Midwife question

samandona

clairec79 wrote: »

She is not saying that there shouldn't be cover in place, but don't slag off the midwife for having her holidays

I'm sorry for those who have received bad care I am sorry, but the majority of us come into this profession because we care

Not having a contact number outside Mon-Fri 9-5 is plain wrong, there should be a 24hour contact number - either the unit themselves who can get in contact with a midwife on call (because someone always is) or mobile numbers of the team - some have one on call number and divert it to whoever is on call

Perhaps I would like my midwife more if she had been any help to me in the first 18 weeks....

emsywoo123

samandona wrote: »

Perhaps I would like my midwife more if she had been any help to me in the first 18 weeks....

As this thread shows, mine has been poop too, but we just gotta go with the flow.......

xmaslolly76

Emsywoo yes we do have to go with the flow to an extent but i do think we all need to start complaining more as until we do nothing will ever change. The more we stay quiet the more the midwives that are out there will be put under pressure and the worse the service will get for it as they will just continue to drop like flies and we will loose more & more excellent midwives like Molly.

Samandona you really need to put your concerns over officially if the care you are or have received is inferior and could potentially put yours and your babies health at risk if that is the case then it is totally unacceptable and your anger can be understood. But i believe we need to stand together on this midwives and mothers together to get the problem sorted sniping at each other on here is not going to resolve the underlying problem that there is just not enough midwives or enough money for the correct level of care to be provided.

With my third child i couldnt fault my antenatal care everyone i saw was lovely apart from the consultants who just wouldnt listen but i think that is a separate issue. I was booked for a homebirth and when the midwives came they were lovely but i was very shocked to find out that they had been at clinics all day and would be expected to attend clinic once i had given birth regardless of how long that took (i think they were relieved they could go home when i was taken into hospital at 2am). If this is how they are working the midwives i am not surprised they need to stretch out on the beach for a week or two. These two would have been working for 36hrs straight if i hadnt gone in i would be a zombie after that and they were on call the following night as well.

As i have said before you will always get one or two bad apples who truely dont give a damn but the majority are their because they love their job and really care about people they are just worked so hard that they lose sight of this occasionally and it us mothers who are left feeling unnerved and fearfull that the care we recieve is not good enough and the worst could happen.

LondonDiva

Molly41 wrote: »

I wish....I'm still coming to terms with the loss of midwifery.Im very sad that I will not catch another baby. It was my vocation. However i also know that the conditions under which I worked very much contributed to my health problems. I regularly worked a 24 hour stretch - clinic and visits during the day and out all night at homebirths. That takes its toll on your health.

Thanks for your lovely comment. I hope all goes well for you xx

Molly have you thought about becoming a doula? My friend was going to become a MW, but a house move meant she wasn't able to take the course place up. However, she says it's the best thing she ever did - best of both worlds, less pressure, 1-2-1 relationship & much better paid.

Just a thought:)

Molly41

xmaslolly76 wrote: »

Samandona you really need to put your concerns over officially if the care you are or have received is inferior and could potentially put yours and your babies health at risk if that is the case then it is totally unacceptable and your anger can be understood. But i believe we need to stand together on this midwives and mothers together to get the problem sorted sniping at each other on here is not going to resolve the underlying problem that there is just not enough midwives or enough money for the correct level of care to be provided.

With my third child i couldnt fault my antenatal care everyone i saw was lovely apart from the consultants who just wouldnt listen but i think that is a separate issue. I was booked for a homebirth and when the midwives came they were lovely but i was very shocked to find out that they had been at clinics all day and would be expected to attend clinic once i had given birth regardless of how long that took (i think they were relieved they could go home when i was taken into hospital at 2am). If this is how they are working the midwives i am not surprised they need to stretch out on the beach for a week or two. These two would have been working for 36hrs straight if i hadnt gone in i would be a zombie after that and they were on call the following night as well.

Absolutely the only way to change services is for the users to challenge the care they are getting. You need to contact the head of midwifery of the unit under which you are booked. There will be a matron for community services. Alternatively contact PALS if you need someone to help you complain. I regularly used to ask mothers to complain if they had a bad experience as risk management is a very high priority in maternity services. You could be deemed at risk if you needed to access a midwife and didnt have a telephone number.

As a community midwife I weekly worked an oncall shift of 24 plus hours of solid work. I was without fail always called out because my team had a high number of homebirths. After my shift I used to have to pull up in a layby and sleep for an hour otherwise I would have fallen asleep driving home. I was once woken by a very concerned policeman who couldnt rouse me. Oh and its not just the lack of sleep its not having the time to eat, drink or wee during the shift. Literally I would be driving from visits stuffing cereal bars down my throat. When I got home I was often so tired I literally crawled up the stairs and didnt know what to do first - wee, eat, drink or sleep!! There was no concern for me from my managers - it was par fro the course. It was expected of you. It contributed significantly to my worsening health and I continued like this for many years because i did not want to give it up.

''Molly have you thought about becoming a doula? My friend was going to become a MW, but a house move meant she wasn't able to take the course place up. However, she says it's the best thing she ever did - best of both worlds, less pressure, 1-2-1 relationship & much better paid''.

One day I will do something related Im sure. I dont have the physical stamina to be a doula and im not sure i could sit on my hands!! Thankyou for the suggestion. Im sure that there is something out there for me!

emweaver

beccam wrote: »

That really is ridiculous!! So what happens if you were to bleed, collapse, swell up like a big balloon etc etc??

Is there a day obstetric unit at the hospital? Surely the midwives are on call over the weekend too? Thats just awful...I feel quite lucky now that I've had the care I have so far and there was me complaining!!

On your notes there should be a telephone number for out of hours midwife you would call them if you bleed, swell up etc outside of 9-5 mon - fri

xmaslolly76

I have just checked my notes and i have been given 7 different numbers of people/depts to contact if there are any problems that includes the midwives mobile number. It is normally triage you need to contact out of hrs and the day assesment unit for 9-5 if you phone the hospitals main number and ask for the extention numbers they will normally give them to you so you have them to hand if you ever need them. Dont sit there worrying be pro active if your midwife has not given you this information then phone the doctors/hospital and ask them for it. If worst comes to worst and you dont have the numbers to hand just go to A&E it is better to be an over anxious mother to be than risk something happening!

emsywoo123

xmaslolly76 wrote: »

I have just checked my notes whereabouts were these? and i have been given 7 different numbers of people/depts to contact if there are any problems that includes the midwives mobile number. It is normally triage you need to contact out of hrs and the day assesment unit for 9-5 if you phone the hospitals main number and ask for the extention numbers they will normally give them to you so you have them to hand if you ever need them. Dont sit there worrying be pro active if your midwife has not given you this information then phone the doctors/hospital and ask them for it.I will be asking for some contact info at next midwife appt! If worst comes to worst and you dont have the numbers to hand just go to A&E it is better to be an over anxious mother to be than risk something happening!

Yes, I would go to A&E/call labour ward if required.

Just thought it would be nice if I could contact a midwife without using the overstretched resources at the hosp if I had a concern taht was not mega serious

xmaslolly76

Mine are on the front cover of the green notes given to you by the midwife not sure if everyone gets the same notes though and they have to be filled in by the midwife so if they are blank then contact the doctors surgeyr and ask for them or even the hospital switch board :-) x

pigpen

My notes had them printed on the front and the MW at booking scribbled them ALL out