did you refuse iron tests, urine tests, bp checks, doppler checks etc?

[nappyaddict]

if so why? i can understand refusing tests that find out abnormalities if you wouldn't terminate anyway but i can't understand why people refuse those mentioned above.

I declined all those, although I had a 12 week scan because we thought there was twins I was so unwell. It was about trust for me. I know my body and my baby better than anyone else. If I need iron I'll feel tired and lethargic and drink some nettle tea, that kind of thing.

We had our planned breech homebirth - which caused plenty of ripples! And all was well.

We have lost some of our ability to listen - we live in a noisy hectic world where someone else always knows better.

We have to relearn how to trust, it is fear that makes us test for all this stuff. The fear is very real regardless how much we don't want it to be and we each manage as best we can

lol

but wouldn't an "iron test" show a deficiency before you felt tired and lethargic.....maybe?

what about things like pre-eclampsia though?

"We have lost some of our ability to listen - we live in a noisy hectic world where someone else always knows better. We have to relearn how to trust, it is fear that makes us test for all this stuff. The fear is very real regardless how much we don't want it to be and we each manage as best we can"

I don't know why but those two lines are bugging the hell out of me.

well considering how little tests are on offer with the nhs, I was in no position to refuse

Yeah some of the tests are just pants. For example, every antenatal they invite me to step on the scales. Every time I refuse. It doesn't actually tell them anything they can do anything about.

Also not all abnormality tests are about whether or not to terminate. We had an amnio with this baby because it was possible he had a heart condition which could have been fixed in utero. Without treatment he would have died at birth had the test proved positive.

Finally, I got pre-eclampsia at term last time, I had lots of red flags before (protein in urine, swelling etc. high BP) which were picked up but they couldn't prevent the development of the disease. IMHO worrying about the sharp intakes of breath each week at the midwife's office probably didn't do much to help my blood pressure and over the course of twelve weeks it just drew to a peak. At which point, they were just as unprepared as they would have been had I turned up having had no pretesting at 40 weeks!

So I guess I'm skeptical too but I also understand why mothers to be (particularly the first time round) find them reassuring.

What I'm talking about is the worry. The "what if's".

We get a sniffle and go to the doc and get antibiotics because what if its not just a cold

We buy antibacterial everything because what if the dog licks me and gives me something poxy

That kind of thing. Instead of usng our common sense and thinking I'm not likely to die from a sniffle and ab's aren't going to do anything anyway.

With the stuff like pre-eclampsia, gest diabetes etc for me its risk factors. I've got a 1 in 50 chance of getting hit by a car when I cross the road - but I do it every day and don't think about it.

That's not to say that things like praevia are 'avoidable' by positive thinking, I think that's just silly. But others might argue!

With things like iron deficiancy its a range and who's to say my normal is theirs anyway? Ime women with low iron don't bleed as much - they can't afford to, and we really don't completely understand about increased fluid during pregnancy affecting the iron count.

If I'm a normal healthy woman why would I need to worry that something was going wrong?

That's not to say that I don't spend my whole day worrying that my son has this thing wrong or that thing going on !!!

i suppose all these tests do create unnecessary worry. i personally am not a worrier, but i can see if you are it might not be beneficial to have all these tests. on the other hand it might be reassuring.

jaynz did you have to get an indie mw to deliver your breech baby at home?

I do think we know a bit too much these days. How it helps me exactly to know that my baby has an abnormally large head at 20 weeks, when by 24 weeks it'll be an averagely sized head is beyond me.

If you spend half an hour reading your pregnancy notes, you'll find something to worry about in there.

I'm not sure though. As I know perfectly healthy women who had serious problems during pregnancy.

jaynz - did you refuse to be weighed and have your bump measured too? did you actually go to any mw appointments at all?

Franca - I agree there can be advantages to having regular testing, but only if the tests are timely and lead to treatment.

I'm due to see a midwife six times during the entire pregnancy. What are the chances that one of those visits will coincide with something treatable showing up on a diagnostic test?

jaynz - can you cite a reference for you assertion that women with low iron bleed less at birth. Frankly - that sounds like nonsense to me. As I understand it - it is impossible to predict who will suffer severe bleeding - I had no risk factors but still had a pph

When I read this kind of thread it makes me really nervous. I am TTC my first but I am 38. I worry that when I get pregnant I will be so overwhelmed that I will be a pushover when it comes to all sorts of invasive annoying things I probably don't need to have done.

How do you all become so strong, and were you like that with your first pregnancies?

i went o book in at 14 weeks and have not been back ( bar scan)

no one has called me

why burden nhs ?

Beaniesteve - don't worry, being a mumsnetter means you have a build in bullshit detector!

You don't get any invasive tests as standard except blood tests, dopplers etc are just on the skin, BP checks ditto and the first time anyone sticks their hand up your fanjo is normally in labour (although for some of us it may have been part of the conception process)

I'm a perfectly healthy woman who gave birth to a special needs ds so being healthy does not mean you won't have problems during pregnancy. I would agree don't have diagnostic tests if your not going to act on the results or being fore warned wouldn't help you but why turn down non invasive tests? or bloods?I didn't know there was a problem with my ds until delivery but it was the most horrendous time and if I could have known before it would have helped me to prepare. I'm not sure the nhs has the money to waste on needless testing. I'm sure there are many women in 3rd world countries who would love to be offered the antenatal care we have in this country.

I think testing for things you can't do anything about may be unnecessary. But if you develop pre eclampsia and nobody notices (you may very well not) you could die and so could your baby. Ditto gestational diabetes. So I think it it seriously bonkers not to have your bp and urine tested. Non invasive, harmless - but potentially lifesaving.

Beaniesteve, don't worry -- these tests really aren't invasive. Of course if people don't see the need for them that's up to them, but personally I just don't get why you wouldn't have them.

agree with madje

i have scan to prepare self

I'm about to forgo antenatal treatment here at all.

Because this trust is SHITE and I wouldn't trust them with my cat.

oh, i don't know, nappy. maybe jaynz has been treated as shittily as i have so she doesn't trust anyone anymore.

on top of the fact that i've already had just urine samples lost by labs a couple of times and i think, wtf is the point?

they don't care, anyhow.

But urine samples don't have to go to the lab to have a dip stick put in them for protein and sugars. A dipstick test you can do yourself can save your life. What's not to like?