Health Visitor

[katiejane]

I've just had a call from the lady thats going to be my health visitor, she says she would like to see me antenatally and made an appointment to come and see me at home on Tuesday. Is this normal, I thought they came once LO arrived or am I getting confused? Anyone know what they do when they come round, she said she had lots of information to go through with me!

 

[becks20]

Iv never heard of this before they usually come a couple days after baby is born. but i spose you get to meet her and she gets to see what ypour like before the babies born and then afterwards. i actually think its a good idea x

 

[Mamafy]

Yep I think that's common

 

[Dragonfly Fi]

the dreaded words... i am really nervous about meeting a health visitor, i wonder what she will make of our co-sleeping cot, lack of pram and the fact i wont be getting the child immunized until at least six months (which is the World Health Organisation guidelines)

i can see that we are going to butt heads!

Not to mention the Baby Led Weaning and the fact we dont have a seperate room for the child just yet...

 

[inky]

I worry about meeting the health visitor too, I'm paranoid she's going to think my house is a mess lol! We're in the middle of a big renovation of part of the house at the moment so we're crammed into just two rooms downstairs, with the main living room being where all the building stuff is being stored. I've done the nursery and everywhere is always clean, but I still worry!

 

[racheldee]

i have a feeling when i get a visit theres going to be some words about my dogs, they don't like strangers and are very territorial, i'll have to put them in the annex when i have visitors because they'll just bark and bark til the cows come home!

 

[evajo]

I have to say i felt like this first time round and would spend the morning and day before polishing the toilet seat! I'm sure you will find a few dragons out there but mine was lovely and although i haven't seen her for a while when she does come round we sit chatting for ages like freinds. They only want to check that babe is growing and progressing normally and if you can use her to answer any of your questions or fears, most of them have children and know how difficult things can be. When my daughter had speech problems she was my rock and heped me get the help i needed and chased up things for me when i wasn't getting anywhere. Easier said than done but try and relax and find out how she can help you, like a mw that is her job x

 

[Dragonfly Fi]

Thing is, and i am sorry to any health visitors who may read this, they are given pretty backward advice to give out to people and also to act upon

i am a bigggggg researcher, i KNOW i want to wear my baby instead of put it in a pram and i KNOW why i want to do that

I know WHY i want to do Baby led Weaning, extended breastfeeding and co-sleeping

i know the benefits of waiting until at least six months before starting a vaccination cycle

I know because i have spent years researching babies, there is NOTHING more important to me than being a mummy and in the last 9 months i have studied and studied different methods and techniques so that i can be as prepared as possible

i dont take kindly to people with less knowledge than me 'offering' me advice, nor do i appreciate being 'reported on' by a health professional after knowing me for only an hour.

So no... i doubt i will get on with my health visitor because i think they are intrusive and should butt out unless they can see something dramatically damaging going on to a child

If i want advice, i can ask for it in a million and one places. A badly trained NHS 'health visitor' is not the first place i would go to. The thought of one being in my house fills me with dread.

 

[serenitylove]

i absolutly loved my last health visitor really hoping to get the same one again this time round if she still there

 

[Rowesb]

Bigbump, I can see some of where you are coming from, but after spending some of my training with school nurses and HV, they are there to support you in the way you need, they are also unable to pick up on any problems unless they see the family unit.... Yes there are professionals out there that are 'old school' for want of a better phrase, however all nursing training is based on getting upto date evidence, I am sure that with many, if they are approached with an open attitude then many will respond with an open attitude too and support anyone with their wishes....

To the OP my HV will be coming out to me in June to introduce herself and give me the red book, I think it is the way that many areas work so that you are not over whelmed with new faces and information when you are already on a big learning curve to start with with the new born

 

[katiejane]

Thanks ladies for all the replys. So Rowesb your health visitor is coming out to you before your LO arrives too? Thats a relief I was so confused. I don't actually mind her coming, and if she wants a snoop or to express and opinion i don't mind, i would like her to be nice and reassuring though so fingers crossed we get on. What is the RED BOOK? Sounds interesting ha ha, she did say she was coming now because she had lots and lots of helpful information to go through with me. We've recently moved houses to a brand new house, and with it being a new build it won't come up on her sat nav, I'm hopeless at directions and OH was at work when she rang, so she'll probably get lost and never get here anyway LOL.

Racheldee I was thinking about my dog too, he's a big boy and very protective of me especially when OH is out, he thinks its his job to guard me LOL. He will either be in the garden or go to work with his Dad for the day on Tuesday I think x

 

[racheldee]

Racheldee I was thinking about my dog too, he's a big boy and very protective of me especially when OH is out, he thinks its his job to guard me LOL. He will either be in the garden or go to work with his Dad for the day on Tuesday I think x

yeahh my male dog barks more for guarding reasons and he's protective of me too, my female however is really insecure with strange people so she barks out of fright really until she gets familiar with a new persons scent, luckily i have an annex i can let them stay in while i have the HV in the main house with me and baby

 

[Dragonfly Fi]

the 'red book' is where they write things about you and your family.

 

[titch]

The red book is like your maternity notes but its your baby's development notes. The midwife puts all the paper work together in there, its got their weight chart, and when they do the developmental screens they record it in there. I think they write every time they see you. If you see a specialist service they'll write in it too briefly, when I see little ones in speech & language clinic I usually just write some thing along the lines of "seen in speech & langauge therapy. Does not require therapy at this time. Agreed to review in 3 months time" and then the date, my full name and telephone number.

It means that if you move house to a new area, or if you need a summary of their development (can be really hard to remember everything!) its all in one place. You can keep everyones phone numbers in it, like if you see a breast feeding support worker etc... youve got the numbers to ring them if you need to.

They put little advice sheets in about their development so you can use it as a reference.

 

[becks20]

This is weird you put this thread and i said its strange that the HV is coming round before babys born as iv never heard of it and then yesterday when i got home from the school i had a letter from the HV saying shes going to come round as iv moved to the area but its for my daughter but im guessing once she see`s im pregnant she will prob start talking about that :S Hope yours goes well x

 

[katiejane]

Ah that all makes sense then, at least I understand what the red book's all about now. I will update next thursday and let you all know how it went x

 

[titch]

How did the health visitor go then? x

 

[katiejane]

Aww thanks for asking honey, I don't know where this weeks gone, i've been meaning to do an update for days. I wasn't impressed to be honest. She arrived over an hour late, which in itself caused problems, we have a japanese akita and he's a big dog now and very protective of me when OH's at work. I put him in the garden at 12, she was due at 1 and by 2 had still not arrived. Dog was getting very frustrated and jumping up at the back door wanting to come in and crying (daft dog, but made me feel very guilty).

When she did eventually arrive she brought the red book, which was nice to see and have explained to me but everything else pissed me off to be honest not that i said anything. She lectured me about contraception, shaken baby syndrome, cot death (accompanied by about four different leaflets), dismissed my own views and concerns about breast feeding and pretty much told me I needed to do it until at least her next visit after LO arrives and not to give up because so many people make that mistake. Surely I have to do what feels best for me and my baby and stuff any one elses opinion. I dunno maybe i'm being negative but it left me feeling fed up, she also went through loads of self explanatory leaflets which i could have easily read, very very slowly as if i was stupid.

I was also hoping she may be able to advise me about SPD, before and after the birth, just some tips or something, she'd never even heard of it, just looked at me blankly!

 

[titch]

OMG she sounds awful! That sounds like it was a really negative visit as well, focusing on everything which can go wrong Of course you are free to make whatever choice that is right for you and your child. Noone else knows you or your baby better than you!! Her role is supposed to be advice and support, not ecturing and patronising. I think if my health visitor spoke to me like that Id tell her exactly what I thought, Im more qualified in certain areas of child development anyway!!!!