Would you think it was unprofessional if your midwife recommended Mumsnet to you?

[Snaf]

Just musing on this Monday morning...

I'm not talking about passing the buck completely, of course! But if, say, after your booking interview you got given written information with web addresses of various good-quality sites like Mumsnet, kellymom, NCT, La Leche League etc? Plus relevant phone nos. etc.

I often see women who I think would benefit from somewhere like MN but so far I have not pointed anyone in this direction for fear of seeming 'unprofessional'. Would you think that was strange or would you find it useful?

Are you a midwife?
In answer no not at all I wish mine had told me to do NCT classes.
I have recommended kellymom at work (I'm not a midwife) but drew the line at mumsnet was sorel tempted but didn't want to be outed!

I wish someone had told me about mn earlier. I only discovered it by accident when dd was 4 This site would have helped loads when she was a baby/ toddler.

I wish I'd found mn when pg with ds - I suffered really badly with spd and coccyx pain (still have the coccyx pain now), and was told to get on with it - by the time I got a referral to a physio (broke down in tears on the mw in clinic - the 5th one I saw - no continuity of care for me!), I was 34 weeks pg, and they couldn't really do a fat lot.

I found mn just after having my 2nd mc last year - although I lurked for a long time, as I was terrified of upsetting all these confident and assured women who seemed to have all the answers - I've found it invaluable ...

now pg again, and the threads I'm on have completely supplanted the sycophantic forums (fora?) I was on before ....

I think a leaflet with useful sites should be given to every newly pg woman ...

I would find it slightly weird tbh. A bit like your mum recommending condoms ('durex terribly reliable darling, you can't go wrong'). Wouldn't like Mumsnet to become part of the Department of Health armoury as it were.

I think a law should be passed to make it compulsory

The 2000-era edition of What to Expect is definitely much more annoying than the later versions (I have a friend who actually burned her copy of that edition rather than give it to a charity shop where some other pregnant woman might happen upon it, she felt that strongly about it) but the later editions still have that US bias to them (really, how difficult would it be just to get someone to do a proper revision?)

lemonaid, I put mine out for recycling rather than charity-shopping it for the same reason!

Does give an interesting insight into the US system though (the section on Surviving Hospital Food is a hoot) - I can quite see now how Naomi Wolf came to write Misconceptions (which makes no bones about its US-centricness hence isn't nearly so annoying).

Including it as part of the information/further reading info at your first appt sounds perfectly sensible and massively useful. I didn't come across the site until I bought the MN book about pregnancy - and I found the book so much more helpful, funny, insightful and, above all, honest than the two books written by experts I had to start off my pregnancy.

I value other people's experiences above any professionally written tome - that's not to say that I don't think there's room for that too as I've used those to refer to, particularly for stages of development and illnesses. But I can't stand all that didactic nonsense about what you should and shouldn't be feeling and po-faced paragraphs about what you should eat and wear and such - I want it from the mouths of fellow Mumsnetters who are living it instead!

I agree with mumofmonsters too - was really annoyed by all the advertising rubbish thrown in the packs we're given, dressed up as 'useful information'. A link to MN and the NCT would've been much more useful and saved on the recycling!

I wouldn't think a MW was unprofessional if she recommended MN.

I didn't discover MN until DS was a few months old. I have mixed feelings about wishing I had come across it when ttc or pg! Overall MN great but had I come across some of the things in the childbirth section when pg I think I would have been terrified about giving birth! I am one of those people that wants as much info as possible so wouldn't be able to help myself clicking on a link about horrendous births and scaring my self silly! In fact I told my old hypnobirthing teacher that I am going to have to book a fear release session with her next time I get pg to deal with things I've discovered on the childbirth pages! I was the same with documentaries about air accident investigations - ended up with a fear of flying after watching a series about it when I was a student!

That said loads of the childbirth stuff would've been helpful. I have just recommended MN to a pg friend but have warned her about not scaring herself on the childbirth section!

I think giving a variety of parental websites would be a good idea.

I think MN does not 'suit' evryone. There is alot of graet advice abnd support on here but also alot of hard headed debate and strongly held and forcefully put views. MN prides itself on that, and it's graet if that suits you. It certainly doesn't suit everyone.

I think if you're friends with soemone you can gauge if Mn is their kind of place and make a recommendation, but professionally that's not necessarily your place to do.

So I think a leafelt which included MN, but also other just more info giving sites and fluffier talk boards so poeple can discover which suits them best.

Not at all - it's a resource same as books or tv. I wish to god I'd had it when mine were babies.

I wish my HV or MW had told me about it - it'd have answered some of my silliest pfb questions!

I recommend MN in the 'resources' section of any parenting article I write...

Have been out shopping so apologies for not replying sooner - thanks everyone!

Nightynight - you raise a good point about medical advice. Although I do think MNers actually do very well where presenting up-to-date 'medical' around childbirth etc is concerned, I was thinking more along the holistic support line. You know, for those questions that bug you at 3am and you can't call your poor knackered midwife I certainly wouldn't suggest it as a medical resource (perhaps an additional breastfeeding one though!)

I suppose I am trying to explore 'non-traditional' ways of supporting the women I care for, exploring other avenues etc, and you've all given me lots to think about.

I'd have loved it

medical advice, I mean...that sentence didn't sound right!

Add my support to this - I would have loved the MW to tell me about this site.

I joined when DS was about 1 month old and have found it invaluable - but would have found it great whilst pg as you could get answers to all those little questions that you don't want to bother the MW about - plus the ante-natal/post-natal groups are a great form of support.

I had a problematic pregnancy and birth so was under consultancy "care" - hardly ever saw a midwife which is a shame. For that reason, I think it should be compulsory for health visitors to recommend MN. I'd have gone and bought a computer there and then - I wish I'd had access to this wealth of information and support in my darker days!

At my next appointment, I'm going to suggest to my midwife that she mentions MN to her other ladies. I found the site after reading about it in a Sunday paper, and I've found so much useful info & great support here.

i would think it was fantastic of her - but i post on a couple of forums already. if i didn't then i might think it was a bit odd - but at least i would have that info to do with what i will.