I will never take my children anywhere near CHN's, they are full of outdated harmful and downright silly information.
I have heard so many ridiculous things come out their mouths, especially about breastfeeding, I shudder when I know a first time mum is going, and hanging on every word, and often getting very very non-evidence based (usually only opinion based) information, no wonder the breastfeeding rates are so low in this country
o yeah, and the vaccination thing...they seem to have lost the memo reminding them that vaccination is VOLUNTARY and the PARENTS decision, and like to harass people about that too...complete waste of time in my book.
Last edited by Cyathea; December 29th, 2008 at 08:12 PM.
I had a FABULOUS CHN that I took DD#1 too - she was a wealth of knowledge, and not outdated at all. I guess I was lucky
I would love to take DD#2 but was told by the clinic that they only see first time mothers... I have no idea why. But that's another discussion!
With Ds1 we went regularly just to get him weighed, measured and all that jazz. It was good.
This time around with DS2, we hardly even go. Some of the ones I've had aren't that friendly and they always swap and change around so I can never tell when the nice one will be there... we also had a rough start with them cancelling home visits with me and telling the other ones made up stuff. It was very strange and I was thankful it was my second baby.
I don't think it could hurt checking it out at first but if it's not for you then so be it.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
xx
I'm not a fan of CHN's or GP's I think many of them can be unsupportive and judgmental not to mention uninformed, however this is a sweeping generalisation and probably not a very fair thing to say, I'm just speaking from my own frustrating experience
However I would always take my baby for his checkups especially in the first year, because they're not just about measuring your babies progress against the 'norm' their also an important health check-up for issues that might not be apparent to parents. My babies heart murmur was picked up on and this is not something I would have found myself.
They are also important for the parents if they have questions about the baby which you are bound to have and also a support tool for parents who may not be coping as well as they would hope to.
It's not compulsory to take all the advice from the CHN, you can just take and leave what you like, but I think it's always a good idea to get as much information as you can so you can decide what is useful and what isn't. I don't agree with a lot of what my DS's CHN has told me but in some areas she has been fantastic and I have learnt things I wouldn't have known otherwise.
I've had experiences with the good and the bad - the one that did my first home visit (and also the new mum's groups) was the BAD one - she had outdated ideas, and stressed me out about DD's weight, even though there was nothing wrong. The good was part of a group that I was in for a study on solids and feeding, and she was fantastic! This second one cringed when I told her some of the lovely advice from the first one.
I think if you go well informed (and this site is great for that) and take everything they say with a pinch of salt, you will be fine. You may be lucky and get a great one.
In my local council, I had to register in order to be able to take DD there at all, so it is definitely voluntary and you need to be proactive to go and see them in some places.
I agree with what several others have said, in that sometimes they are a great help, other times not. You sound to me as though you have a very rational head on your shoulders, so I can't see that visiting your clinic would cause you too much alarm in any case Having said that, there's no point in visiting a chn who does or says absolutely nothing to help you.
I took Natalie for the first 6 months, then a couple of times after that, mainly when I had questions. I could have seen my GP but the clinic was closer and more convenient at the time.
When she was 4-ish months, they suspected a lazy eye and so sent me to the eye specialist when she came to town. Cost me nothing, was something I hadn't noticed myself, turned out her eyes were perfectly fine anyway. But I am so glad we checked because if there had have been something wrong it would have been easier to address earlier rather than later, KWIM?
Good luck with your decision(s) - there are so many to make as a new parent! I HTH a little.
As a new mum I just find that it's a great excuse to get out of the house and do something in the community. I live in a small town and usually run into someone I know in the waiting room which is a nice way to catch up. DH also likes it when we go to clinic as he can look in Olive's blue book and watch her progress after he gets home from work. My local CFHN is a BF councillor with the ABA so has been really supportive with all the problems i've had with that and has gone out of her way to help me. I know what your saying about 'normal' development and even the labelling of children but IMO if there was a serious problem with my child that could be avoided by going to clinic then I would take it. I am going back to work p/t in April and the CFHN is also helping me make a BF plan and they pick up on things like PND if that becomes an issue. I agree with everyone else that it probably depends on the rapport you have with them.
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Having said that, there's no point in visiting a chn who does or says absolutely nothing to help you.
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