AIBU - Sick and pregnant

[owltrousers]

I have a thread about this on pregnancy also, but now things have changed slightly and I honestly don't know if I've made a mistake here or not.

31 weeks pregnant. Been ill for about a week with a raging sore throat / chest infection and now coughing up mucus every few minutes. Today it feels like infection has moved to sinuses so obviously getting a bit fed up now. Called in sick at work today and got flack from my bosses for that.

I decided to call 111 and get some advice about whether they thought the infection might be spreading / should I see a doc? 111 says yes and to see a doctor today if possible.

I call the Dr's surgery and explain the situation - Receptionist is incredibly arsey and cuts me off saying "111 Is an out of hours service" - so I say I wasn't sure if I needed to see a Dr. She then goes on to say "right well you're on the list for an appointment today" I thank her and go to put the phone down but then hear her say "THAT IS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS" on the other end.

I am upset and really worried that I might have done the wrong thing, am I being ridiculous?

Who cares what she thinks? She’s a receptionist not a doctor so who is she to say if it’s ridiculous or not?

You’ve got your appointment for today and your seeing the doctor. When pregnant a lot of over the counter stuff says not for pregnant women anyway so when you feel ill what can you do apart from consult a doctor.

Go to your appointment and see what the gp has to say

I must admit I do find it strange that you called 111 instead of just calling your GP or midwife, Or even just popped into a pharmacy although I appreciate that may not have been an option when pregnant and feeling crap.

However, it's not their place to pass judgement and make sure comments.

*rude

Well it wasn’t really a 111 matter, I use it when I’m trying to decide whether it’s A&E serious not GP level BUT she was rude and had no right to make you feel stupid. You’re understandably worried, being pregnant.

Ignore receptionists their horrible and power mad. Our doctors surgery are rubbish I rang up to talk about my nanny child and the receptionist said had I tried calpol as soon as I said it was a toddler. I refused to speak to her said uni she got her medical degree I'll deal with a dr.

Ach I wouldn't let the wholly unprofessional comment on the receptionists part bother you, she may have been following on from another conversation. It doesn't matter that you called 111 for advice, it's a non-emergency number. You're likely just sensitive because you feel so yuk! Give yourself a break and hopefully the GP will help you to feel better.

Honestly, I thought 111 was for medical advice from trained people. I didn't think speaking to the Dr's receptionist was comparable really.

I feel really bad now though, like I've wasted NHS time or something. I think I'll wait for a Dr to ring me back but perhaps cancel the appointment.

Im 29 weeks pregnant. i've never phoned the midwife dept for anything in my pregnancy but I would in your situation, just to make sure its not something that could be affecting the baby. Its probably worth phoning them and seeing what they say.

Just to offer an alternative interpretation,l: is it possible she could have made that comment to her colleague about something which was happening in her workplace as opposed to about your call? Perhaps her colleague had shown/done something she could only respond to after your call ended?

I wouldn't worry about it though and hope you're feeling better soon

111 is the non emergency number and therefore you are completely within your rights to call it. Drs are constantly complaining about unnecessary appointment so calling to check is reasonable imo, especially because you are pregnant.

Dr receptionists are power tripping nutter in my experience, ignore their ignorance and attend the appointment. I would be inclined to complain directly to the receptionist when you are there to highlight how unprofessional she was.

Fuck that. When you get to the GPs, ask her when she did her medical degree. Because that's the only way she could tell if your reason for seeing the doc was ridiculous or not. Bitch.

Erm calling a doctors receptionist a ‘bitch’ is not acceptable DearTeddy

I’d just see the GP, you’re pregnant and ill. Entirely justified. Hope you get well soon.

When you speak to the Dr I would let them know what happened and that it upset you a bit, then leave it there and don't worry about it.

Dr receptionists seem to be a completely different breed! Ours are really awful, we had a lovely lady for about 6 months and then she left. I can only imagine it must have been the awful bitchy working conditions she had to cope with!

I agree with Foxy, when you see your GO drop it in to conversation what happened.

FWIW, I think you used 111 for exactly what it's there for... if you hadn't needed a Dr then you'd have been told that and saved making the Dr surgery even more bust. It's there in part to take pressure off Drs.

111 is staffed by non-medically trained people who just have a cascading script to use.

The receptionist probably wasn't talking about you at all.

Receptionists are given instructions on how to respond to calls because nearly every single person thinks they're in need of an urgent appointment or a conversation with a Dr when it's often not needed at all.

Am 37 weeks pregnant with a cold and sore throat. Midwife said that if I felt remotely like it was turning into a chest infection then I should call GP for emergency appointment as I would need antibiotics. Reason being that I wouldn't be able to fight it off as well as normal.
So whatever service you use, you are doing the right thing by getting treatment asap.

Definitely a GP job. As helpful as midwives like to be, they are not trained for non-pregnancy related problems and obviously can’t prescribe medications.