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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask you to carry your pregnancy notes with you?

154 replies

NC4T · 07/08/2018 15:36

I am a triage midwife. One of the biggest frustrations of the job is women turning up without their notes. I have some very basic information on the computer but I have no scan reports, no record of any of your antenatal appointments or admissions or consultant plans or anything!

Obviously when women know they are coming in they bring their notes, so I am talking about the unexpected admissions - the falls, RTAs, bleeding at work, fainting, unexpected waters breaking etc etc. Which is exactly when we most need the information! It’s also a huge problem as we are close to lots of centres of employment so every day have women being admitted who are not booked here, but haven’t taken their notes into work and we are the closest hospital for their emergency. Then we have not even the most basic information.

Just now I have taken a routine phone call and have referred her to a page in her notes, to be told “oh no, I haven’t got them, I am at work in x city”. Well why haven’t you?

So please, I know they are bulky, I know it’s a faff but carry your notes with you wherever you go. You just don’t know when you might need to go to the nearest maternity unit!

OP posts:
CoolGirlsNeverGetAngry · 07/08/2018 19:57

I’m one of those mums who did carry hers everywhere. Was a good excuse to buy a new bag...

JasperRising · 07/08/2018 20:02

Mine were in an A4 folder! I took them if I was going out of area but in area most of the information was also entered by the midwife into an online system that the GP and hospital could access. I carried them reliably at home for the last few weeks.

JasperRising · 07/08/2018 20:03

I had agreed to information sharing between NHS services in the area a few years earlier so maybe if I had opted out of that they wouldn't have been able to use the electronic system

funinthesun18 · 07/08/2018 20:06

I’ll start carrying mine around with me from now on OP.

twiglet · 07/08/2018 20:06

Another one who has no paper notes as Scottish trust uses the app.
Its much easier but relies on charge of phone!

Astrid2 · 07/08/2018 20:24

Do you really need to see pics of normal scans though? My notes were all online but no pics of scans. Just my BP etc history, blood results etc. All other medical notes are online in my area now so why not maternity notes? It's so old fashioned.

ILovePierceBrosnan · 07/08/2018 20:32

www.patientsknowbest.com
A platform for medical records which patients have access to

Why don’t more hospitals use this.

Darkstar4855 · 07/08/2018 20:33

YANBU but why post this in AIBU and not in the pregnancy forum?

I would carry my notes around more if they were smaller - mine are in an A4 folder and don’t fit in the small rucksack I use when I’m cycling to work. I take them when I go away though.

Perhaps a smaller/more portable format e.g. A5 size notes or a smaller “summary” version for emergencies would work better?

OliveOrTwist · 07/08/2018 20:35

I understand why we should.

But I don't understand why they aren't made more portable. Mine is a big thick A4 sized booklet. I carry a small handbag. It doesnt fit. If I fold the booklet in half it fits, but nothing else does. I refuse to carry a giant handbag around for 6 months just so I can carry my notes. And I'm not holding them in my hand the whole time - I'd end up leaving them lying around and someone would have access to my information.

I can't be the only person not carrying them for this reason so if it causes such problems when people don't have them, why dont they make the notes more compact to eliminate this issue or even better, go digital

tutu112 · 07/08/2018 20:56

I carried my notes everywhere. It was a massive inconvenience tbh. And thank god, I never actually needed them. I even carted them around up the Eiffel Tower on a holiday. Always had that bag with me, and yes, I was worried about losing them, or them falling into the wrong hands.
Would we ask men to do the same, do you think? And if men were asked/expected to carry their notes everywhere, would they?

Cutesbabasmummy · 07/08/2018 21:13

I was high risk and right from.my booking appointment my midwife said where you go your notes go. I took them everywhere!

Mousefunky · 07/08/2018 21:14

It is all computerised here in Leeds. I was given ‘notes’ but they’re nothing like the big bulky notes I was given 6/7/8 years ago when I had my other DC. It is just a tiny booklet with lots of information for me in it such as contact numbers and a list of the antenatal appointments. There’s honestly no space in this book for the MW to write anything in and they always fill it out on the PC. In fact, she informed me when I went to book in that they have moved to PC now as she said I was probably used to the big bulky paper notes.

gilmoregal · 07/08/2018 21:26

I carried mine around from the day I was given them. I needed them while out on two occasions once at work and once while shopping I fainted and needed to call triage.

I kept them in a clear polly pocket in my handbag so moved them between work bag and bag when out and about, I had them in a clear one as hoped when I wasn't obviously pregnant (didn't massively show until 6 months) if I was in an accident they'd be spotted by paramedics.

So no you're not being unreasonable, however as PP have said midwives should tell their patients when they give the notes to them.

Feelingsad33 · 07/08/2018 21:26

It makes sense. However I don’t know why midwives don’t point this out in your first appointment. Not one midwife mentioned it to me. I knew I had to take them to appointments but it just did not cross my mind that I needed them all the time.

Stupomax · 07/08/2018 21:26

There are so many better solutions than women carrying their notes everywhere.

This is embarrassing.

MrSpock · 07/08/2018 21:27

I don’t know why they don’t keep copies on the system.

What do they expect those of us with ADHD to do?

Ohhbollix · 07/08/2018 21:37

I had a horrible first pregnancy and ended up with two A4 books by the end of my first and subsequently my second pregnancy . I had to commute into London so no way was I able to carry them with me on the off chance I'd need them Confused

I always too them to midwife appointments, numerous hospital appointments and when I was admitted from home though. Maybe the NHS needs to work on making then a bit more portable.

PurdysChocolate · 07/08/2018 21:39

I was told I should keep my notes with me. I ignored this advice because I am more likely to lose them if I do so and I didn't have any health issues.

Topseyt · 07/08/2018 21:43

It seems that NHS record keeping, especially with regard to antenatal notes, is ridiculously archaic and has changed little since I had my children.

I last had a baby in 2002. I remember my pregnancy notes as a big A4 file which became very thick and weighed a ton. I kept them with my hospital bag towards the end, only taking them out to go to midwife appointments because they were so impractical to carry.

When DD3 needed premature delivery I was transferred from the hospital I was booked to deliver in to a different one. I had my notes with me but I can't remember anyone even looking at them. The other hospital just began making their own.

I think a digital system is the way forward, but it should be easily accessible by any NHS hospital in the country. Any GP practice too, come to that.

The current situation is idiotic.

DelurkingAJ · 07/08/2018 21:46

YANBU but when your local hospital is full and you’re sent to another trust then you find that they can’t find anything in your notes (which we’d brought with us!) because it’s all in a different order you might begin to wonder why it’s made so difficult. So there I was, 8cm dilated, telling the midwife between contractions the salient details.

I did carry mine around but if I’m ever pregnant again I’m taking photos...awesome plan!

gothicsprout · 07/08/2018 21:55

My midwife cheerily told me I could carry mine around with me in the handy plastic wallet they provided - bigger than A4, broke on first opening (by the midwife), and had handy tips printed on the outside about watching out for abnormal vaginal discharge, signs of labour etc etc.

Yep, very discreet to carry around, particularly in the early days Hmm

MeltingPregnantLady · 07/08/2018 21:56

They don't need the pictures but need the accompanying slips of paper with the measurements and comments on.

Bambamber · 07/08/2018 21:58

Kicks count sell a handy bag which fit the notes perfectly

user1471426142 · 07/08/2018 22:11

A5 would be so much easier. Last time round I left mine at home which was fine until I had a fall in London and needed Anti D. I went straight to the hospital from the train and got properly told off. My husband had to go home and get them rather than coming straight to me in the hospital. It does all seem a bit archaic.

I’m pregnant with number 2 now and don’t understand why the booking in appointment relies on your interpretation of previous births. Surely they should be able to do a manual upload from previous records rather than rely on memory. They wanted to know exact ml of blood loss etc. There must be women that are a bit vague or outright lie so the whole system feels a bit vulnerable.

FireworksBaby · 07/08/2018 22:14

I never took mine anywhere but appointments, it would never have occurred to me that I should as I had two completely uncomplicated pregnancies, so all the information in there was no concerns. No-one ever mentioned carrying them about.

I did realise afterwards that some people did this as my work colleague (1st child breech, 2nd birth after CS) always carried hers, but I thought this was just as they contained more vital information.

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