No support allowed to Antenatal appointments

[defstar06]

hello all,
chng.it/QkGMcw2VNt
I am starting a change.org to try and allow pregnant women to have someone there to support them there partner or loved one or family member im not asking to allow the whole family in just one person.
My wife is 7 weeks pregnant and we have are first scan on the 13th of July and were both nervous but she is worse as she's not allowed anyone with her.
If anyone sign my change.org would be amazing
chng.it/QkGMcw2VNt

Thank you all :-)

Can you facetime partner during the appointment so they are there virtually?

We're moving this thread over to our Petitions topic, which is the only part of the site where we allow petition threads to be posted.

I'm sorry for your situation, but I also agree that I cannot support this.

I do understand that the risk needs to be as low as possible and that the more people in hospital the harder that is but I also think a better solution needs to be found.

Prior to covid I found out my DD2 had died on my own in a maternity assessment unit, my DH was outside with DD1. He was immediately allowed to come in and rules around no children were relaxed. I needed him then and I really feel for any woman that has to go through that and then sit on her own because partners aren't allowed. Yes the majority of appointments and scans are straight forward but not all and this isn't predictable.

Unless your wife has SN or disability she shouldn't need any support to go to an antenatal appointment.

Its understandable that you are both worried but its for everyones safety that the appointments are for her to attend alone. I had my 12 week scan on Monday and my DH stayed in the car. He was disappointed he could bot attend but understands why. She will be looked after by the midwives. Im a big worrier and was very anxious but I was put at ease with the midwives and the answered all my questions and made sure i was happy with what was going on.

I'm sorry but I agree with the others. I can't support this. It's across the board- people with dementia cannot have people with them when they're inpatient, people can't have support when they're having cancer treatments etc etc.

If it helps, you can attend private scans together. My friend is pregnant and they paid privately for a gender scan so could find out together before she had her 20 week anomaly scan with nhs. I would really try and focus on the good positive bits instead of what you're missing out on. You're relatively early on in pregnancy so fingers crossed that by birth things will have eased up and you'll be allowed to be with your wife the whole time then. Also she can bring out scan pictures to look at together and you can always write any questions you have down for her to take in perhaps? Tbh it's quite nice having a quiet waiting room etc at the moment; before they'd be full of men and children sitting on every chair playing on their phones, iPads, making lots of noise whilst pregnant women stood around! I quite like it now, I feel calmer!

I agress with others and won't be supporting it. I feel that staff at the hospitals have more right to minimize their risk than you do to be at someone else's medical appointment

I truly sympathise but I can't sign. I had my dating & anomaly scan before covid (just) but when I went to get my anti-D injection a few weeks ago I had to sit in the same waiting room as I was in for my scans. The chairs were all spaced two meters apart and it was busy in there which meant there would have been absolutely no room for partners - the chairs were almost at capacity and anyone standing up would have meant breaching the two metre distance. It just can't be done at the minute, to protect women, babies, and staff. Sorry.

OP, I know it's nerve-wracking being a first-time parent and going to your first scan but unfortunately hospitals can't afford to have people who aren't in receipt of medical treatment walking in and out all day everyday unnecessarily.

If there is bad news for your wife on the day, she will have the lovely staff to support her.

I was told I'm going to lose my child and have to give birth to him today (very well in to my pregnancy) without my husband there at the time, so I can say I know what it feels like. Sadly, that's just life!

Not today, that day!

Sorry you are finding not being able to go to the scans etc upsetting, but we are in the middle of a global pandemic and hospitals have not excluded partners just for the fun of it. So unless your partner has compelling reasons for needing you there - for example a physical or learning disability she will just have to be brave and go on her own. I'm saying this as someone who did receive bad news at a scan attended on my own. Yes it sucked, but life just goes like that sometimes.