October 2014 #9 - Into the home straight we go, 3rd trimester here we come!

[sazzlehopes]

old threads is here

Keep up the chitter chatter ladies!

Daggers in my throat this morning. Ouch :(

The bat story made me laugh goats - bats really are horrid. Fly at your head and totally freak me out!

I sleep naked too but then I always do. Have to remember pjs when going to stay with people! Also under light duvet. Sheet find too thin so can't sleep. Silly really.
I also have a great love affair with my pregnancy pillow going on! Love it!

So just going back to the strike action I heard right that there might be midwife strikes starting in October? Not very comforting to hear when due then! What will happen as planning birth at MLU? Starting to feel stressed now. Just wish there was a private clinic near me or I was still in Jersey where the NHS doesnt exist!

Oh after my little panic/ rant it doesnt affect Scotland Should have read the news article before posting!

Sorry another post... On the sling topic has anyone used the Mothercare own brand one?

I can't help myself from posting and I don't want to get into a disagreement but..

www.theguardian.com/society/2011/aug/07/nhs-among-most-efficient-health-services

www.telegraph.co.uk/health/nhs/10907823/Britains-NHS-is-the-worlds-best-health-care-system-says-report.html

www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2014/jun/mirror-mirror?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=

the third one is the best to look at but I was also showing a lefty and arighty newspapers review of the report for balance.

Currenty the NHS is the most efficacious health system in the developed world. We also spend less on it than many other countries.
There are problems as always with large institutions although in my view the problems are mis-represented by those with a political agenda and described as more than they are or used as an excuse for further marketisation.

The reason that Private instutions can do what they do is becuase the NHS picks up the pieces consistently for them. Private hospitals do not need to have an HDU or ITU and do not have such expensive operations.

The dicking around with the NHS over the apst 10 years and longer makes it harder for staff to continue to do a good job and there are always examples of people's negative experiences. Despite the dicking around frontline staff continue to manage to treat people as they 'need' it. If you needed (really needed it) treatment tomorrow you would get it. In amongst this there are always going to be some crap staff and I am sorry when people have come up against this.

I work for the NHS and have done for most of my working life, I fully agree with the strike actions having watched the previous governments fuck with the institution I am proud to be a part of and mistreat the staff within that institution. The marketisation could stop tomorrow and make it more efficient but taht does not mean the nHS is crap.

Sorry for long rant.

Sorry binky I don't know about the use of slings yet, but I do have my eye on this as a possibility -www.lovetobenatural.co.uk/boba-4g-baby-carrier-tweet.html

Sorry puppy wasnt an attack on anyone who works for the NHS but having lived somewhere with mainly private health care and no NHS there is a huge difference in care and service. I know that staff do the best they can in tough conditions!

Puppy you are right to be proud and defend the NHS. As a patient though, I am torn. I think it is an absolutely amazing concept and one of the best things about Britain (am Irish and had to pay €50 just to see a GP at home). I'm not surprised it was celebrated at the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

however I have also been let down so badly by the NHS that I use my BUPA insurance to see a private specialist when I really need to.
On the NHS, I have been:

• dangerously misdiagnosed
• refused referral
• fobbed off
• given the wrong prescription
• left waiting 13 hours to be seen and told to come back the next day

The last three are irritating, the first two had serious consequences. In both cases it was down to ridiculous targets I.e. length of appointment time and limits on referrals. The doctors in question admitted that. And they wanted things to be better and knew they were not doing a brilliant job but were so totally bound by ridiculous targets and lack of resources that there was no alternative.

So I think something has to change radically to protect patients and HCP's alike - but the concept of the NHS should be absolutely safeguarded.

The funny thing about going private is that you are generally treated by the same clinical staff (ie: pathology/ doctor/ consultant) as NHS patients. It's just a little quicker and a lot more expensive.
I work in the NHS, offering a 24 hr service. People say they want to be seen whenever well they can be. That's what the out of hours 111 service is for. However if you think I should be working more than 3 out of 4 weekends or more than 12/13 hour days/ nights I may have to look for work else where!
On the plus side I'm getting my whooping cough jab today and having someone look at my huge hippo feet

Not wanting to get into a bun fight but puppy is spot on here. All industries have shortfalls and the NHS is no different. Private is not a good altunative and as with education, it allows the more affluent to access quicker and sometimes, but not always, better service.

Let's say goodbye to the bloody Tories and say hello to a government who places value on public services.

On a separate note:Owwwwwwwww.
The baby has her head right against my bladder/urethra and is sort of head banging. Dear god.

I have to say although i have witnessed some spectacular NHS failures i am very lucky to live near one of the best hospitals in the country with the best maternity unit. Its proof some hospitals can & do work & it would be very bad times indeed if we didn't have the nhs. Just need the government to spend more money on it!

On the topic of slings the main thing to look for is a wide seat (the bit that goes between babies legs). Ensuring this is wide enough to support the hips is really important for comfort & safety for both baby and wearer. Narrow seated carriers & most outward facing carriers are considered a very bad idea by most of the baby wearing community. Look up TICKS , this tells you the things to look for when buying a sling or carrier

Sorry guys for starting a bit of a heated debate. I should think before I type and I think I got out of bed on the wrong side this morning after another sleepless night. Quite a few drivers felt my wrath on the drive into work this morning!

Anyway, moving swiftly on... as an alternative to the Mothercare baby carriers is buying second hand okay with baby carriers? There's no issues like with mattresses/ car seats is there as long as there's no visible wear I presume?

This is next thing on the list, just enquired after a rocking chair on Gumtree then the end of August we'll be buying the cotbed and I think we're sorted for big stuff. then it's just stockpiling some disposable nappies to use before we trial the reusable ones after she's born.

Just lots of painting of furniture to do now, hoping to get it done this weekend while the weather is nice. Have found an Annie Sloan stockist just half an hours drive from work so spending my lunch break today driving there. Thanks for the suggestion Mrsb!

As with all state services though, it's about personal experience, and every individual's experience is different. My family rave about the NHS constantly, particularly my brother regards IVF and my mum regards cancer treatment. I've not had many positive experiences, which my family would also agree to whenever this subject comes up. I'm waiting to be pleased with the NHS after the pregnancy/birth thing, but so far the actual service provided is a bit meh. The individual staff have been brilliant (well, clinical staff - as always, admin staff have been a bunch of obstructive divs), but the system itself sucks.

It's the same as state education though. I know parents of children in my class this year who will consider that they've had a DREADFUL experience of state schools, no support, they'll feel that their children have been failed etc, whereas others have written me great letters to the contrary. In my mind they've all been treated the same, so maybe it's also about expectation.

Slings - I'm going to try and resist the whole 'carrying the baby all the time in the house' thing, and want something that feels more sturdy for outside - I don't like the idea of being wrapped up in a massive long blanket either. Got loaned a Baby Bjorn for tinies, but it feels quite flimsy... we'll see - going to start with that, then see how things pan out. As much as I love my fancy-ass changing bag, it won't fit well with a sling, so might need to rethink everything in practice!

lots of GPs are parents who want part-time work due to having their own children

Yep, and that opens a whole other Pandora's box of state service issues and political expectation - childcare etc. Realistically if you work (or want to work) in a service industry, at some point there will be decisions you have to make about what suits your lifestyle/planned lifestyle. Other professions don't have the choice about working hours that suit family life either, so I wouldn't go in to them! Bit like teaching really - if it ends up that we have to be in school actually TEACHING from 8 - 6pm, or working 48 weeks a year, then I'll leave the profession. I don't necessarily think that providing an educational experience for children from 8 - 6, or for 48 weeks a year is a bad thing (although it wouldn't be able to be all class type academic stuff in that time, sports yes, music yes, arts yes), but it wouldn't suit me and I'd be out of it.

Then, the same as doctors etc, you'll be in to the issue of salary expectations for people who are willing to work those hours in those professions. Hahaaaa... sometimes I wonder if society in general is totally fucked...

Binky, second hand carriers are fine, i wouldn't own any if i didn't buy used! When it comes to wraps its actually better to buy second hand as they are broken in for you

Off to take DS for his first taster session at nursery in a min, really excited for him but might feel different when it comes to leaving him there on Monday!

It's very reassuring to hear praise for the nhs on here. It can be such a thankless place to work with very high expect ions from people who do not realise the conditions we face. I go to work and try my best everyday I can work 13.5 hours on my feet day and night weekends Xmas day etc without a break that means without food or water or toilet breaks to look after people.

Nhs workers frequently sacrifice their own health and basic human rights to provide care because we care. However the service users/patients do not see this ad we often get portrayed as uncaring and lazy or not going them time in appointments or help with breastfeeding time if only we had it.

On the ward I had a caseload of 18 patients allocated to me many of them on IV medication or recovering from Cs babies on IV/blood sugar monitoring and observations/ phototherapy it was all my responsibility plus I had to document everything I did in 18 sets of notes as if it isn't written down it didn't happen and I had to cover my back.

Can you imagine what it is like to work under those conditions it is horrific and totally demoralising plus scary as you are constantly thinking that something terrible might happen. As well as not having breaks we would also frequently have to work unpaid overtime to make sure our paperwork was done. I must state that deposited this the msternity unit where I work is considered to be one if the safest and is very popular due in no small part to how the employees go above and beyond.

Many midwives did have children however due to the increasing demands of the job and less flexible working options more and more midwives are now early 20's and childless while they may be great and capable it is a shame not to see more variety of life experiences.

Sorry that was a massive rant not aimed at anyone just trying to paint a picture of how hard it is to give gold standard care in the awful conditions we face (for minimal pay and contempt from the current government)

Morning everyone,
Is anyone trying hypnobirthing - if so which method are you using - Natal Hypnobirthing or Marie Mongan?

Thanks for the sling advice, I'm not sure if we have a sling library here, things don't seem very well advertised/ information available as we happened by chance at the MLU open Day to find out we have a real nappy network!

I'll be visiting our local second hand child shop this weekend to see what slings/carriers they have in stock and another big tick off the list

I feel the same Buggerlugs - I can read as much as I want about birth stuff, in the end it'll be what it'll be. I can't imagine that 'breathing' will be my thing.. more 'shouting'. We'll see. I'm bizarrely really fascinated to find out which way I'll go though. For most of us pain is usually negative, so maybe a 'positive pain' will be entirely different to deal with.

Our next sling library session is after my due date, but I figure that'll be better for trying them on without too much of a bump in the way. It's hard to work out now which would be good when you can't put them on properly.