Has anyone had any good experiences with the Bounty lady on the maternity ward?

[saranga]

I ask because I don't like being nobbled by strangers at the best of times, especially not when they ask for personal details. Would it be wrong of me to tell her to bugger off?

How long after the birth do they visit?

I don't get the MN angst either - they roam the wards, hoping to get a few names and contact details for marketing purposes and give you a bag of free samples - can't see the problem.

In answer to your question OP - you can't say how long after, as obviously everyone has given birth at different times - if you are on the ward when they come round, they'll offer you the bag of stuff, not ask you how long ago you gave birth

Backforgood, have you actually read some of the experiences that women have had from the "Bounty ladies"? There have been some appalling stories of invasions of privacy at times of upset and vulnerability. These totally outweigh the instances of reasonable behaviour in my opinion.

In my own case, I was in a private side room having been unwell in the HDU and then extremely upset on the main post natal ward. My DS was in SCBU very poorly after a somewhat disastrous labour, and we didn't know what the prognosis was at that time. I could barely move and was extremely sore all over. I was also desperately trying to get to grips with expressing. The stupid Bounty woman just came barging in to my room and said "where's your baby then?". I was astonished and upset by her total lack of awareness. She should have been told to stay well away from mothers with babies in SCBU, and she should not have come into my room without permission. It was another moment that emphasised to me that my baby was not well and not with me, like the other mums on the ward. It upset me greatly.

Aside from my personal experience, I also think it is clearly unethical to have sales people on a hospital ward. It doesn't happen in any other setting. They aren't there to take lovely pictures of your baby, they are there to get your personal details so they can sell them on to third parties, and give you token crap in return. They shouldn't have access to people who are vulnerable (as inpatients clearly are, legally speaking) and who are a captive audience.

Yes, lots of women will be able to tell them to naff off, but others will be upset by their intrusion or give their details away without fully realising the implications.

Yes, I think those of us who had good experiences were lucky. And I still think the bounty set up is morally wrong, even though the representative who I met was lovely.

I think they're really annoying and I can't believe they're allowed on the wards, but I just said 'I'm not interested at all thanks' and that was that.

Mine never asked for my details or mentioned a photo, they just gave me the bag. I probably looked a) exhausted and b) pissed off.

The first one chatted to me about bf and what a nightmare she'd had establishing bf her baby which inspired me to stick with it. Probably the only bit of actual support I got the whole time I was in there!

I guess it's coincidence that bounty uniform looks exactly like the nursing staff

After a long labour and assisted birth I happily gave all my details, thinking she was a hcp

Yy to they should not be allowed on the wards at all

Either that or get the local car dealership up as well I'm sure in my state I would have signed a car loan agreement too....

The bounty lady was perfectly nice to me, not rude or intrusive, and nothing about photographs was ever mentioned.

The problem I'm having now, is that I want to unsubscribe to their sodding emails and it seems impossible! Plus I get bombarded with spam from other parenting companies / kids sales things.

Definitely give out an alternative email fake to the rep.