Information from midwife

[DreamingOfTheMaldives]

Hi. I am currently 15 weeks pregnant and I haven't seen the midwife since 15th January. All normal as far as I am aware.

The thing which is bothering me is that I have been looking through my pregnancy notes and there are numerous and quite extensive checklists for things she claims to have discussed with me - this includes having discussed pelvic floor exercises, sex in pregnancy, equipment, hospital visit, BCG (no idea what this is) and things which I would have expected her to discuss later such as safe sleeping, infant feeding.

In fact, she has ticked and signed (and dated) the whole checklist to say she has discussed them and the majority of things (including all those listed above) she has never mentioned. It seems odd that she has even ticked and dated the things which I can't imagine are relevant yet, including feeding etc. Some of the checklists say ' to discuss by 34 weeks' but she has ticked and dated them already!

I feel like apart from a couple of leaflets re: screening and breastfeeding, I haven't been given any information at all. Is this normal?! I know she was in a rush when I saw her last which I didn't mind too much but I don't expect her to have ticked the entire check list to say she has discussed things when she hasn't!

I am capable of doing research and finding information on the internet but it's hard to know what is important and what isn't, and also which sources are the most reliable.

Did anyone else receive a bit more spoon feeding from their midwife or we all very much left to our own devices to research every single detail of pregnancy?!

Try the NCT website NHS midwives are always pushed for time naughty of her to tick things she hasn't done, but not exactly unknown. Mine advised me at high speed of all manner of irrelevant things including not to do breaststroke (which turned out to be her misunderstanding the guidance).

BCG is the vaccination for TB, and only relevant if you are at particular risk because of where you live or work.

Yes.. This seems to be very common. I have seen the same things in my notes. They have even added in fundal height despite me not being measured. I find it very galling.

I think you basically have to accept they are not really going to be much help at all. As it sounds like you are doing, you just have to do your research yourself..

Good luck!

I think if you are given a leaflet where a topic is mentioned then they count it as "discussed" even if they haven't mentioned it.

I'm a community midwife. I am supposed to discuss a huge checklist of things with women and I don't, we just do not have the time. Instead I indicate the page of things I'm supposed to discuss (which hasd a little paragraph on each thing so she has the basic info), tell her to read it, give her the NHS Pregnancy website and Tommy info line number, ensure she's booked for AN classes and tell her to raise any questions with me when she sees me at 16 weeks (and thereafter, of course). That's pretty much the best I can do at information sharing!

Some of the things though aren't relevant to everybody. I'm supposed to tick a box saying I've discussed the woman's BMI with her. Now, if she's come in with a BMI of 22, I'll say "Your BMI is 22, which is normal and fine" and tick the box. But if the woman reads the little paragraph about BMI on the discussion checklist it will tell her what BMI is, how it's calculated, what will happen if her BMI isn't within the normal range. I'll have ticked the box because I've discussed the bit about BMI that's relevant to her, but she miught be thinking "Hang on, she hasn't discussed with me that if my BMI is below 18 I'll need growth scans!" But I'll have told her the relevant bit to her. Likewise with BCG, in most PCTs if you're not from a list of TB prone countries then your baby won't get the BCG, and when the midwife has asked where you're from that's one of the things she's thinking of, so she may have ticked the box because she has told you the bit about BCG that's relevant to you (i.e. nothing!). It is naughty to tick things off she hasn't discussed at all though and I would raise it at your next appointment.

Thanks for your replies.

I am seeing the midwife again next week so will raise certain things with her then - generally the things which she has ticked which are causing the most concerns. Some things I know about anyway, whereas others I would like the chance to actually discuss them rather than just reading online.

It does seem silly that there isn't a N/A box for midwives to tick when something isn't relevant to the individual.

I'm due to book my antenatal classes very soon and the maternity hospital also does tours of the hospital which one can just turn up for. Hopefully these things things will help a bit too. I notice that from 16 weeks onwards my midwife and antenatal clinic appointments are pretty regular so I will be able ask questions then.