs being taken before sound explanations are being given as to why c)some salespeople using Child Benefit forms as a way to gain information

• security - Bounty salespeople being allowed to walk freely in and out of post natal wards with cameras (even partners have restricted entry)

• Child benefit forms being within Bounty packs and therefore being used as part of the sales pitch

The Bounty woman after DS's birth was nice even when I said we didn't want the photo's. She just introduced herself and was friendly and polite when I said no thanks. The packs were already left by the beds and the CB forms were given to me by one of the midwives.

But the Bounty website is the source of all evil and I had to contact them five times to tell them to stop emailing me after our first son was stillborn.

And you couldn't just click unsubscribe on the emails, you had to go onto the website and navigate a few different pages to find an online form to fill in telling them why you wanted to leave and give the ages of your children. All the while watching a little changing slideshow of baby pictures at the side of the screen.

Boots website was also very bad after we lost our son, also sending emails when I had asked them to stop and passing on our contact information to Volvo, who sent me a baby on board sign for my car just in time for his due date.

They also refused to let me reregister (SIL insisted it was worth it for after the baby arrived) when I was pregnant again and someone at their customer services accused me of making up pregnancies so I could have vouchers for free stuff. Because the plastic changing bag really is that desirable that someone would fake a pregnancy to get one.

The stories here are appalling! I agree with confining them to a dayroom and having parents approach them.

Had a run-in with the bounty lady shortly after delivering DD. She came and whipped the curtain back just as I was getting my catheter out. I shouted at her to get out and she just laughed and said "no point in you pretending to have modesty now dear". The MW said and did nothing! She came round later as I was struggling to get DD latched on and I just snapped "not a good time".

Total menace! If they are going to let them loose they really do sound like they need more training and more policing. Good on the NCT for their campaign.

Boboli yes they have been tryng to do something for some time now...the NHS keeps defending itself as they get 5000 pounds per hospital that allows the bounty people in.

Every now and then the media write an article about it and nothing gets done. MN NEEDS to do somethiing about this....MN is probably just as powerful as any tabloid paper.

"the NHS keeps defending itself as they get 5000 pounds per hospital that allows the bounty people in."

Surely though there's some compromise possible where they still let them in, but don't give them completely unrestricted access to wander around the ward pulling back closed curtains and barging into private rooms. Having them in the day room sounds a good idea.

Some of the stories here are really absolutely appalling, especially the ones involving bereavement or seriously ill babies/mothers - surely it doesn't take a genius to realise that there will unfortunately be cases like this on a post-natal ward sometimes, and have a bit of sensitivity!

Or maybe only let them go around the wards accompanied by a midwife or someone who would stop them doing anything too intrusive/inappropriate...not that midwives probably have time to spare for such extra duties, of course! Something has to change though...

I'm horrified about some of these stories. I am pretty sure they didn't have Bounty access at the hospital where DS1 was born - although it was a midwife unit so I don't know if that makes a difference. I can't imagine the midwives I met there, or the receptionist, having much truck with a sales person.

DS2 was born at home so I would have been surprised if a Bounty woman turned up! Although possibly not, given some of the things I have read on this thread.

I was acosted by the delightful Bounty saleswoman whilst eating lunch! As if that wasn't enough, when i turned down the online birth announcment she looked at my like i was completely mad and said "but it's free!" i wish i had been in a better position to tell her to shove her camera up her arse. However after a traumatic labour and c section all i could muster was "no thanks"

I complained to the ward manager as i was discharged, and told that this woman has be asked not to pester women during mealtimes.

I have worked as a nurse on surgical wards for many years and i know that protected mealtimes are fairly standard practice these days. What the hell is going on in this country if you can't even have a baby in peace without being sold something? Its so wrong it makes me want to scream!!

As for bounty packs - well there are only so many tiny pots of sudocreme that one can use!!!

This was me 2 years ago - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/915492-to-want-to-kill-the-Bounty-lady

I'm just shocked at some of these stories and completely agree that salespeople like this should not be allowed free access to tired and vulnerable new parents. I'm not sure whether the hospital I had my children at has Bounty people as I never saw one either time and I was in for nearly
4 days the first time). As far as I remember with my son the mw gave us the Bounty pack, and the second time we didn't get one at all. We were asked with DD whether the hospital could take her photo due to the day she was born on, they were a bit shocked when we refused but we just wanted to get home (and I looked a state).

Completely astounded at the outfits similar to the mws and 'security' photo lie, surely that's against some sort of regulations .

I can't believe these people are still getting business in an age where everyone and their mother in law has a camera or a phone or a camera phone and can take a zillion pictures of the baby without the need for a 'professional photographer'. If it's not a lack of equipment that's making people agree to have these photos, I can only assume that it's because they're targetting parents in a tired, emotional and vulnerable state who don't have the presence of mind to say no - or believe it to be some kind of official procedure that they should be part of.

I didn't get any photos for either of my two, but I remember the people in the bay across from me getting some - the child was less than a day old and SCREAMED while getting changed into an appropriate outfit, then SCREAMED all the way through the session - I can't imagine the pictures were worth paying for in the end . I just felt so sorry for the baby - why were they putting him through all that just for some photos they could have taken at any point, themselves, for FREE. I just wanted the mum to lift him up and give him a cuddle or a feed, not try to get him in the right position in the crib for his photo!

It's busy enough on a postnatal ward - from a practical perspective WHY add to the traffic with someone who does NOT need to be there and is really only there to make money from vulnerable new parents? It really is shocking that it's still allowed.