Effectiveness of Health Visitors

[Ozzieshunni]

Always a hot topic on here as many women have had good and bad experiences. I'm wondering, are there any studies that actually show that having a health visitor come to the home prevents child abuse/neglect? I've done some googling and I can find a few about whether or not the practice is effective. I did find some articles on discrimination by health visitors when it comes to different ethnic groups, especially when it comes to older health visitors. I still want to know statistics on whether or not a health visitor coming prevents child abuse or causes more cases to be reported??

The USA does not have this practice, but we do have social services and child protective services.

Thoughts?

 

[Rhi_Rhi1]

to be honest, i get the point, but i just found the whole process pointless and invasive !
to me if feel like "have a baby and go home but then we are going to come and check up on you and tell you what to do for ages" .. if people are going to be rotten parents they will just wait and be rotten parents after they leave, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to put on an act for 20 mins ! x

 

[aragornlover8]

I'd be interested in hearing what other people think on this, as I really have a hard time grasping what an HV really is in practice.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

to be honest, i get the point, but i just found the whole process pointless and invasive !
to me if feel like "have a baby and go home but then we are going to come and check up on you and tell you what to do for ages" .. if people are going to be rotten parents they will just wait and be rotten parents after they leave, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to put on an act for 20 mins ! x

I do agree. I dont remember them being horrible but dont think they were useful in the first weeks either. I went straight to my Doc with PND, skipped out the Health Visitor, she was pointless lol. x

 

[Lightworker]

TBH, the efficacy of the HV service depends on the area, class, age etc of the parent. I know HVs who work in lower income areas and I think they make a difference to parents who are quite young and not confident and many parents express gratitude at advice given for things like caring for baby, teething, feeding etc and that impacts greatly on safeguarding children. However, more confident parents may find them a complete waste as they already know what they are doing or know where to get advice from.

 

[xolily]

^^ WSS.

I wasn't aware that HVs were actually there to prevent child abuse, I thought they were just there to help and advise my HV was/is brilliant, never invasive and always there to reassure me.

 

[Thaynes]

I was wondering about HVs to. I didn't quite understand what they are but I get it now. It does seem really kind of pointless though. Can you request for them not to come if you don't want?

 

[Lightworker]

Yeah the HV service is not compulsory.

 

[Ozzieshunni]

Yeah, I plan on politely declining the service when they call for the first visit.

 

[Nibblenic]

To be honest the amount Ive seen mine I wouldnt notice if she wasnt there at all.

I think there is a service level which is useful and in some cases necessary for a few however they are available to all. I remember ave some helpful contact in the first month r so but cannot say theyve helped much since. HOwever I know that isnt the case for everyone

 

[bky]

I kind of feel like mine is there to make sure I'm not eating my baby.

Here they do take the place of some of the well child visits, so we get a measure, weigh and check on developmental milestones. They are supposed to also be there (at least here) to help with referrals should a child not be meeting milestones or if you're having other issues (they keep asking about PND). However, we haven't had any milestone issues and mine wasn't really that helpful about BF stuff though I repeatedly asked. I can look on their website and they have all kinds of fantastic services they offer (BF support, pump rental, lactation consultants and so forth) but mine was a bit clueless on how I could use them, so had to figure it out on my own. .
I do see the GP for well child visits at 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 5 months and 15 months and before school (coincide with vaccinations), but see my HV (plunket nurse) at 4-6 weeks, 3 months, 5 months, 8 months, 15 months and 2 and 3 years. We also have another person, called a karitane, who works with the HV nurse. She comes around and just kind of checks on us without any apparent milestone or health agenda, just kind of sees how we're getting on and if we have questions.

The service here certainly has it's own strange agenda with products they support (brand of nappies, jar food, types of sippy cups and similar).

 

[discoclare]

Well mine has never come round to check on me! I think they are a bit of a waste of time. She came to the house once to introduce herself when DD was about a week old and give me leaflets about local services. She told me where to come to see them and get baby weighed and she spent half an hour trying to justify her job to me (I work for the NHS and was pretty sceptical about her role). One of the things she did say to me is that it's partly about child protection in the wake of Baby P, Victoria Climbie etc.

That was almost a year ago and I've never heard or seen anything of her or any other HV since! I have never taken my DD to the HVs or to get weighed. I took her to the GP for her vaccinations (not the same place as where the HVs are) and that's it. Dunno, maybe they do provide a useful service to some but I'm not entirely sure what it is.

 

[allaboard]

I've had an amazing HV, a truly awful one, and one that pretty much left me alone and offered support re BFing, which was fine too.

I had a HV when i got antenatal depression and the MW didn't have time for me so she referred me to the HV who came to my house for a tea and a chat. She was genuinely a good person who was like a counselor really.

I do think they have a role, but not every women needs that contact if circumstances are straightforward and the mum is confident.

Even with HV contact, children can slip through the net so the system is flawed. I don't feel my life was invaded by them, i understand that they have a role in child protection too and that's fine with me. If anything there should be more specific advice and role for them so there's reason to see them more as having worked in the maternity services i can tell you there have been so many occasions when i've discharged a woman from the MWery care and felt like the child's could slip through the net so easily from that point on.

 

[crossroads]

to be honest, i get the point, but i just found the whole process pointless and invasive !
to me if feel like "have a baby and go home but then we are going to come and check up on you and tell you what to do for ages" .. if people are going to be rotten parents they will just wait and be rotten parents after they leave, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to put on an act for 20 mins ! x

I agree with this.

Also, health visitors can actually dish out bad advice. It is usually given in order to cover their own backs, not for the health of the baby. For instance, at the slight whiff of a breastfeeding problem it is not uncommon for a health visitor to suggest formula. As far as HVs are concerned, if baby is gaining weight according to the charts, that's all that matters. If the chart looks good, the health visitor looks good.

 

[Lightworker]

That is true. There's a tendency amongst HVs to cover their asses, and in so doing, give "bad" advice. Also, I notice that HVs don't all sing from the same hymn book iykwim? Alot of what they say will depend on their own personal opinions and experiences eg when it comes to things like sleep, night feeds etc. Sometimes they can thoroughly misguide parents.

 

[Cloberella]

My health visitor is amazing, I'm moving soon and I know I'll miss her.

She's very supportive with breastfeeding and is always praising me for it, she was lovely to me when I had post natal depression and hasn't once suggested giving Gabriel top ups even when his weight gain was a little slow.

I don't really think their purpose is to stop abuse, it's more to act as a guide, having said that I think it sounds like some HV need to be retrained.

 

[lesleyann]

I barely saw mine lol Although i do think its pretty pointless i know someone who went un-noticed taking drugs/self harming/manic depressent who when ever the HV was there did everything by the book, the second the HV left it was back to normal.. The child aged 3 was then taken into care after someone finally twigged on

 

[Tegans Mama]

I think HV's are brilliant when you have a child with special needs. A gateway to a great many services you wouldn't get otherwise.

 

[mandarhino]

I think it depends on the area as most HVs have too many families on their case load to give the level of service intended. It is one of those initiatives that has never been properly resourced to meet the demand.

My daughter was born in Leeds and I had a really good HV. She came round several times and was easy to talk to. The HV who worked in the baby clinic was also good. The HVs also ran a weekly group for new mothers which was well attended and useful. Unfortunately the level of service they provided was declining as I moved cities, due to staff on mat leave or retiring not being replaced.

I'm living in London now and met my HV when I took my daughter for her 12 month shots. He took my details and said he'd come round to do a home visit and meet us. He called to check my details and then I never heard back from him again. I doubt very much I'll be getting the 2 year developmental check.

But to be honest, I don't blame him. I live in South London in an area with high deprivation. He's probably got 600+ families on his list and he's going to prioritise the families that need the most support. I'm sure he looked at me and thought mum in mid 30s, professional job, etc - she'll be fine. And when thinking about who else he's probably got on his list, he'd be right.