To take my 3 year old to my Gynaecology appointment

[Cakeymamma88]

I'm having a biopsy tomorrow afternoon and cannot go unless I take my toddler with me. A friend made a face when I mentioned I would be taking my little one. Is it really that bad to take a 3 year old ? They are well behaved (mostly) and very ised to medical setting and I'll hopefully be in and out.

What happens if your 3 yo decides to wander off or play with the equipment when you are having the procedure done? If you are on your back on a surgical trolley you aren’t going to be able to keep her safe are you?

In your situation I'd have done the same thing if it's unavoidable.
But: I went for a gynae appointment this week, had biopsies ( which were 'minor' but I wasn't expecting in advance), and ended up staying for a couple of hours before they'd let me drive: I certainly wouldn't have been able to entertain/contain a toddler. So I would say that if you can arrange childcare do so.

Sorry no. A baby in a pram is one thing an uncontrollable toddler - no.

Is there literally nobody who can watch your kid a friend, family, colleague, neighbour its really unfair on the staff and other patients.

In my hospital it wouldn’t be allowed. What if you feel unwell or faint, which people do during such procedures, who would be looking after your child then? The staff are there to look after you!

It’s not going to be very nice for your child to see you disappear behind a curtain, be told to undress and then have a medical procedure. They might be quite scared.

And I don’t think it will be allowed anyway.

No wonder there's so many missed appointments costing the NHS so much money and making waiting lists longer!
If you just rock up with her then that's probably what will happen, is there noone who can look after he for a short while, even go with you but look after her outside while you go in?

Bringing your toddler is one thing but who do you expect to make sure your toddler doesn't wander off during your procedure?

Sorry but YABU. Staff cannot supervise your child and are likely to refuse doing an invasive procedure with a child present. Equally, you cannot leave an unattended child in the waiting room.

I have a generally well behaved three year old but I wouldn't do this. I had to take him to a very quick dentist appointment last week and he was hysterical and insisted on sitting on my lap the whole time. Which is difficult when you're lying down in a dentist's chair. Nothing would distract him (screens/biscuits/toys). Luckily I knew the dentist has small children himself so he was okay with it but it was not conducive to anything more than a 30 second look.

I bet if they did and parents had to pay to use it magically everyone would suddenly find someone to watch their kid

It's not appropriate for a biopsy. I took my baby along to some GP appointments where you just chat, or at most lie down for a quick examination, but nothing more involved. I also don't think it's ideal for the child as they are older and more aware and likely to get distressed. My dd is 1 now and I think that's too old to be coming to appointments. At 3 years, won't she be in nursery now, or soon?

What if you had to stay at the hospital,them what.
I think it's ridiculous to expect a toddler to be allowed at any appointment.
Why didn't you get something sorted,it's not like you only found out about it.

Can the friend that made the face look after the 3yo? Or literally anyone else? I'd be surprised if they allow you in for the procedure to be honest.

You're going to be on a bed, legs akimo, instruments out, doctor preoccupied. Your 3yo may be usually well behaved, but they will not have appropriate supervision. If they open the door and run out the room, you will not be able to get up and run after them. You'll have instruments etc inside you. If they grab something sharp, you will not be able to get up and stop them. They could knock or distract the doctor running around at a crucial moment while they're cutting out the biopsy.

If it was a baby that could be left in a car seat or pram I'd say needs must. But its an active, loud, strong toddler.

I wouldn't. I work in dentistry and I've had so many people bring toddlers to appointments. They always say don't worry they've told them to be good and they've got an iPad/ snacks etc. Then within 5 minutes they're up and walking around. Touching things that could be dangerous. I'm having to stop the procedure so mum or dad can get up and try and placate them again. I've had the kids up ticking the parent and the parent is jumping around. Not good when I've got sharp things in their mouth. Neither me or the parent can see the child well when they're lying down and I'm focusing on my job. And even though you're having a procedure done down the other end it will be very distracting to the person doing it if you keep moving around, half sitting up, talking to the child, opening a snack bag, unlocking the iPad, finding the video they want etc etc etc.

Seriously? Parents would treat it like free childcare 24 / 7 hospital appointment or not.

I wouldn't. If something happens and your child needs you, there's nothing you can do about it.

I took my baby to my 6 week check up and the nurse noted that I'd missed a smear when I was pregnant and offered to do one while I was there.

Baby was in the car seat but started crying during the procedure and I felt stressed as there was nothing I could do about it until the nurse was finished.

You need to focus on yourself and the appointment. You might have questions. Do find a babysitter.

I took a 1 year old and 3 year old when I had a womb biopsy. I gave them a couple of biscuits to keep them busy while they were doing it, they stayed next to me up by my head. The doctors were fine with them being there. Of course it would be nicer to have not had them there but when there's no other childcare there's no choice! I'm sure they'll be OK with her being there

Strap into into buggy and take ipad/snacks. Worst case you get sent away and rebooked. Given next appt may not be for months I'd do that.

"...and I'll hopefully be in and out."

If you are having biopsies taken via a hysteroscopy, the appointment will likely take longer than you think.

The clinic may be running late. There will likely be an initial discussion with the consultant or member of his/her team. Then you'll be asked to sign a consent form. Then you will be taken into the procedure room and asked to remove just your lower clothes and underwear or change into a gown. Then you'll be positioned with your legs up on leg rests. You may be given the opportunity to watch the procedure on a screen near your head. You might have some local anaesthetic administered or your clinician may carry out the procedure with no local anaesthetic.

It may be painful or you may tolerate it well. Then you'll get dressed again. You may need to sit quietly for 10 minutes before you leave the hospital or clinic as you might feel faint or a bit wobbly (the procedure can result in a sudden drop in BP for some women). It's also a "wet" procedure because saline solution is introduced into the uterine cavity to expand the cavity for enhanced visualisation and this fluid will leak out of you as soon as you sit up. If you are having the biopsy because you have unexplained uterine bleeding, you may find this fluid is mixed with blood and you'll be mopped up by a clinic nurse or be handed paper towels to mop up with.

If you are having it done via hysteroscopy, you should have been sent a leaflet describing the process and advising that you take painkillers before you leave home.

I've had several hysteroscopies where biopsies have been taken and I would not want either a mobile 3 year old or a child in a pushchair to think about while I was having this procedure.

If you are having an endometrial pipelle biopsy, this will be likely be a faster procedure than a hysteroscopy as no camera is inserted through the cervix. But not everyone has a cervix that will readily allow the easy passage of a pipelle. So they may have to do a hysteroscopy instead if the pipelle cannot be passed.

Either way, I would not want a child in the room.

If you are having a hysteroscopy, the camera (through which the biopsy instruments are also passed) is at the end of a long narrow, metal tube:

https://www.melakafertility.com/my_book/chapter-36-overview-of-hysteroscopy/

In very rare cases, perforation of the uterus can occur (this will be listed as a rare but possible complication on the consent form). If you have or are found to have large fibroids, depending on their position, the clinician may have to navigate round these; it is a delicate procedure and you will need to keep very still.

If you were the clinician would you risk being distracted by a potentially bored, restless or upset 3 year old?

Something is really bloody bothering me here! A 3 year old is NOT A FLIPPIN' TODDLER!

@BallandBoe direct from NHS website:

baby: pregnancy, at birth and up to 1 year
toddler: 1 to 3 years
child: 4 to 12 years
teenager: 13 to 19 years
young people: 16 to 24 years
adult: generally from 18 years

Either way, it definitely doesn't change the fact that OP shouldn't take an unsupervised 3yo to this appointment. Because they will be unsupervised as OP will be busy and distracted, unable to get up if needed and doctor needs to be focussed on their work. In some ways it isn't even just the danger to 3yo and mum, 3yo could run out the room and get into someone elses while they're having an intimate procedure done too!

I had a biopsy appointment after I got a high grade result on my smear and asked if I could bring the baby along (I did to my smear and it was fine) was told categorically I couldn’t bring children to hospital appointments, so I had to arrange childcare. Dunno what would happen if you just rocked up with the baby 🤷‍♀️