laurenic33
21-10-2011, 17:09
Hi All,
I just had my 6 week check up and was very unimpressed with the level of care.
We were rushed in and out, and were not checked over properly at all.
First of all the doctor didn't check my lady parts, and the only questions she asked me was whether I had any engorgement or sore breasts, whether or not my lochia had stopped, and what contraception I was planning on organising.
I tried asking the doc about my son's reflux symptoms, I told her what we had already tried to improve it (frequent burping in between feeds, sitting up in chair/rocker after feeds, elevating head of bassinet, tried the 1 sachet gaviscon made formula too thick it wouldn't go through the teat etc) and she just blatantly repeated what I told her I had already tried, and suggested I keep trying those things!! I asked her about other formulas etc she said to just switch him straight to an Anti Reflux formula. I asked her how to wean him onto the different formula, she said you could change formulas every week it doesn't matter, they are all 'just milk'. She said to go straight from my current formula to the different one, and if that one doesn't work, to keep swapping!
I also tried asking her about his lack of pooing. She said to start giving him Coloxyl drops everyday to soften the stools. I told her that even though it took 3/4 days for him to poo, that when it did come out it wasn't hard at all, it was like a thick pastey/diarrhea like consistency. She said to use the Coloxyl anyway as 3 days is far too long in between poos....
Second of all she saw my son's herniated umbi and said that it was not normal and needs to be referred to a specialist. I told her that I had been advised by several different midwives that this was a common occurrence in babies, and that nothing needed to be done about it, unless it was still present when he turned 1 yr old. She said this was ridiculous, that it is caused by a split in the muscles inside the tummy and may need to be stitched together...??!!! She organised a referral to the hospital to have a paediatrician check it out.
Thirdly the only things she checked on my son besides his umbilical cord was his hips, which she said were fine, and she listened to his heart and breathing with her stethoscope, and checked that his testes were descended. She ticked off in the blue book that everything else was fine (eyesight, head shape, mouth, reflexes, responsiveness, femoral pulses, anal region etc etc) BUT DIDN'T CHECK ANY OF THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then she sent us off to the nurse to get his immunisations done - but before this she quizzed us as to why we wanted this done at 6 weeks instead of 8 weeks which is the norm. I told her we had been advised by midwives that many parents are opting to get it done at 6 wks rather than wait til 8 wks as there has been whooping cough epidemics etc. She said this was silly as we (DH & I) should be the ones getting immunised against whooping cough earlier, not the baby, but said that was fine and our choice if we didn't want to wait until 8 weeks for him to get his shots....
The nurses didn't want to weigh him, they said they 'don't do that anymore' at the 6 week check as it takes too long. The best I could get was his weight fully clothed and with a full nappy. He weighed 4.8kg like this, but i'm not sure what his real weight is seeing as he wasn't weighed naked like he was every other time!!! Last time he was weighed on 13/10 naked he was 4.39kg. They also measured him and first told me he was 53cm long, which I told them I thought sounded wrong as that's what he measured 8 days ago. The nurse re-measured him and this time said he was 57cm long! Who knows which is correct....!
I FEEL COMPLETELY JIPPED FROM THIS APPOINTMENT, I GOT NONE OF MY QUESTIONS ANSWERED, WASN'T CHECKED OUT PROPERLY, MY SON WASN'T CHECKED OUT FULLY EVEN THOUGH THE DOCTOR TICKED OFF EVERYTHING IN HIS BLUE BOOK, AND I COULDN'T EVEN GET HIM WEIGHED AND MEASURED CORRECTLY!!!
I would LOVE some recommendations of good, friendly, understanding family GPs who like babies/children and do not rush ppl in and out without doing a thorough check up...
Please help, as I am really considering going elsewhere to have the 6 week check for both of us completed AGAIN... PROPERLY this time.
Thx in advance!
Lauren
I just had my 6 week check up and was very unimpressed with the level of care.
We were rushed in and out, and were not checked over properly at all.
First of all the doctor didn't check my lady parts, and the only questions she asked me was whether I had any engorgement or sore breasts, whether or not my lochia had stopped, and what contraception I was planning on organising.
I tried asking the doc about my son's reflux symptoms, I told her what we had already tried to improve it (frequent burping in between feeds, sitting up in chair/rocker after feeds, elevating head of bassinet, tried the 1 sachet gaviscon made formula too thick it wouldn't go through the teat etc) and she just blatantly repeated what I told her I had already tried, and suggested I keep trying those things!! I asked her about other formulas etc she said to just switch him straight to an Anti Reflux formula. I asked her how to wean him onto the different formula, she said you could change formulas every week it doesn't matter, they are all 'just milk'. She said to go straight from my current formula to the different one, and if that one doesn't work, to keep swapping!
I also tried asking her about his lack of pooing. She said to start giving him Coloxyl drops everyday to soften the stools. I told her that even though it took 3/4 days for him to poo, that when it did come out it wasn't hard at all, it was like a thick pastey/diarrhea like consistency. She said to use the Coloxyl anyway as 3 days is far too long in between poos....
Second of all she saw my son's herniated umbi and said that it was not normal and needs to be referred to a specialist. I told her that I had been advised by several different midwives that this was a common occurrence in babies, and that nothing needed to be done about it, unless it was still present when he turned 1 yr old. She said this was ridiculous, that it is caused by a split in the muscles inside the tummy and may need to be stitched together...??!!! She organised a referral to the hospital to have a paediatrician check it out.
Thirdly the only things she checked on my son besides his umbilical cord was his hips, which she said were fine, and she listened to his heart and breathing with her stethoscope, and checked that his testes were descended. She ticked off in the blue book that everything else was fine (eyesight, head shape, mouth, reflexes, responsiveness, femoral pulses, anal region etc etc) BUT DIDN'T CHECK ANY OF THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then she sent us off to the nurse to get his immunisations done - but before this she quizzed us as to why we wanted this done at 6 weeks instead of 8 weeks which is the norm. I told her we had been advised by midwives that many parents are opting to get it done at 6 wks rather than wait til 8 wks as there has been whooping cough epidemics etc. She said this was silly as we (DH & I) should be the ones getting immunised against whooping cough earlier, not the baby, but said that was fine and our choice if we didn't want to wait until 8 weeks for him to get his shots....
The nurses didn't want to weigh him, they said they 'don't do that anymore' at the 6 week check as it takes too long. The best I could get was his weight fully clothed and with a full nappy. He weighed 4.8kg like this, but i'm not sure what his real weight is seeing as he wasn't weighed naked like he was every other time!!! Last time he was weighed on 13/10 naked he was 4.39kg. They also measured him and first told me he was 53cm long, which I told them I thought sounded wrong as that's what he measured 8 days ago. The nurse re-measured him and this time said he was 57cm long! Who knows which is correct....!
I FEEL COMPLETELY JIPPED FROM THIS APPOINTMENT, I GOT NONE OF MY QUESTIONS ANSWERED, WASN'T CHECKED OUT PROPERLY, MY SON WASN'T CHECKED OUT FULLY EVEN THOUGH THE DOCTOR TICKED OFF EVERYTHING IN HIS BLUE BOOK, AND I COULDN'T EVEN GET HIM WEIGHED AND MEASURED CORRECTLY!!!
I would LOVE some recommendations of good, friendly, understanding family GPs who like babies/children and do not rush ppl in and out without doing a thorough check up...
Please help, as I am really considering going elsewhere to have the 6 week check for both of us completed AGAIN... PROPERLY this time.
Thx in advance!
Lauren