To be infuriated at the healthcare system's general failure of babies

[jacquec]

Every day there are posts here about young babies having rashes, being constantly unsettled, vomiting after feeds, etc. Almost every post explains that they've approached their GP and have been told the issue is "reflux", giving Gavisgon/Omeprazole (and sometimes subsequently a laxative to combat constipation from the Gavisgon). Symptoms persist and they turn to MN. The suggestion of CMPA/an allergy/tongue tie (i.e. the root cause of the symptoms) is met with hesitation that "surely the GP would have considered that if it was likely".

It makes me so angry that our healthcare system would much rather medicate babies as a first port of call rather than using it as a last resort if mitigating the possible actual causes fails. There seems to be no regard for the side effects of these medications, and/or the longer term effects of messing with a small baby's gut microbiome.

AIBU to feel disappointed by our healthcare system's management of these very common issues?

It’s really gone down hill since health visitors were taken out of clinics and GP surgeries.
When mine were little you could turn up at the weekly baby clinic for weighing, a chat with the HV, or to see the GP. This freed up many GP appointments in the week that would be taken up by these things. Also, very often the HV was better at answering questions about formula and tongue ties etc.

Why don’t the parents ‘manage ‘ the symptoms instead of going to a doctor? What do you suppose healthcare does? Without a suggestion, what do you think should happen?

Yanbu but then everyone in the country is being failed by the health system rn.

Because if your baby does have CMPA and you are formula feeding, you need a dairy free formula which is only available by prescription from a GP.

YABU to be angry based on what you read on Mumsnet. None of it is peer-reviewed research!

People post on here when they've had a negative experience with the healthcare system, complaining, asking for advice etc.

There are very few posts from people who had a good experience, i.e. took baby to GP got treatment and it worked well, because they don't need advice from mumsnetters or want to complain about anything.

^ @Throwncrumbs This.

Also it's all very well and good knowing the signs of CMPA and tongue ties once you've had reason to know what they are, but if you're a FTP and have never come across these things then it shouldn't be unreasonable for a doctor to be able to discuss them with you.

I’m in several FB groups for CMPA and other allergies. There are often photos posted of tiny babies who are covered in sore, red, cracked and bleeding skin, quite clearly dealing with an allergy and in a lot of pain. The poor parents have been fobbed off by medical staff numerous times and are desperate for help. It’s a disgrace.

My GP said no baby has ever died of reflux so it's nothing to worry about. He did prescribe gaviscon which helped and the hospital prescribed omeprazole which we decided against with the GP's agreement as I was on it myself and it's awful stuff.

We were told my DD had a tongue tie but she's now 3 and no one ever contacted us about it. Enquiries about it got us nowhere.

The care really is poor. Our new GP centre is much worse than our old one and getting the kids appointments is nigh on impossible.

My DS suffers from eczema and they aren't interested in finding out what is causing it. Just 'whack some cream on it' is the advice.

Virtually every baby will experience rashes, being unsettled and puking.

Lots will have reflux. Lots will just be normal babies. Some will have an underlying condition.

Some really, really common things can be indicative of a particular diagnosis when clustered but most of the time, don't point to anything at all.

The NHS can't see, examine, perform tests on everyone that presents with really common experiences.

One of the most common symptoms presented to GPs in adults is "tired all the time". So much so, it's referred to as TAAT in medical notes. Which most of the time is just life, or could be a mental health issue or hundreds of physical issues some of which can be incredibly serious.

But most of the time they're not. So GPs have to go on the most likely first off.