Health visitor

[Ksi91]

I've had a appointment sent through the post , I have a health visitor scheduled for next week

I didn't think they would be doing this during a lockdown with a new variant of covid ?

My OH says he doesn't feel comfortable a stranger been in the house during lockdown & I agree with him slightly

I understand they'll be wearing masks , social distancing , not touching stuff

Has anyone else had this during covid ?

If it were me I'd phone and ask for a telephone or video apt. I'm pregnant with my second and haven't had a HV visit, but did with my first, pre-covid.

Even without a pandemic, you don’t need to see them. I certainly wouldn’t right now (although my opinion of them isn’t high anyway).

Could you ask for a video call instead?

I’d ask for it over the phone or via video call; we had DS’s development check by video call and it worked quite well. You don’t have to see them but they have useful information

@SnowFields I think one of the reasons I'm not ecstatic about it is anxiety too - I've heard from others that some can be downright nasty & mean

We're currently in the middle of moving the flat around a lot too but due to me been heavily pregnant , my OH won't let me do it & he only gets 1 day off a week at the moment
I'm worried they'd think I was lazy or bit of a tramp🤔

A friend of mine has just had her new baby check and they did pretty much all of it over the phone standing outside her house and then only came into the house to weigh and measure baby all in PPE. So maybe give them a call to see what exactly they are going to be doing?

Just ask for a telephone or video appointment.

Especially if its the one before baby comes as that was such a quick appointment and wasn't very useful. They basically just gave me a bunch of leaflets. Asked me if I had an idea of how I wanted to feed and just giving some info on local helplines etc.

Not during lockdown but I think my area was in tier 4 the last time I saw my HV (for 2yo) this was late nov/early dec. I love my HV, she’s great and has helped me so much. I’ve had her since my 1st born 5 years ago

I had a telephone appointment last week for my pre-birth contact which I was happy about. They are adamant that my 2 year old needs to have her “2 year check” in person though which I’m not ecstatic about and very much going to cancel.

I had a visit from a health visitor recently. My appointment letter stated that I could request a phone appointment instead, but I'm glad I didn't.

She was extremely nice and supportive and it was good to chat face-to-face.

As far as covid goes, she said they were tested twice a week (not sure if this varies between trusts), she wore a mask, and I opened a window whilst she was here.

Luckily my living room is set up well for social distancing too.

What appointment is it? I had DDs first appointment with someone coming to the house to measure the baby. Other couple of appointments were through video call. HV then asked to see the child, take clothes off, see eyes,.....wtv.

I do think it's very important to do measurements of the baby in the first couple of weeks.

The hv came to my house for the prebaby visit during local lockdown in July. She was very good, kept her distance wore a mask and gloves didn't touch anything.

Since my lo has been born I seeing the hv at least once a month to keep an eye on my daughters weight due to reflux and support me due to pnd. All of these visits have been in person, she sits on sofa and I take a chair in the corner so there is more than 2m between us. She steps back when I put my daughter on the scales and she uses wipes on anything we have touched before putting it away.

I understand the hesitancy about having people in the house during this but from my experience the hv and midwives are very cautious

Just to clarify , it's a home visit
I'm only 36 weeks pregnant so I imagine it's a general check ?

With my elder daughter I had a letter for an appointment when I was about 38 weeks I rang and said I wouldn't be available that date and we changed it and she came to see me when baby was 1 week old. That was before the pandemic.
With my youngest who is now 9 months I've never seen an health visitor just gave me a call and asked if I had any concerns

I would ask for a phone meeting for the pre-birth one. There's no real need to do it in person.
I remember mine being fine, perfectly pleasant but just giving me leaflets and info that I already had from Midwife/NCT. I could have missed it easily.

HV appointment?! Never had one before birth. Just with the midwife. And she always checked the belly measurements and heart rate of baby and other things like blood tests

In my area you get antenatal visits if there are any risk factors just to introduce you to the service and what they can offer. I had an antenatal visit due to very high risks of post partum mental illness.

@Superscientist I'm low risk
I've been reading up on my local councils page & there stating home visits are carrying on as normal
I live in a tier 4 area which obviously is in local lockdown so I'm a bit perplexed to how they can do home visits ( baby isn't born yet )

Do you really need a visit from a Health Visitor? I don't think so. You are on her list and she/he won't mind if you decline the visit.

@LizFlowers can I decline ?
I don't want to say no to her then end up on a list of people to be monitored or anything
It's causing a little anxiety - I just don't want a stranger in my house during a pandemic
I haven't seen my own family in 8 months ( due to working also ) so I don't agree with a stranger coming into my home neither 😕

My health visitor came the other week and she was lovely; really friendly, kind and helpful so I'm not sure why people have bad experiences of them. I found it really comforting as a first time mum. She was in full PPE (plastic apron thing, gloves, face mask) and we wore face masks as well. She said they get tested 3 times a week for covid but I think a lot have had their vaccines already as well. I'm sure you can decline or do it over the phone, but for me the risk felt low and I got a lot out of the session :)

@Ksi91 I'm due soon and also had an appointment scheduled via post. I phoned up and explained that we aren't even having family in the house at the minute so I really don't want her coming due to Covid. She was very understanding and has re-scheduled to come when baby is here

We declined health visitors when I had my baby in the first lockdown. I explained we didn’t want to take the risk but understood we could call them if needed. I haven’t heard anything since.

Of course you can decline! The chances are when we eventually have the pandemic situation under control, he or she will just pop round anyway if you are on her list but nobody is compelled to see a HV. Frankly, they don't do much anyway.