Should I have the Health Visitor in my house?

[Cdm2020]

My health visitor called earlier to book a standard check-in with me & LO for three weeks time. I’m a bit uneasy about this. The advice is still not to mix households (in Scotland). relatives have not visited indoors yet and probably won’t for some time (grandparents shielding). Maybe things will be much more relaxed in a few weeks but wondered if others are facing this or think I’m being over cautious. Assuming she will be visiting multiple other homes and she will need to handle my baby to take measurements etc.
She did not even mention Covid on the call, or any special measures in place to protect families.

Did you ask about Covid measures etc? If not, call back and do so, and then make your decision based on what they've got in place.

Odd she didn’t mention the precautions, I would just phone back and ask given Covid how the meeting will run, any additional safety measures?

I wouldn’t agree to it

I’d assume that she’s going to arrive and put on PPE before she comes into your house. And she’ll be disinfecting the equipment etc after each use.

I had a community midwife around yesterday for a homebirth visit and she put on all her PPE on my doorstep then came in.

In three weeks time you will be able to mix households though? Why don’t you call back and ask what precautions are in place. They rarely touch the baby anyway you put them on the scales if weighing and pick them up again. Usually for hygiene purposes they will have a new cloth down anyway or you could use one of your own. Wear a mask ask them too if your nervous as well as get them to gel there hands.

The health visitors I work with wear PPE.

@mrs2468 It’s extremely likely the HV will be wearing a mask and gloves (and an apron) the entire time. And she’ll stay socially distanced unless there’s an examination required.

That’s what all the community HCPs are doing right now.

My HV (not in Scotland) came to our house wearing apron mask and gloves. She didn't hold baby and just gave me intrusctuins and wrote in red book. When she left she put all the equipment into a bin bag and left in porch for me to dispose of. I didn't have any worries at all and she maintained a safe distance at all times x

Mine came twice during covid in full PPE.

I would so have loved any HCP to come and visit me when I gave birth 9 weeks ago. Instead I had phone calls or I had to get myself to the hospital. I didn’t feel able to discuss things properly over the phone with the HV (not her fault, I just found it hard). There are good reasons for them visiting in person. Coronavirus is not the only risk.

HV's are optional at the best of time.

If you don't want her to call she doesn't need to.

I would expect something in place to protect everyone.

Thanks all. I do find it bizarre Covid wasn’t mentioned. The call came out of the blue and my LO was crying so I wasn’t really thinking straight. It was only afterwards I wished I’d asked about PPE etc. I will call her back and ask, maybe a garden visit would be possible but don’t want to be difficult. Will cancel it if necessary!

How old is your baby? I don’t think my health visitor had had to touch my baby although he’s gone on her scales which were cleaned before.
My DS has his 6 week check at the GP at the height of the pandemic at the same time as his 8 weeks imunisations as it was important to do and the risk of not doing it had to be weighed against the risk of Covid. The health visitor did her 6 week check over the phone.

I'm in England and my HV is doing our assessment over the phone in a couple of weeks as standard. I wouldn't feel comfortable with them coming into my home at the moment. If they must see you in person, I'd suggest the garden.

I had my ‘visit’ over the phone. If you don’t feel comfortable I would ask for a phone consultation.

I would just query it. We had a HV check the other week (though this was a 2 year check, slightly different), but it was all over the phone. She had me do all the developmental assessments myself and just give her the answers. Even my GP isn't seeing people face to face, and I work in a sexual health clinic and we are not seeing anyone face to face except for people with very serious complications. I can't see the reason for a HV to visit your home for a check on an otherwise healthy baby. If it makes you uncomfortable, I would just say it must be a phone appointment. Unless there are concerns, babies do not need to be weighed.

My LO is 8 months, so I don’t think the visit is particularly important. I have done measurements myself and compared them to the graphs in the little red book so I can see she is on track, as is her weight. I do have lots of questions re: weaning etc but obviously could be done over the phone. I think that would make more sense. Thanks all.