Midwife Rant!!!!

[annette1975]

Hi

Well I went for my 16 week check yesterday (although was 16+5 as we only have appointments on a monday) and got the chance to meet my 'named widwife', as I am classed as a low risk pregnancy all of my prenatal care is done by a team of community midwives, to say that I was dissapointed is a tremendous understatement!!

I walked into the surgery and gave her my notes and instead of acknowledging me in any way shape or form she then spent the next 5 mins in silence as she transferred by blood results that were taken at the hospital when I was 11 weeks onto my notes, now it's a good job I can read as she didn't discuss these with me at all, so thank god there wasn't a problem.

She then asked me if I was there for my triple test and I told her that i would like this done and she asked me if I had received a pack, when I asked what sort of pack she answered a 'brown envelope with some things in' At this point I seriously considered walking out but thought better of it and proceeded to get my BP checked and blood taken. I asked her how long it would take to get the results knowing that they come back within a few days but was informed that the hospital would be writing to me within the next 2 weeks, that concerned me as if the results are 'high risk' I'll be almost 19 weeks when I find out and if I choose to have an amnio the timescale for finding out are getting shorter and shorter.

She then asked for my urine speciman and checked it which was all ok but then proceeded to wash it out with water and gave it back to me in tissue!!! Now I'm not a healthcare proffesional but surely this isn't classed as sterile anymore and shouldn't be used more than once!!!!!

She then told me to make an appointment for 24 weeks after I had my scan, I questioned her then about whether or not she was going to listen to the babies heartbeat and she stated that as my uterus had only just risen out of my pelvis she probably wouldn't be able to hear anything (I have had my doppler for 3 weeks and have had no problem locating or hearing the heartbeat by the way) I asked her if she would try at least and she agreed to try and find it, now she managed to locate the heartbeat instantly but then started moving the doppler right down into my pelvis and then back up until after 3-4 mins faffing about she found the heartbeat in the same place she started and told me 'that's the best you're gonna get!!'

If this is the standard of NHS midwife care with my first pregnancy I dread to think of the standard of care I am yet to receive!!!

Sorry about the length of this post but needed to let off steam, my partners fuming and wants me to change doctors but don't think this will help as will still be under the community midwives.

Annette

 

[Josephine_Beth]

Aww lady, so sorry to hear of the fuss they are making you go through! Must be annoying.............however.........least you got to meet your midwife(s), apparently you don't get assigned one here, you just turn up, slap ya back and have the baby!

However, if you get a decent midwife, please do share the advice!

 

[Nicola]

I'm sorry you feel your midwife appointment was dissapointing, I have to say up till now (almost 30 weeks!) I've felt the same but my 24 week was pretty good (was told I was actually now going to have a baby and not miscarry so they would see me more etc!! ) and my 28 week was great. I now see them every fortnight and it's nice to see the same one each time now.

As for the urine sample bottle, it's fine to re-use it, it doesn't have to be sterile for urine samples. When you go to your next appointment (always take a sample whether your going for a scan, or to see the midwife, GP etc!) boil the kettle and fill it with boiling water (and the lid). Leave it a few seconds, empty it out (shake it a few times, don't dry it) and then pop your sample inside again. It's perfectly fine I promise. Honestly I've given more pee samples in the past few months than my entire life, imagine how many bottles they would get through if you had a brand new one each time!! An alternative is to buy a new one yourself from the chemist, they cost about 60p but if it gives you peace of mind it's worth it. You'll need pretty much one a month till you get to 30 weeks then one per fortnight.....obviously more if you need other check up's or you self refer to the labour ward etc.

I promise the closer you come to your due date the better the care becomes, seemingly up till 20 weeks they still think things might just go wrong, and really up till your past 30 weeks the appointments are just blood pressure, urine and 'any questions' type thing, once you get a bit further in they do become a little more involved and better. Promise xx

 

[FeeFee]

Sorry to hear you had such a rough time of it Annette, i had the same sort of thing with my surgeon ( i have to have a c section ) it seems we really are like cattle these days get 'em in and get 'em out again, my surgeon even sat there eating a kitkat and didn't look at me once during our appointment

See if you can see another midwife there is bound to be others,

 

[OopsyDaisy]

I've only seen my midwife once since I got pregnant, at about 8 weeks. My 16 and 22 week checks were conducted by my GP, I won't be seeing my MW until 28 weeks. To this day, I have not had the baby's heartbeat checked by the GP, but I have heard the heartbeat at my 12 and 20 week scans.

For every urine specimen, I've been provided with a fresh sterile container.

 

[eightball]

aarrrghhH! Rant away!!!
My midwife appointments have been equally upsetting and I have one on friday that I'm just dreading because I end up leaving in tears... mostly of frustration!
Good for you to force her to hear the heartbeat, it seems being outspoken, firm and persistant with them is the only way to get what you want.
I'd give the surgery a ring sometime next week and try and get them to give you your blood results too, no point in waiting two weeks if they have them right there. Good luck!

 

[lil_miss123]

awww bless you hunni!

I must say they do rush you in and out but my midwife has been ok with me! Also a new pee sample pot has been provided every time, i dont no what it is goin to be like when i get further into the pregnancy! She must have been having a bad day or something or its that time of the month or somthing coz she seemed as if she was a little bit grouchy if you ask me!

well i have a midwife appotiment so ill seen how things go!

 

[Tangerinedream]

awwww hun, your mw sounds like a cow (hopefully she was just having a bad day) cant you request another mw (or change gp's if poss) to get a new one?

 

[Hells]

Hello, I'm sorry the visit didn't go well for you. I think a lot of midwives don't realise that we hang on desperately for these checks and can lose sleep over the excitement of listening to the baby and talking about our care.

I agree that you should ring up your doctors (or make an appt to see one) to get your test results quicker. I also think you shouldn't worry too much over the urine specimen bottle. I reuse mine every other week and I have been told to just rinse it with normal water and let it dry. Urine doesn't need to be sterile, the midwife is purely checking for traces of protein and sugar - any germs or bugs won't show up on their strips anyway.

However, what worries me about your bad visit was that you are disappointed to be low risk and only seeing the midwives. If you have any reason to be worried for your health or your baby's, you MUST insist on getting proper care. It is your right to ask to be refered to a consultant if you need to see one. You can ask to be refered by one of the doctors at your surgery, you won't have to ask that midwife. I had the same problem with my midwife - she thought I didn't need seeing until 24 weeks as a 2nd timer, even though I had some serious problems last pregnancy. Don't be afraid to ask for what you need.

 

[fynemum]

I could have wrote this post myself... right down to the urine sample tube and getting it back to use again in 8Weeks time....
You have got to laugh... I thought it was just us up here in Bonnie Scotland tht got the short straw.... We Don't even get another scan after the normal 12-14 week one..... So....I guess we should be thankful we are not in Cyprus eh? ? and that we know everything is alright with our bubs...
Lv Yvonne xx

 

[mrs_tommo22]

I hate hearing about midwifes being like this with people, they forgoet how we feel dont they?
You are allowed to change your midwife if you want too, you dont have to stay with her and 19 weeks is fat too late to have an amnio done, it is standeredly performed at 16 weeks.So get on the blower about that straight away.

Theres nothing worse then being cared or a midwife you dont like, it makes you uncomfortable!

So if you feel that strongly about your treatment, complain about her and ask to be transfered to a new midwife. You need to be able to trust your midwife.

 

[Jamie]

what a nightmare!! the only complaint i have about my mw/practice is that she only works part-time and, by the time of my next appointment on July 5th I won't have seen her for ten weeks! But she is always friendly and chatty and helpful and I always get a fresh urine sample bottle as well. I would ask to change your mw, even if its the same community practice you might find you click better with one of the others.

 

[frangelle]

It really bugs me when people in this profession don't care about their patients. I'd get another one hun and put in a complaint, that's awful. SOrry to hear your having a hard time, is this your first baby?

 

[annette1975]

Hi

Thanks for all the replies guys, just wanted to clear something up though when I said I was dissapointed I meant with the midwife visit not the fact that I am classed as low risk.

Have spoken to my GP surgery today and she told me to ring up on Mon to check if blood results had come back.

The community midwives are not based at my local surgery and I can only contact 'the team' at a different clinic between 9-10am Mon to Fri so will call them next week to discuss changing my 'named widwife'.

Annette