"Crap your HV told you"

[colditzmum]

I don't like health visiters in general. Could all the other MNers back me up on this one?

I asked her if it was normal for a 2 year old to pronouce every single consonant and she said no. She said alot of 2 year olds can't pronouce words like school. So, what the f* was she going on about then???????????

Socci, on your behalf!
How is your dd's speech now?

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Good to hear

That she has a good therapist i meant obviously and that she's improving!

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Socci, my community midwife was a cow. In fact, should I ever have the fortune to be pregnant again, I will categorically state I do not wish to see this woman.

She treated me like a piece of meat. When she came to discharge me, DS was upstairs crying. She said, "He doesn't sound too upset yet, leave him", said I looked fine, then asked for my notes. I said they were upstairs, went and got DS (obviously!), came back down again and she wrote what she had to in my notes, then said if I had any more problems I should call my GP (I did a few days later and they said why had midwife discharged me?!). Not once that visit did she even look at DS - she didn't seem to like babies or women much at all! Plus she always STANK of cigarettes.

HVs are wishy-washy, IME. Mine congratulated me for breastfeeding and wanting to continue for a year and not wean DS onto solids til past six months. Then when he failed to keep piling on the weight (despite me possibly having gestational diabetes - think he was actually just levelling out weight-wise - went from 75th to 25th which is more likely looking at my build), she started saying 'do you think feeding's going well?', telling me to give him solids and passing little looks to the woman doing the weighing. This despite my boy's chubby wrists, big smiles, cute cheeks and dimples - and the fact that she's using a bottlefed baby chart!

Mind you, I'd not do the job of a HV for love nor money. OK, going to stop ranting now

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My HV when I had ds was fab. Really supportive, fab in a crisis, and never saw me without telling me how gorgeous ds was and what a great job I was doing. If it hadn't been for her I would have given up b/f at two weeks, instead of continuing for 7 mos.

However, what I see from my own job and what I hear from other parents is appalling. What interests me is why so many HVs seem to get away without keeping up with developments in their field. Doctors, nurses and other health professionals have continuing professional development systems where they have to show that their skills are up to date. Why are there so many HVs around who appear not to have read anything remotely relevant to their jobs for about a decade? Their professional body told me it's because their employers don't give them enough 'support'. Well, I'm sorry if that's the case but frankly it's their responsibility and if there are HVs who can't be bothered to at least read the journals then those ones don't actually give a t*ss about their jobs, do they?
Having said all that,

all nurses midwives and health visitors need to keep themselves professionally updated to remain on the register, they also need to evidence this else they will not be able to re-register(this is done every 3 years). Those of you complaining that they've been referred to other agencies(speech and language, dieticians, paeds etc) in this age of litigation can u blame hv's for erring on the side of caution, u cant have it all ways.

forgot to say they have no right of entry, not even at first postnatal visit between 10-14 days.

Shevi - as one who complained about being referred, a couple of points. Firstly, I insisted that I didn't want referred as I didn't believe there was anything wrong with DD (proved right in the end, natch), and explained about to my HV that we are all small in my family. Completely ignored, and made to feel VERY irresponsible for arguing with her. Secondly, a paediatrician friend of mine is fed up to the back teeth of HV over-referral and the extra workload it creates for her. In her words, "they are jack of all trades and masters of none". Litigation I don't think comes into it in many cases.

Understand what your saying completely, and agree that hv's are jack of all trades and master of none, but thats because they do health promotion/public health work and not just child surveillance.Your paediatrician friend is a specialist in her chosen field,with years of specialist training behind her,surely if we are unsure its safer to refer for their expert opinion. A child is so precious I'm afraid if their was a concern in my mind, i would ask the parents permission to refer, However there is no excuse for not using commonsense, BUT, that doesnt stand up in court when there are policies and procedures in place for everyones protection. Believe me most nurses ,midwives hv's biggest fear is litigation,and we can be struck off the register just as much for omitting to care as doing something wrong.
The role of the HV has changed beyond recognition since i had my first child 19 years ago and my latest addition last year.
HV's are expected to do smoking cessation sessions, Older person health assessments, well woman clinics, continence clinics,plus numerous other health initiatives, a lot of time is taken up with child protection cases in collaboration with police and social services, which can take up a huge amount of time.
I do understand if u have had a bad experience with a health professional, but dont tar us all with the same brush...we've all come across paternalistic,arrogant, know it all's (they usually dont) i should know i was married to one for 12 years!

Hi Shevi, I'm really glad that you've posted actually. Obviously I can't speak for anyone else but I wasn't being needlessly critical just honest! It would be lovely if you could take the comments in a constructive way and therefore avoid the pitfalls described on this thread. Given that you seem to care so much, you probably will anyway I just feel that it's a shame when HVs could be so helpful to new mothers (and let's face it, it's a very scary time) and that it's currently a resource largely wasted I wish you all the best in your studies.

Shevi, if you happen to know an HV called Maisie in SW London, tell her she's a star .

But re HVs keeping up to date - if they do take part in CPD, why is so much of the advice that some HVs hand out so out of date, then? Really can't understand it.

Hi Logic, thanks for your words of encouragement, following this thread has certainly given me something to think about,and hopefully put into practice or not as the case maybe!
Hi Edam- we all have to take part in CPD perhaps your HV hasnt taken part in the relevant sessions to her practice.
I went to a teaching session on weaning last week and was told we shouldnt be encouraging weaning until babies are 4 months, yet i have read research that now states 6 months. The one thing i can catergorically state is that ur baby wont have read the research!
Research is a minefield, and has to be critically analysed and evaluated before health professionals will apply it to practice. So even tho it may be published on the internet or in the papers it doesnt necessarily make it 'good' research. i know it doesnt really help, and i'm not defending bad hv's,they do the hv profession a diservice......(...creeps off apologetically)

beginning to think i've made the wrong career move....!!!

Oh, have just remembered something, I was going to visit my family in Mexico when I was 5m pregnant and asked if I needed to take any preacution (thinking of thrombosis and things in the likes of...) and she told me "As long as you have access to clean safe drinking water you would be fine"

My sarcastic self was about to answer..."well, you see, that shouldn't be a problem as all the neighbours have got together to dug a well in the shoping mall, we choose a spot just beside the internet cafe, ender the scalator, so we all can bring the water home everytime we check our email accounts. "

I just kept my mouth shut for fear of ending up being cared by her in labour...

HVs - a starnge career choice - strange ideas strange advice - often seem to live in a different world occupied by people with too much time on their hand - but I just think i might not like them

Shevie - I know you do health promotion - I work in health promotion, and work closely with HV's in our area. Not all our contact is positive! However, I do wish you well in your chosen career - you sound really enthusiatic and committed. If all HV's were like you, this thread wouldn't exist. Good luck!

When my twins were 3 months old, at their jabs, my hv said to me "now, you'll be wanting to take them out for the first time, take some formula in a tupperware bowl and a bottle of freshly boiled water and make their feed up on the bus" WTF!!!!! Twins, on the bus?? making a feed up on the move???!!! Words failed me, as they still do, and didn't go back to her. How crap and un realistic is this??

I'm surprised at 'for the first time'. did you really stay in for 3 months?

Err, no, but she was amazed that i hadn't been incarcerated until then. She said that many new mums don't go out with their babies for the first couple of weeks. Not in my world!