health visitors.do you love them or hate them?

[mum28]

after a spell of mental illness,i was put under the microscope and baby was checked up on all the time.they were more of a pain than a help.how do you get on with yours?.

[FairyMum]

Mine was terribly old-fashioned. It was like travelling back to the 1950's.......

[anais]

Jimjams - same here - my hv was determined I was going to be depressed!

I've had 2 - the first was ok - not very approachable. She knew my Mum (kind of) and obviously disapproved of me having the baby.

When I moved my new Hv was again ok, harmless and nothing desperately wrong, but she never seemed particularly interested. If I asked for help and advice she never really had any and was far more interested in chatting than actually helping me.

There was one really lovely hv at the practice who was really sympathetic, understanding, always had advice and suggestions - just a shame I never got to see her.

[misdee]

doctors can be useless. i had an awful one in harlow, perscribed strong steroid cream for my dd2 facial eczema when all she needed was a moisteriser. lucky i knew what this cream was cos i could've damaged her skin more. my HV here has been over a lot in the last month to help with form filling i have to do.

[boyandgirl]

I've had two at different surgeries, and they were both good for me and mine. I definitely prefer the second one, because she has kids of her own, whereas the first one did everything by the book - and I'm not sure which book it was ('everything that goes into the baby's mouth must be sterlised until the age of one year' - what, including the grass, my shoe, her brother's fingers and that 2nd hand rusk she's just picked up off your floor?). Even so, I could talk to her for as long as I needed, and not just about the baby, and she sorted out treatment for me when I went down with PND. I was very happy that, having had PND with no1, my new HV phoned me up every so often during the next pregnancy to check that I was OK, and she still does that now if she hasn't heard from me for a while. Nonetheless, with both of them, if I don't agree with what they say I just go off and do my own thing!

[doormat]

Never see her. The only time HV calls is for developemental checks ie 6 week and 2 yrs.She is ok though.

Does anyone have that red health authority book?
I find it a pain in the bum as can never find it when needed.

[sheesh]

think it just depends who you get! I live on Herts ?Cambs border and the Cambs HV is a dithery twit like woman who speaks with such a soppy voice i can never take her seriously and never seems in touch with reality anyway...Herts HV is lovely down to earth knows everyones kids and their kids and runs a weight loss clinic for post pregnancy and beyond and always has sound advice and a smile and is a real human being

[Rhubarb]

Never see mine. We didn't click from day one, she's too fuddy and dismissive. I'm sure she does her job well, but I never hear from her and I don't get in touch because I feel there's no need. If I did have a question about my daughter's development I'd probably ask other people first, she'd be the last person I thought of really. But I'm sure for some mothers they can be useful.

[Ness73]

I had one offer my daughter a sugar lump today. She must have thought she was a horse.

[bundle]

whoops! sorry..

[bundle]

when I asked about developmental checks for my 3 yr old dd, the hv asked if I was worried about her. she said they're so short of people now they only do them if you specifically ask. can't' really see the point of them really, cos you see a doctor if it's something medical and there's Mumsnet for everything else

[bundle]

when I asked about developmental checks for my 3 yr old dd, the hv asked if I was worried about her. she said they're so short of people now they only do them if you specifically ask. can't' really see the point of them really, cos you see a doctor if it's something medical and there's Mumsnet for everything else

[bundle]

when I asked about developmental checks for my 3 yr old dd, the hv asked if I was worried about her. she said they're so short of people now they only do them if you specifically ask. can't' really see the point of them really, cos you see a doctor if it's something medical and there's Mumsnet for everything else

[Janstar]

There was a male HV at our clinic for a little while, he was training. A large dopey Kiwi guy.

[pronto]

HVs are nurses with additional specialised training, I've had quite a few now and they've all been different, none perfect, but I do go for advice on develoment issues, and see the Dr if its medical. I've learnt to trust my own opinion and gut feelings more, ignore the HVs if I don't agree and push something if I feel I'm not being taken seriously. I don't like them around right after I've had a baby, they seem intrusive, but that's their job, to see you're coping ok.

[MBB]

I found the HV at the weekly baby clinics to be absolutley useless. The only thing they would do was weigh DS, they never offered any useful advice on anything I ever asked. They would just tell me to make an appt to see the GP. I felt that they were just there to check for bruises (as DS was undressed to be weighed).

[jennifersofia]

Questions - have HV's stopped doing developmental checks on new babies? Haven't seen or heard hide nor hair of our HV since the 6wk check on dd2. Maybe it is because it is my 2nd child and she could see I didn't seriously injure the first....not that we mind terribly, a nice woman but basically a waste of time. Also, as nearly everyone seems to think that HV's are a bit useless, why hasn't the system changed? Or perhaps they are targetted at a non-mumsnet type of group, eg under educated and not very clued up? Mind you, when I had dd1 I wasn't that clued up about things like coming to terms with leaving my old life behind and coping with a new one. We could all use helpful support at such times, couldn't we? My MIL told me that when her daughter was born her HV (or similar) came every day and did tasks around the house for an hour or so - like hoovering, shopping or looking after baby so she could have a bath, etc. Now that I call helpful!

[Angeliz]

Docs can be bad too!!!(as we know!) When my sis's little boy was a few months old he was constipated and her doc told her to put wshing up liquid up his bum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HONEST! I was appaled,,,,,,,

[twiglett]

message withdrawn

[scottiebabe]

hv with ds was old enough to be my gran and was full of useful info and had dealt with loads of families -hv with dd was young had no idea and i was nearly old enough to be her mum and did not visit very often saw her if went to baby clinic!

[WideWebWitch]

Here's a quick overview of HV qualifications.

[WideWebWitch]

I am interested to know what training HVs have. Might look it up actually. This thread and others show that women's experiences of HVs are so variable and they don't half dish out a load of old cobblers sometimes. Mine told me that mango was fattening and I should get ds into a routine when he was 10 days old. I also particularly liked being asked about contraception at 10 days post natal too, I should have just cackled at her and asked her if she'd ever given birth (she hadn't). It sounds to me as if they're capable of doing an awful lot of damage and are completely inadequately trained.

[motherinferior]

I've had one visit from the HV this time (home birth), plus exhortations to 'visit the baby clinic asap'; when I've actually gone to said clinic all that happens is baby is weighed. This is particularly ironic as I have had depression in the past and the midwife was terribly concerned I didn't get PND and made me visit a specialist at the hospital (I got an obstetrician who told me to cheer up and put on a bit of make-up, but that's another story). I have to say I have also interviewed very good HVs in the line of work but they tend to be running mobile health clinics for homeless people and suchlike.

Pah.

[Nome]

My first hv was a man - he read all the leaflets he had with him to me and that was as useful as he got...

[misdee]

nope. not yet!

[rainbow]

You all mention her, have none of you had a male HV?