Can I ask for outpatient IV fluids at my midwife appt?

[Tropicaliyes]

I have a vomiting illness said to be worse that HG. I made sure it went into remission before I got pregnant however a little after 12 weeks pregnant it came back! 5 days non stop vomiting, no eating the whole time and any fluids I drink come back up.

After the episode is over im left lethargic, still barely able to leave my bed, so thirsty but cannot drink as id like or it could start the vomiting again and overall I just feel like I cannot take it anymore!

I have just come out of a episode and have a midwife appointment this Wednesday which I tried to rebook but said I would have to call their line to do so but it was already past the time to call. Now if I call tomorrow that’s cancelling a day before and I don’t know if I will wake up throwing up again tomorrow like I did yesterday so I may have no choice anyway.

My pulse is always mentioned as being extremely fast at my appts and when i mention I have been throwing up non stop they couldnt seem to care even though at my first appt they said to let them know if it returns and they can help.

Im starting to feel really depressed because I have a lot to do like taking down bedroom wallpaper and then doing a mould wash before painting it then replacing the flooring in both bedroom and living room and the baby is due in July and it’s getting me more and more down that nothing is getting done and every time I go to my appt to mention my dehydration, electrolyte imbalance and the fact my pulse is fast likely due to the above mentioned, nothing gets done!

before I got pregnant I was going to go to those pop up IV clinics you see everywhere however they said they won’t treat me while pregnant!

on Wednesday can i outright just ask for fluids as an outpatient? I don’t even care if I’m sitting in a waiting room instead of taking up a bed or whatever (as not everywhere had ambulatory care) but I know I have been sick at least 5-6 times now since the end of December and im getting to the point where I cannot keep up anymore! My mental health is getting worse and feel like I’m getting absolutely nowhere just because I cannot get fluids!

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

You have been throwing up for more than 3 days and not keeping fluids down so you should call your emergency triage number who will advise you.

You definitely sound as though you need some IV fluids. I would ring your antenatal unit at the hospital and explain to them what's been going on. They'll probably tell you to go in straightaway xx

I would bypass your community midwife and whilst you are having one of your episodes call your maternity triage line. They should be able to get you in to receive some IV fluid. Your own midwife could arrange this but it doesn't sound like they are very 'on the ball'. If you are getting this dehydrated then it shouldn't be left until your routine midwife appointments, call the triage line to be seen earlier in antenatal and an obstetrician should be able to assess your hydration status and make sure you get what you need. All the best with the rest of your pregnancy x

Hey all, thanks for the replies.

The reason I don’t go to the hospital when I am sick anymore is because I have had almost a lifetime of having to deal with this illness and hospital admissions and I have never gotten decent or even okay treatment so I stopped seeking help over 6 years ago!

On top of that because of Covid I’m not comfortable to be in hospital with no mask on because I’m vomiting and on top of that I’m not vaccinated and don’t plan to be so I’m just risking things more. That’s why I wanted outpatient but when I am no longer being sick!

I had to miss this appt I had scheduled this week so I will now either have to wait for another to be rescheduled or I’m considering leaving it all together and wait for my next scan with my Obstetrician.. Just not sure atm!

I also called my emergency midwife line in December when it all started up again and they told me because I wasn’t a certain gestation they couldn’t help me and to go to A&E even though I was told by my midwife before this that it’s fine to be treated.

once I got to over a certain gestation they again told me they couldn’t help and to wait it out and call back if needed (but that was a different situation but i found them useless for both situations!)

You can try contacting your GP for the Community team to come to your home to provide IV Therapy? I had this in my 2nd pregnancy

@Mynotsoperfectlittlefamily what so you mean just call my GP and ask them? The thing is I will get a receptionist and will have to ask for either a dr or Nurse appt or something similar and they would straight up tell me no.

I have heard them say that they offer home appts for people that cannot come to the surgery but that caters mainly to OAPs and severely disabled people so I’m really curious how i go about this because my feeding tube team even said at one time I could have home health care and then they never put anything in place so it never happened and I removed my tube last year now.

They may want to see you but it is a service offered in alot of trusts now. But that would be arranged through your GP, midwives don't have much power to arrange any care for IV Therapy

@Mynotsoperfectlittlefamily okay thank you, I will speak to them about it when I go for my appt on the 16th and see what they have to say because I know my last GP refused to do anything and pointed me in the direction of A&E and this GP has so far refused to have anything to do with my whole pregnancy so I’m not feeling too hopeful and might just end up leaving it all together.

I figured because my midwife was able to refer me to a cardiologist, she might be able to help point me in the right direction for this also but in all honesty I think I’m expecting too much all together.

In my experience in my trust where i work and had antenatal care, the IV therapy can be given in our Maternity Day Assessment unit if patients aren't unwell enough to be admitted but need treatment before discharge. So this isn't technically an inpatient admission but would involve being sat in a hospital.

I dont think it will be easy to receive fluids outside of a hospital setting, and I understand the anxiety around covid, however hospitals especially in maternity are not more likely for you to catch covid now, you are more likely to catch it in a supermarket or just day to day now people are not isolating.

You could try your GP for home IV therapy but generally this is for people on long term IV antibiotics or TPN for nutrition and they may not have a proforma for doing this. Could be worth a try as all services round the country will differ.

Hope you feel better soon and best wishes with your pregnancy x

@Nursemumma92 thank you for that! I was thinking there must be something at the hospital where we can get fluids but not be admitted. I know when I was going in for my tube care I was seen in Ambulatory care and a lot of those people were getting their treatment in the waiting room and wasn’t quite sick enough to be admitted even if they looked real bad.. I don’t know if all hospitals have Ambulatory care but I know I have not seen one in the hospital I am at for maternity care which lead me to wonder if the midwife could point me in a better direction than the GP (since mine are really useless).

I keep getting alerts from my hospital regarding Covid rates rising and it stays as a amber banner at the top of my app and they make sure we all wear masks and sanitise just as we enter the hospital so it’s a constant reminder to be careful for me.

personally I don’t go to the supermarkets and when I do it’s like once a month as I shop online. When going outside I’m never seen dead without my mask and even the last time I took it off briefly at a restaurant I got bronchitis so my immune system is real bad right now anyway and with all the scare mongering with covid, pregnancy and being unvaccinated, I’d rather not risk anything.

most of my GPs round here work as you said, only for people that are in a certain situation anyway and like I was saying even with my feeding tube and being told I can have home health, it didn’t happen so won’t hold my breath on that one.

but thank you, I feel a lot better knowing some maternity units do actually have something in place for something like this so will enquire for sure.