Are my HV's fibbing?

[lukeiamyourmother]

Basically I live in Enfield which has the highest infant mortality rate in London. This is because there are over 660 children to every HV. I've been given poor advice many times and so have my friends because they just want you out of the door.

Anyway, they scrapped the first year review here. But I was told that I could still have various things measured/assessed if I really wanted them.

I want :

• DS height measured - hes 17 months. I was told no as before the age of 2, their feet don't sit flat against the wall and so it cannot be measured . This is despite ALL my friends in other boroughs having their child's height measured. From younger ages too.

• His speech assessed. Perhaps not by a therapist but at least I want to be taken seriously. He just babbles and only says mummy. Again, they don't start any proper assessment until they are 2. But DS is ok because he is 'exploring his environment' and responds when I say no.

Are they lying again to get me out of the door quickly? I've seen them measure a child around the same age as mine as part of a specialist assessment while I've been in there (one HV also told the child his dummy was a dirty habit, despite the mother being unable to understand what was being said )

I just dont trust these people. Help!

It is very variable, the quality of service you get.
My Dd has not been seen by her HV since she was 8 weeks and in hospital on oxygen with a bronchial infection.
Not a sight of HV since then, even tho she is legally bound to check on a small baby who has been hospitalised with an infection.
Prior to that she had refused to weigh or measure her.
We fell out when I asked her WTAF she was visiting me then (although I didn't use the F word!).
Dd will be 5 this summer.

I understand if they cannot provide it. But I would prefer they say because of budget and time restraints we cant provide it and it might be better to record it at home, rather than saying that his feet cant touch the wall so it cant be measured because that is misleading and an excuse.

As it turns out thanks to the internet it might not be an excuse, and so if its not then I apologise for doubting them.

As an aside some women do not have the internet and so it cannot be counted as a universal source of reference.

I though HVs were just for the first few week

I've not seen once since dc were about 6 weeks old

Didn't think anyone did

I've not seen the HV except for the 8 week and year checks. I have just received a letter (standard proforma type) from SALT advising they offer an assessment for any child between 18 and 26 months, just ring for an appointment at the local childrens centre so all areas are different I think.

Dd just had her 8 week check and the GO explained to me and student doc that latest guidance is not to measure length before 2 as results are so variable even when same HCP repeats it.

I was advised at 8mo check to look for pointing and babbling and then not to worry until age 2, even if no words at 23 months. As it was ds had no words at 18.5 mo and 200 two weeks later.
I use gp as first port of call for any issues as nurses are great and the hvs have caseloads of over 1000 and have to concentrate on housing, dv, education etc.

And I think it would be just those women who don't have the internet that are in the most desperate need of the services of a HV.

Regarding the length that you are very interested in, you can lay your DS down to measure his length and also do it standing up so that you have both measurements for reference. You can do it as frequently as you like. When you DS stands better, you can get a height chart for about £2 and stick it to his bedroom door and continue to monitor his height. The length graphs are in the red book. If you know how to measure and plot, you don't need to use the HV.

The HV is never going to say that there isn't the budget etc. This year, I went to the GP NINE times for the same complaint and each time they gave me something that didn't work. By researching on the internet, I found the cure myself and asked the GP for a private referrral. Consultant fixed the problem in 10 minutes with the treatment I found. At no time did anyone say the NHS don't have the budget for the procedure. Unless you are dying, you have to face the fact that the NHS is very often totally shit. Expecting a HV with a massive case load of high risk children to measure your DS's height or give a monkeys about his speech at only 17m is not very realistic. These are just facts, they are not ideal and you don't like it. But they are facts all the same.

The service as it currently stands is not good but changes ARE afoot. Not just in training a load more HVs but also in recognising that the parent is the expert about their own child and supporting them accordingly.

There should be basic core health checks no matter what though and the current situation is crap.

OP, I would strongly encourage you to contact PALS about your experiences. Unless it's brought to their attention nothing will change in those more entrenched staff (and we all know they exist, just read MN).

I can get my DD weighed on demand at the HV drop in clinics which run most days around the town. They don't tend to do their length and HC unless you have a specific concern, but if you ask they will do it.

My DD is 17mo and doesn't say many words either. She has friends of her age who are less verbal and more verbal than she is.

I have checked the Denver chart and normal for this age is anywhere between 3 words and 'speech half understandable'. 75% of children have 'speech half understandable' by age 2 and most by age 3. So according to my very laypersons reading of the chart on my fridge, we have a way to go yet before we need to worry too much :)

Is there a specific reason why you want your DS's height measured? Are you concerned that he is too small/stopped growing? Or is it just because your friends in other boroughs have had their children's height measured? It will hardly help reduce infant mortality if health professionals spend their time measuring perfectly normal healthy DCs.

Agree Cecily, somethings help a baby thrive, others are added extras that they can live without.

Ive not been near the HV since the DC were about 6 weeks. I wouldnt take them to the doctors unless i thought something was 'wrong' so applied the sam elogic to HV's. I can see they are growing, in and out of clothes etc if i was concerned i would measure them myself...

Speech, at 17 months...no wonder they wont see him, babbling is completely normal at this age, and for a year yet is still 'normal'

Are you okay though op? You seem quite anxious about this and really theres no need. Hope you are okay

I don't think a lot of HV are to be trusted either.

But neither of those things are things that I'd worry too much about unless there was an underlying reason.

I always did their own height from about age 1yo. You can get them to stand or lie and can measure them yourself. It's not very accurate but it can give you an idea. If you've got a specific concern then I'm sure the GP would do it next time you're in-or ours would anyway.

The speech, unless you've got hearing concerns, I wouldn't expect them to refer yet. Normal at age 18 months is between 6 and 18 words, and if you're below that then all they'll usually do is put a note to check at 2yo. If you've got hearing concerns then you need to address that first.

I really hope after another year of training on top of my 3 year degree i can really change that view
i want to be a great HV who is reliable, honest, armed with up to date sensible info and can be trusted by the families i am working with.

And you will be mosschops.

You will never please everyone but doing the best you can to support families is appreciated.

I loved the job but my son is autistic and needs me more at the moment.

Just be human, kind and supportive, I got into families who wouldn't allow anyone else in mainly because I recognised people as the experts in their own family and home. Some of the families were very "hard to reach" but all had positive things in with the difficulties.

You will love the job, I miss it tremendously at the moment but am going to do some bank work.

Where are you going to train?

Thanks cod sounds like you were really good at your job, but family always comes first

i start my training in just over a week in Cardiff, hope i get a really good placement. My HV placement during my nurse training was very varied and a real eye opener, i would love to be somewhere like that again

If they are over stretched then I can fully understand why they want to cut out unneeded extras, it's a sad reflection but understandable.

Ds is 2.5 and has never been measured by the hv, there again we have only seen her a handful of times thankfully and she has failed to make contact after any of his 9 hospital admissions like she is supposed to.

He has been measured at the hospital every 3 months and it is impossible hard to get an accurate measurement so unless you are worried about his growth I wouldn't bother other than doing it for interest at home.

Our 2 year check has been replaced with a checklist letter. Parents are told to get in touch if any issues come up from it.
So I think its like that in many areas.

mosschops

When dd1 was born it was panic for any child below the 50% in weight. "HOw do I get her to eat more?" asked a friend "Give her chocolate if she refuses her meal" says HV. Well that's really going to encourage her eat well.
My dd1 weight was rapidly shooting up the centiles. I asked at what stage you worry. "You don't worry at going up". Well, I may not be a HV but there MUST be a point you worry. 10 stone at age 18 months?

When dd2 was born obesity was begining to scare people, so HV was obsessed by any child above or below the 50%. Luckily for me dd1's weight was exactly on 50%. Her height was about 95% but apparently it was only the wieght you look at

A couple of years after dd2 was born I spoke to someone who said now below 50% was fine, but if your child was above she was recommending replacing 1-2 feeds a day with just water-for bf babies...

Luckily by the time ds came along we'd change HV to one with some common sense. "Don't worry about the charts" she'd say.

Unfortunately having talked to many people, the first HV seems to be more common than the second. One friend was told to add a table spoon of oil to her (perfectly healthy, but small like her mum) dc's meal. Every meal-and yes, that included breakfast. apparently they wouldn't notice it in the milk.

Just wanted to let you know that your child is already speaking much more than my DD was at the same age. She didn't even say 'mama' and 'dada' until she was 21.5 months. It was just after DS was born, and as if she suddenly thought she'd better get a move on with it :D She's 29 months now and quite a chatterbox, so don't worry about it.

I have a brilliant HV, but before we moved 18 months ago we had a rubbish one. Not for the same reasons as you, but because the sorts of things she used to come out with made me think that she hadn't bothered to update her knowledge since she first qualified. It was a pain, but I just went to the GP if there was something I was particularly worried about, and used the internet for general info.

our hv can before the baby was born and several times after and weighed and measured him every time (3) I never asked them too. they did it from birth and plotted the chart for me. def load of crap that they cant measure him. they have roll out mat and lay him down.