Rude doctor

[ThisLittleKitty]

My baby had oral thrush a couple of weeks ago (on the weekend) so I took her to the pharmacy to ask if they had anything I could give her as I didn't want to wait to see a doctor as she was clearly in pain from it. They said they thought it was best to see one, but told me I could buy something over the counter. I did this and used it. It seemed to go but then returned. I noticed it on Thursday night and she was struggling with feeding. Instead of going to the pharmacy again I thought I would call the doctors and see if they could prescribe me anything without needing to go in. As I had missed the walk in clinic which is 8-11 as baby kept screaming and refusing to feed and I didn't want to take her out whilst she hadn't fed or napped as I knew it would be difficult. Anyway duty doctor calls back and tells me I can come in any time in the afternoon. I go in and after my appointment the doctor rudely asks me why I didn't come to the walk in! And how I'm "lucky" to be seen as its usual a 2 hour wait. Aibu in thinking it was abit mean considering the appointment was for a baby and if he didn't want to see us he could have just said on the phone? I also mentioned that I feel dd has passed it onto me as my left breast was very sore and he just said "see how it goes." Not prescribing anything and last night I couldn't feed her at all from that side as it was extremely painful.

Right thanks I'm a terrible neglectful mother. Ok happy now. Hadnt slept all night and this is the first time any of mine have had thrush .

Dunno about a terrible mother but definitely prickly and entitled.

Noone is saying that, ( hopefully) just answering why the doctor was probably speaking with you the way he was.
He was probably just concerned over your little one.

Sounds like both you and the little one need rest, hopefully now you'll be able to get some.

Next time contact your HV; they can usually prescribe for thrush.

Not saying you are a bad mum, but that on this occasion I don't think the doctor was wrong and can see where he was coming from.

Asked for this to be deleted. So no need to comment further.

ThisLittleKitty
Don't take it too heart, get some rest with your baby

I notice it's quite common to get threads deleted when it's don't get the answer they want 🙄

You need to treat yourself also as you will continue to pass it back and forth. Bad advice to say they won't treat you at this point, breastfeeding mothers should always be treated alongside baby even if no symptoms.

Anecdotally that means babies and small children get pushed up the queue.
Not here .It's on the basis of 1 clinical need and 2 order of arrival

What absolutely horrible responses from some of you.
op is probably exhausted.
Isn’t this a site to offer support?
We don’t all have to be in agreement - but with a sensitive subject like this - it’d be nicer to go easy.
For you Kitty

Asked for this to be deleted.

Surprise surprise.

Posters don't agree with OP so they get it deleted.

Look, it was a case of crossed wires all round. FWIW I don't think Yabu. If we all went to the hospital/clinic/GP everytime some of our little ones were ill we might as-well move in. I hope you're both on the mend now.

OP: I'm sorry you're having a stressful time - I know how it can be with infants and illness.

With regards to the Walk-In Clinic, the average wait probably is indeed two hours, however there will be considerable movement based on perceived urgency. An unwell infant will have been bumped up the queue so you wouldn't have waited two hours to be seen.

Regarding the "see how it goes" - this is correct. See how it goes. Often this sort of thing clears up by itself, and sometimes it doesn't, but you probably don't want to be having unnecessary treatments while breastfeeding.

You aren't a terrible neglectful mother - you are a mother getting through what can be an awful time, and as you alluded to in your posts you've not slept much. The advice you've got here is reasonable, so please don't take it to heart. And don't be too upset if people don't agree with your opinion - you posted on AIBU remember. In this case, the answer was, with the greatest of respect, yes. YABU.

You need to go back OP, the doctor needs to prescribe treatment for you as well, he’s not up to speed with current guidelines. Otherwise you’ll just pass it back to your baby again.

The issue was the gp asking in a rude tone why I didn't attend the walk in

It sounds like you're more concerned about his tone as it's a perfectly reasonable question, not an accusation. He asked why you didn't take her to the appropriate service earlier given that she was in pain. He needed to find out in case there's some reason you were unable to get your baby to see a doctor as soon as she needed help. Anything could have been going on.

He asked why you didn't attend walk in which is a completely fair question given you then had to attend during the non walk in and take up a slot not supposed to be for that! And commented you were lucky to be seen. I genuinely don't see why you're getting so defensive over those two things. Would you have expected him to just not mention the walk in in case it somehow upset you? I don't get it!

If you feel it was particularly egregious go ahead, make a formal complaint to the practice. But given he said nothing wrong and it was just tone of voice you disliked I doubt it'll go anywhere and you will feel awkward seeing him again and reduce your options for seeing a doctor.

SimpleCreature it’s really not correct to just ‘see how it goes’. That advice is likely to cause reinfection and unnecessary pain for both the OP and her baby.

From the NHS Choices website:

”If either you or your baby does have thrush, you'll need to be treated at the same time as the infection can easily spread between you. It can also spread to other members of the family.”

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/breastfeeding-and-thrush/

I hope it's not deleted, that's a bit of an over-reaction on the OP's part

As a couple of pp have said, you both really need to be treated for thrush at the same time

ThisLittleKitty we have read your post carefully. The Doctor was not rude but I suspect you are tired and taking everything to heart. At the weekend most GP surgeries have some form of out of hours service - be it a walk in or a Doctor's hub (which we have) so an appointment could have been made. You have had a little rant so now get some rest - put this whole thing behind you and move on.

Anecdotally that means babies and small children get pushed up the queue.

This isn't true. Last time I tried to go to the walk in centre at a weekend (October) I was speaking to a woman who had been waiting 4 hours with a small child after being told by NHS direct the child needed to be seen.

"Walk-in centre" is an excellent choice provided they aren't run like my current one is - understaffed while acting as OOH service for a huge area.

I don't think you're being unreasonable. I remember what baby + breast thrush was like and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. The only thing that shifted it, once it had taken hold, was several fluconazole tablets. I don't think a wait and see approach is helpful with thrush, or indeed anything to do with breastfeeding. In fact, if I were you I'd ask for a second opinion.
Hope you and baby are better soon.

Other things a good GP would do when a mother seems to have delayed seeking treatment, because getting out is stressful, might include asking the mother if she's been experiencing low mood, irritability etc; and asking what support she has at home. Postpartum women who are having difficulties with breastfeeding may be at risk for PND. Berating new mothers is never likely to be helpful.

What a surprise, op gets all stroppy and asks for the thread to be deleted. This happening far, far too much.