WWYD RE Health Visitor

aridjis

Nicki wrote: »

Should she also ignore the fact that the paediatrician has also said that she should try to top the baby up (either with a bottle of expressed or formula, or by feeding more frequently) and that he will see the baby if that doesn't make a difference to the weight gain?

Of course not, my comments were only referring to a certain breed of health visitor who just likes to lord it over new mums. There's a lot of them about, unfortunately.

Toto

panagia wrote: »

Of course not, my comments were only referring to a certain breed of health visitor who just likes to lord it over new mums. There's a lot of them about, unfortunately.

How is this helpful to the OP? I'm sure there are some bad health visitors as there are bad people in every profession. But, as you have not seen the baby in question how is it helpful to sow the seed that this health visitor is 'a childless Hitler lording it over new mums?'


It could be possible that there is a reason why this baby hasn't gained weight, just as it is possible that it is nothing sinister. The only appropriate advice I can give is to seek a second opinion and to keep a close eye on the baby. I would get the baby weighed regularly and watch for any signs of ill health or change in behaviour (crying more often, sleeping and difficult to rouse, not waking for feeds).


I think it would have been a poor health visitor who didn't express her concerns or advise on an action plan, I also think she should be commended for seeking the opinion of the paediatrician. She is only doing that for the benefit of the baby. Had she of ignored her concerns and done nothing she would be quite rightly called incompetent had there turned out to be an underlying reason for the baby's lack of weight gain. It seems a case of damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Gigglepig

Have you discussed frequency of feeds with hv/midwife/paediatrician? To me 6 hrs sounds long between feeds for such a young baby (and keep in mind very frequent feeds will help your milk supply).

Midwives advised me to wake baby to ensure feeds max 4 hrs apart during night and max 3 hrs apart during day. (I do this in addition to feeding on demand.) Minimum 8 feeds/24 hrs.

Tropez

foolofbeans wrote: »

Unfortunately I don't think having a qualification in reading textbooks prepares you to be a mother and can mean over reliance on statistics. In order to get an average there must be below average and above average babies no?

Average may not be desirable and therefore few actual practitioners in any field of medicine will base their recommendations on averages but rather what the science of medicine has determined to be desirable.

If we take weight - for example - the average adult weight in this country at present is not desirable by scientific standards, it is too high because scientific evidence has shown us that there are greater health complications associated with the current average.

Therefore, this doesn't have to be about a HV spouting averages and statistics but could just as easily be a HV taking into consideration what the scientific optimal is and trying to push the OP towards reaching that optimal.

I'm not saying that studying medicine to any extent would adequately prepare someone for motherhood but part of being a parent is doing what is best for a child and if someone in a medical field is making a recommendation then at the very least the appropriate action would be to understand why they're making that recommendation.

If when questioned the HV starts droning on about a study from 1956 in which 9 babies were compared to bags of flour, or because the Sun God of the East says so then sure, ignore the advice but never ignore the advice because some people on the Internet who have no greater professional qualifications than the HV have told you that a lot of HV's are full of crap.

Before my fiancee got fed up with the NHS and watching children die she was a nurse and if you get her started on the subject she will happily give you a three hour lecture on why the Internet is the biggest problem facing modern medicine - you have people with serious illnesses going on Yahoo answers and being told that it's likely nothing to worry about because it may be something minor, and people with minor illnesses being told they've got something seriously wrong with them.

If anyone ever has any doubts or questions about their health or their families health there are any number of ways to get a professional opinion (or second opinion).

aridjis

Toto wrote: »

How is this helpful to the OP? I'm sure there are some bad health visitors as there are bad people in every profession. But, as you have not seen the baby in question how is it helpful to sow the seed that this health visitor is 'a childless Hitler lording it over new mums?'


It could be possible that there is a reason why this baby hasn't gained weight, just as it is possible that it is nothing sinister. The only appropriate advice I can give is to seek a second opinion and to keep a close eye on the baby. I would get the baby weighed regularly and watch for any signs of ill health or change in behaviour (crying more often, sleeping and difficult to rouse, not waking for feeds).


I think it would have been a poor health visitor who didn't express her concerns or advise on an action plan, I also think she should be commended for seeing the opinion of the paediatrician. She is only doing that for the benefit of the baby. Had she of ignored her concerns and done nothing she would be quite rightly called incompetent had there turned out to be an underlying reason for the baby's lack of weight gain. It seems a case of damned if you do and damned if you don't.

It is helpful in so far as OP was wondering if she's doing something wrong, or if she's a bad mother, just because of something this health visitor said.

None of us here can see the baby, OBVIOUSLY! D'uh!!
:wall:
It's an internet forum. No-one is going to base such a fundamental decision about the health of their child on something a bunch of anonymous forum users say.

I was just making the point that a lot of these health visitors are autocrats who just like to criticize. Not all of them, (I hope!)

neneromanova

Gigglepig wrote: »

Have you discussed frequency of feeds with hv/midwife/paediatrician? To me 6 hrs sounds long between feeds for such a young baby (and keep in mind very frequent feeds will help your milk supply).

Midwives advised me to wake baby to ensure feeds max 4 hrs apart during night and max 3 hrs apart during day. (I do this in addition to feeding on demand.) Minimum 8 feeds/24 hrs.

He feeds every 2-3 hrs during the day then has a long stretch at night. (10pm - 4am)

Gigglepig

neneromanova wrote: »

He feeds every 2-3 hrs during the day then has a long stretch at night.

I think i would still discuss frequency of feeds with healthcare professional if he does not gain weight. Even if you feed frequently on demand during day, they may recommend waking for a night feed.

Mine feeds every 1-3 hrs during day too but was still advised to not go longer than 4 hrs a night as newborn. Baby sleeps very soundly but if i wake her up with a nappy change is happy to feed, so it is not like force feeding her to top up after a daytime meal.

Toto

panagia wrote: »

It is helpful in so far as OP was wondering if she's doing something wrong, or if she's a bad mother, just because of something this health visitor said.

None of us here can see the baby, OBVIOUSLY! D'uh!!
:wall:
It's an internet forum. No-one is going to base such a fundamental decision about the health of their child on something a bunch of anonymous forum users say.

I was just making the point that a lot of these health visitors are autocrats who just like to criticize. Not all of them, (I hope!)

I see nowhere that the OP has said she felt like a bad mother because of the HV comments. I see someone who is questioning the advice given based on her observations of the baby. I think you have an axe to grind with a health visitor and are tarring an entire profession with the same brush.


And I disagree, it is possible that someone could be reassured that all is well and the health visitor is talking out of her backside because of people's views. Quite probably the baby is fine, after all mum knows the baby better than anyone and usually they are the ones who raise concerns, but no one knows this yet.


I think the health visitor has done her job properly. What the mum chooses to do with the advice is entirely her choice. Keep doing what she is doing and monitor the situation is a valid way to go. But I certainly don't think the suggestion of expressing and topping up if the baby will take a top up is bad advice. Nor is looking at her own diet to make sure she is eating a good balanced diet.

FBaby

What did she actually say? Did she tell you 'you need to give him additional feeds and start now because if he doesn't put on significan't weight by my next visit, I will refer him to the paediatrician'

Or did she say 'umm, I would have expected him to put on a bit more weight by now. What you might want to consider (or what I would recommend) is to see about giving him some extra feed and see how he responds to that'

neneromanova

"I need to ring the ped to see what they want me to do. you will need to feed him top up feeds of expressed or formula milk and hopefully he'll gain some weight"