Health Visitor

Not everyone has one. From what I've heard they mostly just discuss looking after the baby and feeding etc. my friend who lives in a different county had one, but hers was by phone. We don't have them here at all

I had mine just after 28weeks - we had a really good experience! https://www.tommys.org/pregnancy-information/after-birth/what-health-visitor

I had one with my first. Just advice on feeding, safe sleep etc. I'm not having a health visitor this pregnancy tho as I have declined the service this time around. I had a bad egg of a HV first time which unfortunately stressed me out more than It helped me. It is an optional service and there is a stigma around declining it as some people believe if you say no that social services get involved...this is untrue. If it's your first and you have questions I would recommend it. But stick to your guns with your own wants and beliefs. The one I had wouldn't discuss how to bottle feed or what formulas are out there as she stated she didn't believe in bottle feeding as breast is best! 😡 She told me if I wanted information on formula I can Google it. But I have also had friends who had positive experiences with health visitors. I was obviously unlucky! Luckily my midwife was fab so I just stuck with her advice.

I had my health visit yesterday (currently 34 weeks). She was really lovely and like others said gave info on safe sleeping, feeding etc. I found it really helpful and supportive, fingers crossed you get a nice one! ❤️

Ahh okay thanks guys. I was so confused as to why they were coming. I wasn’t even given an option. Just got the letter about them coming along with my Red Book. A telephone appointment does make sense, but to make a whole journey for me to have no questions is wild 😆 as I’ve pretty much gone through everything with my midwife and did the prenatal class. Hopefully it’s a positive experience as the lack of sleep we’re currently getting has my moods all over the place.

A health visitor came to my house at 29 weeks. She shared with me her role, the services they do, what to expect when they come round once the baby is here and my plans on feeding. It lasted about 20 mins. Although she was lovely, it wasn’t very helpful and she was a little pushy around breastfeeding (I’m still undecided) but I just smiled and said I’ll read more! Best of luck with yours, honestly nothing to worry about and it won’t be any different questions to what you’ve discussed with a midwife x

I had one last friday and she just asked what myself and my partner do for work, how im feeling, who will be there to support me. She did also ask about how i planned on feeding the baby and as above mine was also pushy in regards to breastfeeding and kept saying have a think although i know im not going to and she then gave me her little red book too

I'm a huge advocate for the HV service and confused why they get such a bad rep. All the data shows that outcomes for babies are better when they've been involved in supporting parents. I'm a second time mum and still found my antenatal visit really helpful and part of it is building a rapport and trust to make sure there's already a relationship there before baby arrives and everything is upside down. It also makes it much easier for them to see if you're struggling if they've seen you before baby to get an idea of your baseline. You're discharged from the midwife really quickly after birth so the more you can build a relationship with your HV and local family hub before that the better. I think people think they're not as qualified when actually they're midwifes or nurses who have done extra training to be a HV.

I've just had a letter in the post, she's coming 8th Jan!! I'm due 25th but worried baby might come early 😳

@Adele I think this it could be a great service if you get a good one... I unfortunately did not and it has sadly tainted my view of the system.

@Baby 2 same as anything really isn't it 🙁 Really sorry you had such a bad experience! I hope you're still comfortable accessing the rest of the 0-5 service if you end up wanting a little more support this time round. I don't know what other family hubs are like around the country but here we're incredibly lucky that there's always someone medically trained available that you can speak to informally and in a really holistic way at their baby groups

The health visitor came to my place at 32 weeks

Yes depends on your area they used to do it before Covid but stopped and have started again. Nothing to worry about

Yep I had one come a few weeks ago. Just took our details and gave us information we needed for going forward. Also let us know what would happen with appointments post birth and how they’d support us. Nice and chill chat. They were here for like 15/20 minutes, no biggie

Thank you everyone for putting me at ease. Had the visit and she was here over an hour 😅 but it is essentially everything you guys have said. Going through our medical history/safe sleep/feeding/ different resources available in the area/MH/ and what the health visit would like once baby is here, and all sorts of other stuff.

Very normal to have an antenatal health visitor visit, nothing to worry about at all. It's just to introduce themselves, talk about how you're feeling, let you know their involvement after birth etc. It's nice to have met them prior to being 14 days PP and feeling all over the show x