The NHS are incredible beyond words. My entire experience from preggy check-ups to birth and at-home visits were faultless and I will forever be grateful I returned here to have Jack (I was living in China)
There are a group of women called ‘health visitors’ and ‘midwives’ that are tasked to visit you once you have given birth to check on your and your babies health. Which is fantastic. They come on day 2, day 10 and continue to sporadically visit for about two months after which they assess and stop (as long as you are on track with healing and your baby’s weight gain)
One lady, I will never forget, changed my life. I was struggling with expressing milk after having Jack. So much so that he had formula in hospital (they made him drink from a cup to avoid nipple confusion!) and for the first day at home. At a bit of a blur really. The midwife came on day two. She watched me trying to latch Jack and immediately sent Robbie off to buy ‘nipple shields‘ (latest invention are silver shields that heal at the same time) Hey Presto! Jack latched, my milk came in (so to speak) and all was good again. I would NEVER have known about this without her. She didn’t judge me one bit and she sang to Jack when taking off his little clothes (which they hate) to weigh him!
here she is 🙂 love love love love love her
Several other visits flew by with no drama. They weighed Jack. Check my healing. Noted his milk consumption and how many nappies he was going through in 24 hours. Jack had cradle cap so they all had old wives tales and tips for that one! My advice is to use medicated bath liquid and/or prescription cream.
My month three visit went quite differently. This woman was a bitch from the minute she walked in. She demanded we lock our dog in another room. Not a good start. She then demanded that I breastfeed in front of her as if she didn’t believe me when I said all was fine. I refused. She wrote something down. She barked questions at me with no patience or empathy. It was so stressful that as walked out the door my husband said ‘never come back to my house’
My advice – if ANYONE makes you feel uncomfortable or judged in your own home, kick them out (family members included)
Bugaboos & Choos 