Midwife appt. Vent. Pee. Lost bloods

[GingerDoodle]

Had my 34 week appt today.

At my last appt the MW didn't give me a pee bottle so I said so and said I could do one - first off comment - 'o you should have done one whilst you were waiting'. Not sure what she expected me to do it in?

Everything appears fine until she tests the pee and finds raised blood sugars. Every other test has been normal, I?ve drunk a whole load of fruit juice this morning as I?m constipated so I?m not that worried /surprised. MW on the other hand then realises (despite me ringing and asking for them weeks ago and being promised they would post them out) they have lost my 28 week bloods so she can?t check if my sugars were ?normal? then. Whilst trying (unsuccessfully) to contact the hospital to find them she stresses the fact I should have done a sample first thing in the morning (which I was never told) and should cut out sugar (fair enough).

In the end I suggest she phones the hospital I am booked to give birth at (different area) or I could do it as they also did bloods at 28 weeks. She grumps as she?s now running late but gets through and the results are fine.

At this point I really feel like I want to leave, I appreciate and understand the concern but her manner was brisk and unfriendly. She wants me back in a week with a first pee sample so I ask for a clean bottle and she responds 'o this ones fine I washed it out'. I don't consider myself a prude but I thought the bottles were sterile (I may well be wrong) and find this a little gross.

No advice given on what to replace fruit juice with to reduce constipation, or to reduce the swelling in my hands (carpal tunnel / feet)l.

I'm so glad I'm giving birth out of the area. It?s such a shame; my last appt was with a completly lovely midwife with a brilliant patient manner.

We get one pee bottle here and you use it for the whole pregnancy. They dip it and give it back to you still filled. Im surprised they dont make you keep it for any subsequent babies too...

For the constipation drink copious amounts of water and eat tons of green veg. I have GD and constipation and its a bugger not being able to "fruit" it out your system!

We pee in paper coffee cups left in the toilet. Its the first thing you do when you arrive. Thought it was weird at first but so much easier to aim into than those awful little tube things!

Yes I was handed my last per bottle back.too! To take home and wash myself. Cost cutting :/

Yeah we have to reuse our bottles too...

We reuse bottles too - apparently they don't have the facilities to dispose of the contents so I get it back full.

Except the last time when I accidentally stepped on the damn bottle after emptying it, thus smashing it into a million pieces. I turned up to the MW with a plastic water bottle full of wee instead . It was the only thing I could think of!

Not much help or any advice but a bit of a funny story...we have to reuse our bottle too, which is fine by me..so on my way to my appt with midwife I have a filled bottle in my bag from the morning pee as adviced..and on my way to appt i have to go and get a new tire for the car down at our garage..there I am sitting with my handbag on the small coffee table in front of me, and when the young and very handsome mechanich bloke comes to gives me the keys and take me to pay he accidentially pushes my bag over, and the bottle of pee rolls out on the coffee table...yikes I quickly try to stuff it back in, with a muttered escuse of being pregnant and on my way to MW appt...he had been really charming up until that point but looked absolutely disgusted with me...weird woman with pee in her handbag...ohh well..will get partner to do the car stuff from now on...

Where I am you don't get a bottle and are expected to buy your own. End each time it is handed back to you to dispose of contents.

i was expectedto reuse bottle too, bit yucky i suppose butso much better for theenvironment and nhs budgets. I was seen by a gp when my mw was on holiday who threw it away mw said that drs tend to dispose of them as they see more 'ill' people but most samples in pregnancy have no infections etc.so hey adopted a policy of reusing them.

That said i have always taken a urine sample in somethingelse if i think it would be needed (when i suspect a UTI etc). A disposable water bottle works just as well and saves time, I think you could have used your iniative a bit.

I can sympathise, we have not had a great MW experience yet, the last appointment was the best one, I am 31 weeks now and finally met my MW (having had all previous appt with different people because my MW was off sick, we live in a small village I was promised the same person thought out).

One of the interim stand in MW told me at our 25 week appt that I was neglecting my unborn child becuase I missed an appt (didn't have one booked & didn't know I should have done) and should I miss another she would have no hesitation in calling social services! She was rude and condescending and had made me really nervous about who I will get on the day, please god do not let it be her!

Considering at this point I had not actually met anyone who could tell me what and who I should be seeing at what time I was mortified, this is our first child so I had no idea what the 'rules' are and no one at any time explained them!

I felt fine, had I not I would have called a doctor, some may argue but I consider myself to be a reasonably average mum to be with average circumstances and clearly more than capable of caring for a child.

To add to this, they lost my bloods, I had to have them done again and I too was completely unaware you have to provide a pee sample, I was not given a sample pot and was informed by my ever so lovely stand in MW that this was unaccaptable, again impying neglect of my baby as she was unable to test for what it is they test for ... (still don't know, never was properly explained!)

I have been watching the series 'the Midwives' on BBC2 and have learnt more from this series than my own MW or doctor, I feel very deprived hearing on this programme how mums to be have had where the baby is explained and which part is what of the baby. One lady on last night's prgramme was shown where the head was and got to feel it, I have no idea where my baby is and at what angle...

You'll all be pleased to hear all my appts are now booked in up to due date, no getting it wrong again!

We reuse our bottles too, i find it disgusting... especially since it stinks, looks radioactive and will inevitably fall out of my bag at work before I can get home to empty it. Seems to be the norm though so I'm glad its not just me feeling like the minger :)

My last appointment was also crap Ginger Midwife told me she wasn't going through my birth plan (which DP had taken the day off to attend) because she hadn't booked a long enough appointment and didn't want to make all her other ladies late... because she's never running late with me, obviously! then she said the computer was broke so she couldn't book my next one - I'd have to be called. THEN she said she couldn't find the results of my last blood test, Absolute farse from start to finish. In and out in less than 5 minutes.

We reuse sample bottles here too. I don't have a problem with it at all, urine samples don't need to be sterile so why waste a bottle every time you need to produce a sample? After all, it's my own wee in there...

preggers laughing at the idea of the Mw making a referral to social services for missing one appointment. Take it from someone who knows social services would think she was barking mad to make such a referral (unless you are also on crack/heroin) :)

Oh and just to add...I have to re-use my bottle, it is getting a bit grim at 30 weeks (the label has started to peel off). But what annoyed me is one week I forgot and said I could pop out and do it but MW said too not worry, then when I checked my notes she had written 'sample not privided'. I would gave 'provided' is she had given me the 30 seconds to do a pee

I am 36 weeks pregnant with my first DC. The four times I have managed to see an actual midwife (as opposed to being told they haven't got any available appointments so seeing GP instead) three times they have run 40 mins or more late. This week she was almost an hour late and said this was because most women turn up with no specimen bottle so she has to let them go and do a wee during appt time. I suggested gently that she provide everyone with a specimen bottle at the end of each appt (ours DO give you a new one each time and dispose of it during appt) and she said this was routine. I held my tongue instead of saying this had never happened to me, I always ask at reception when I arrive for a specimen bottle and do the wee while waiting the 40+ mins!

At end of appt she failed to give me a bottle til I reminded her.

Totally flaky! I would rather we had to reuse our own bottle, and be asked to come back another time for the test if we have forgotten the sample, than that everyone be 40+ mins late each time! But they DO need to make it clear that a sample is needed, and whether or not you should avoid sugar etc , and when appts should be, so that we can actually get it right. They seem to think that just because midwifes/HCPs do this stuff day in day out, first time mums will be equally aware of guidelines AND WE'RE NOT!