Worried about hygiene at MW appointment

[zeena83]

Hi all,

Another anxiety thread here. I had a MW appointment yesterday (30 weeks) and had to have the glucose challenge thingy done. So I went into the room and there were two MWs there, one trainee I think. I handed her my pee sample and sat down to talk to the main one. I had been super careful in the bathroom when I did the pee sample, I wore gloves and have a system for doing it which basically meant I didn't touch anything other than loo roll when touching the bottle and washed hands thoroughly after etc. Anyway, I'm talking to MW1 and she asks MW2 to go and get my glucose drink . So MW2 has been fiddling with my pee bottle and then goes to get the drink (I wasn't watching her like a hawk, she may have been wearing gloves etc). She brought it back and I made sure I looked at where she had been holding it and turned the cup to make sure I drank from the other side. I also hooked my lips inside the cup so as not to touch any part of the rim. I know I should have said something but with anxiety, sometimes I feel like there is too much blood whooshing around in my ears and my senses are all reduced. But now I am in a tailspin about whether I have caught something. I looked up all potential bacterium from public restrooms and most have incubation periods of less then a week so I figure in a week and a half I should be in the clear. Anyway, I feel so so stupid for not just piping up. I don't know what I'm looking for by posting this to be honest, just trying to air some thoughts...

Zx

You sound severely anxious and should seek professional help.
Your MH is a much bigger risk than any theoretical germs from a cup

She was probably wearing gloves (at least, I saw my MW doing my Urin test several times and always with gloves)

In your message I see a lot of anxiety, have you ever discussed about your phobia with a specialist?

Oh lovely, you sound so worried.

There’s really no risk from contamination from the sample bottle in the way you’ve described - the very worst outcome would be a trace amount of your own pee, which is really not a health risk.

You probably should chat to your GP or midwife about how worried you are though.

I think you need to talk to the mw about your anxiety. It's doesn't sound normal to me. Googling what germs is in a public loo and incubation periods is a bit ott.
The mw would most likely have washed her hands or removed her gloves at the bare min prob out of your line of sight.
You will come into contact with far more germs in your day to day life, please try not to worry

You need MH support asap. Pregnancy and childbirth do extreme things to one's body and the triggers to serious or worsening MH issues are well known.

Please please talk to your GP or midwife and get support in place, you can avoid full blown PND / anxiety / psychosis.

I had post natal psychosis, it was terrifying. Please get support now.

I do think your anxieties are very OTT lovely, please get support

Agree. This sounds massively beyond what is normal. Are you getting any support for your anxiety from the mental health team? Is there anything in place to support you after the baby arrives?

I was in a cafe and the woman swept the floor with an old broom and didn’t wash her hands before serving me.

That’s similar to your story. This isn’t about you being OTT about hygiene, it’s you wanting to be treated in a hygienic way. You’re quite right.

The fact that you were careful about where you drank from on the cup would suggest to me you will be totally fine. She didn’t touch that bit so it should be clean. You drank from there. All good. She would probably have worn gloves anyway when you were busy and you didn’t notice.

I think you can relax on that score now. However as pp have said, it’s your own pee so safe, and if you’re still really anxious you can seek advice about anxiety. And if you need to go back there again and drink something for them you know to watch them this time!
Congrats on your pregnancy.

I'm amazed anyone thinking you're worried about someone touching a bottle you just peed into then handing a pregnant woman a cup to drink from means they have an urgent mental health issue.

You have a basic expectation of hygiene and hand washing. Totally reasonable.

You're probably fine, but don't suddenly think that caring if people wash their hands equates to some kind of nervous mental health issue.

It's more the fact someone has a 'system' for peeing in a bottle and is watching so closely what other people are doing with their hands, and then looking up what diseases you can get from bathrooms(?) and clearly obsessing about it afterwards. That's not normal to me at all. I'm surprised if that's normal behaviour to others but perhaps I'm the odd one out. I care about hygiene but I wouldn't notice where a midwife was holding a cup or think I was going to catch something from the bathroom because of it.

@ironorchids

I'm amazed anyone thinking you're worried about someone touching a bottle you just peed into then handing a pregnant woman a cup to drink from means they have an urgent mental health issue.

You have a basic expectation of hygiene and hand washing. Totally reasonable.

You're probably fine, but don't suddenly think that caring if people wash their hands equates to some kind of nervous mental health issue.

What specifically are you worried about? Why do you think a well trained professional would neglectfully risk a pregnant woman's health? How exactly did any germs contaminate the bottle as the OP touched literally nothing in the bathroom? Why do you think googling specific germs and incubation periods found in bathrooms is remotely healthy?

Your mobile phone and car keys are likely much filthier than anything in the hospital.

I'd be concerned about how you assess risk

@zeena83
PLEASE see someone for your health anxiety.
One of the main drivers of keeping it going is seeking reassurance/ rumination on potentially infectious scenarios.

Everyone on here is super helpful but they are prolonging your illness by reasoning/ reassuring you. Please see someone as it sounds very extreme.

@Elieza

I was in a cafe and the woman swept the floor with an old broom and didn’t wash her hands before serving me.

That’s similar to your story. This isn’t about you being OTT about hygiene, it’s you wanting to be treated in a hygienic way. You’re quite right.

The fact that you were careful about where you drank from on the cup would suggest to me you will be totally fine. She didn’t touch that bit so it should be clean. You drank from there. All good. She would probably have worn gloves anyway when you were busy and you didn’t notice.

I think you can relax on that score now. However as pp have said, it’s your own pee so safe, and if you’re still really anxious you can seek advice about anxiety. And if you need to go back there again and drink something for them you know to watch them this time!
Congrats on your pregnancy.

Dont reassure people with health anxiety. Please. The OP is highly anxious about health and is not 'quite right' wanting to be treated in a hygenic way. I had OCD and health anxiety and it is awful.

Considering the number of children that roll around on the floor of public toilets and pick their noses and suck their thumbs with no adverse effects, I think you will be fine.
That said, it's a basic hygiene/courtesy expectation to keep things you eat and drink well away from things that have come out the other end; it would have annoyed me, too!

@Colin56
I’m sorry you had a health anxiety problem.

However it’s normal to expect someone to wash their hands before serving food or drink. It’s the first thing you are taught in qualifications im the food industry.

Had the OP been overly concerned about the mw touching, say, a pen and then the OPs bump without washing her hands in between I’d agree it was over reacting. But I’d expect someone handling someone else’s urine to wash their hands or use gloves like a GP does.

Hi @Elieza

Thanks for your post. I agree re basic hygiene. Having had OCD and health anxiety Im well versed in spotting it and there are a few flags in the post below.

My concerns were because of:

"I had been super careful in the bathroom when I did the pee sample, I wore gloves and have a system for doing it which basically meant I didn't touch anything other than loo roll when touching the bottle and washed hands thoroughly after etc"

"I also hooked my lips inside the cup so as not to touch any part of the rim"

"But now I am in a tailspin about whether I have caught something. I looked up all potential bacterium from public restrooms and most have incubation periods of less then a week so I figure in a week and a half I should be in the clear"

I think this is classic health anxiety but perhaps Im incorrect.

@Starcaller I agree 100% with your post

The thing is you said you weren't watching her so it was likely she washing hands/wore gloves etc. As others have said I think you need some help with the anxiety

You’re not behaving entirely rationally here OP. Why do you need gloves to give a urine sample? Are you worried about your sample getting contaminated? Or about you own urine contaminating your hands? What do you think you might catch from your own urine sample? Did the midwife hold the cup by the rim? If not why would you need to avoid putting your lips on it? If you were to become unwell in the next few days it would be pretty much impossible to tell if you’d picked up an infect from the bathroom/this particular midwife, or from where where or something completely different.

You can’t catch anything from your own pee even if you drank it. Similar to how snakes are immune to their own venom. Do not worry

@zeena83 I have seen some of your previous posts. Have you spoken to your midwife about your anxieties? There is support out there for- both for during and after your pregnancy. I mean this in the kindest way possible, if you haven’t I really think you should tell them urgently. Wishing you all the best for the rest of your pregnancy.

Even if you have health anxiety, you have every right to ask for a bit of reassurance about what worries you.
Even if the sample pot had something on it that would possibly make you ill, you will not have had enough of it to have an effect. We are constantly exposed to viruses and bacteria but at a low level so our immune will clear it up before we even notice it. The indirect contact- you touch something which the MW then touches- means that anything harmful from the toilet is massively reduced. To get really ill of a toilet you need to have done something like lick the toilet seat. I think we are all made a bit crazy by cleaning advertisements. But it doesn't sound like there has been anything on the cup so you really have nothing to worry about.
My guess is that you have already told your midwife about your anxiety. If not, of course you should. But some of the other people commenting make it sound that if you simply mention anxiety to midwifes they will wave a magic wand and every worry will magically disappear. For some people, like myself, anxiety doesn't dissappear even with therapy and is something you have to live with. I also have a system for using public toilets which kind of keeps me sane. I never ever in my life had to use so many toilets as I constantly have to pee during this pregnancy.
Take care x