To wonder about Health Visitors?

[Pyjamaramadrama]

Ok so I'm sorry to any brilliant health visitors, I'm not wishing to offend anyone, but I really have generally had useless experiences of health visitors.

Each time one has visited for a new birth they've had nothing useful to offer other than asking stupid questions such as whether we've got a car seat, well if she was that observant she'd have seen it in the hallway.

Another advised me to feed my newborn on a four hourly feeding schedule as though that was ever going to work.

I've twice tried to discuss ds2 reflux and whether he might have a dairy intolerance, the fact that his poo is green again and stinks, the fact he's not eating as much and his weight has dropped 1.5 centiles, she just shrugs and everything I ask is met with she doesn't know, he looks fine, see my gp if I'm concerned.

So other than weighing babies what is the purpose?

Thanks I've got a GP appointment now so I will see what they say.

ask to try similac alimentum or nutramigen

redtooth I think you are interpreting and twisting my MIL words to mean something she did not, and apologies if I was not clear. I'm not really sure why you thought she was suggesting I wouldn't get PND?

I should clarify that she meant 'you're not the type of person who needs regular contact with a HV'. When I had my DD my MIL was very engaged with me and my daughter both in a grandmother way and also checking I was ok with regards to post birth recovery. Probably one of the reasons I didn't seek out my own HV was that I just spoke to my MIL about stuff. At no point did she say 'you don't need to have any contact with a HV', but that I didn't need to have regular follow up contact with a HV, given the fact that I had a relatively straightforward post-birth recovery with a large support network, and was clearly coping fine. She is, by the way, trained in how to (at least try to) recognise PND in mothers.

pyjama I'm pretty sure you can book a GP appointment without a HV say so - maybe it's different in your area, but I know someone who stopped seeing HV after her son had poor weight gain as she didn't find them particularly helpful and just went direct to the GP. GP was happy to see her regularly and weigh baby every week etc. Just book an appointment and see the GP. If they ask you why you haven't spoke to a HV just be honest - she wasn't helpful so you are seeking out different professional advice.

Oh ffs not this again. Yep all HV's are useless. All teachers are lazy arses who only go into the job to play and have 13 weeks holiday a year. All police officers are bent. Nurses are angels. Lawyers are morally bankrupt ambulance chasers.
Anything ive missed?

Yes Sharon, you forgot that say that parents know everything and are infallible and always know their child best. Professionals are just interfering busybodies with too much time on their hands. I know not every parent feels this way but there's a lot of it on MN

Marmite I'm sure you can in theory, but at the surgery its policy for the receptionist to ask the problem. Twice I've told them reflux, green poo, baby in pain arching back and refusing feeds, the receptionist has told me twice that the gp doesn't deal with that and to speak to HV.

I actually got a bit annoyed and asked if a HV can give prescriptions. No? Well then he needs to see the GP.

I've quite like teachers Sharion.

Do you have to see health visitors? I don't actually know this!
Nb I had my babies when I lived in a different country.

Oh lucky teachers Pyjama im sure they will be overjoyed to hear you approve of their profession

more just every time I've ever asked for advise they're very much like "whatever you think is best".

This.

I think they know they contradict each other so they leave you to make your own mind up and then they can't be blamed for saying stupid things.

I'm sure that some are lovely. It just seems to be a profession where the majority have two main phrases:

"You must breastfeed"
"It's probably colic"

I'm sure that they won't, just as I'm sure the HVs won't give a monkeys either.

I work for a much disliked, complained about public service.

It's just chat.

Middle class well educated women have their own issues believe me. PND is prevalent in he middle classes.

Health visitors are there to point out all the inadequacies your mother forgot to mention

That's what I thought, too, Dolly. Except my mum said I was a good mum that didn't moan about doing anything.
But my HV always tried to contradict what I was doing, when my mum had 5 of her own. Apparently my son's weight was too low, then when he put it on, he was too fat!! I knew what I was doing most of the time because I looked after my nieces and nephews as babies. So I never listened to her. She also told me "Baby needs attention 24/7 so no time for housework at all" I don't think my mum would have appreciated that after coming home from working full time!

I got absolutely nothing from my HV. She yawned through almost every appointment and asked mundane questions. She gave me a list of things to do with a toddler once, took it home, read it and realised I already do all the things on it with him. Went back and told her, basically, that it's shit.

They might spot PND sometimes but they don't spot PTSD, do they?

Yes but Sharon, op didn't ask 'what do HV do for middle class women' but 'what do HV actually do'. From speaking to my MIL, most of her time is taken up with very challenging cases involving vulnerable people. So, yes, PND is a serious issue and is prevelant amongst all classes. Nobody is suggesting otherwise. I think some of us are just trying to point out that HV do a lot that the average MN wouldn't necessarily be aware of/identify with/need.

Roobytuesday HVs aren't there for all ages.....from birth to five.
After five, the school nursing team take over.

My one and only visit from a HV was on one afternoon when DS was about 10 days old. She asked me why I was bathing DS at such an odd time - he was covered in poo from an explosive nappy. Asked to use the loo upstairs (even though I had a loo downstairs). Asked me why my bedroom doors were locked (to stop you snooping ).

I work alongside a team of HV. They seem to concentrate on safeguarding - social work lite - not sure how they keep up with everything - their workload is huge.

The problem I found with HVs is that they are reluctant to give you common sense advice. The ones I encountered simply parroted NHS guidelines. That's not what I need a HV for. I remember asking mine once about making up formula. I knew that it was best to make up every bottle fresh but I wanted to know what was the next safest way to do it if I couldn't do that. She wouldn't tell me. Just kept repeating that I needed to make up every bottle as needed. So I ended up cooling the boiled water and adding powder to it because that's what my friends were doing. I now know that that isn't the next best way at all. Why couldn't she say that we advise you to make up every bottle fresh but that if you can't then you can make up a bottle, cool it rapidly and then place it in the fridge for X hours?

I had an odd one. She came before DS was born, sat down and said "we find babies can get parents' problems transmitted to them, so have you experienced incest or sexual assault"
I hadn't even offered a cup of tea! I said no, and ushered her out. Refused to see her again.

Isn't at least part of their job to look for dangerous living conditions, domestic abuse, etc, which might harmthe baby directly or indirectly and can't really be seen from a visit to the midwife at the drs surgery?
So once they have been inside for two minutes and seen that the house is not a filthy death-trap with bare wires hanging into pools of stale wee and feral dogs roaming around, that is quite a major part of the job done.

^ I went to the Docs for HV appointments, though. She came to mine for one visit and that is because I missed the appt and she turned up at my door!

I have possibly swapped around, with ds1 I had a wonderful community midwife and a useless hv.

He meant well I'm sure but he was very young, about to change role to work with clientele I had been working with for years (he realised I ran a project he was very interested in working with before I went on maternity leave and tried to butter me up) and mishandled my struggles with breastfeeding atrociously.... Not out of malice but out of a complete inability to develop a rapport or identify what appropriate level of information I needed

I'm 32 weeks with ds 2 and have had a totally hopeless community midwife and a home pre visit from what appeared to be a very good common sense HV so as others said its luck of the draw

It's very frustrating though as the first hv I really could have done with being better..... Yes I could access the information and support I needed other ways in peer support groups, online etc but honestly would have been a lot easier if he had been good

And annoyingly proved my MIL right on that single issue.... A fact I shall never forgive him for :-D

Mine told me my septicemia wasn't the worst she'd seen two weeks stay in hospital post birth A few months in she thought I had PND it was actually an under active thyroid I was upset on one of these visits with a crying colicky baby and I looked up to see her checking her watch with the most bored look on her face. Actually looking back I had a shit load of health problems and she minimized it all. Cow.