A terrible health service
By maximax8
@maximax8 (31042)
United Kingdom
May 22, 2009 3:00am CST
One of my friends is 36 weeks pregnant and she can't manage to get a midwife appointment until the week her baby is due. She hasn't arranged where she will have her baby. She might be able to go to the midwife led unit 3 miles away or she might have to go to to consultant led hospital 20 miles away. She has tried phoning but nobody is willing to help her. My friend has a low body mass index meaning apart from her bump she is very thin.
What do you think of the health service?
Have you ever had a problem in pregnancy and was it sorted out?
1 person likes this
4 responses
@Darkwing (21583)
•
30 May 09
I'm not too enamoured with the health service at the moment. They're closing hospitals all over the place, or at least downsizing them. My local hospital doesn't deal with surgery emergencies any more... we have to go fourteen miles and through a busy town to our nearest hospital, in Brighton. Maternity has to go to Worthing, which is also twenty miles away. If there's a difficult birth imminent, how can that be justified? I haven't had any bad experiences myself, but I do feel it's a pretty bad service for expectant mums these days.
Brightest Blessings, my friend.
@frankiecesca (2489)
•
23 May 09
Wow thats terrible - sometimes I can't believe how bad it is as you see these who have to wait months for things and it is just shocking! I hope she gets some help soon!
@AmbiePam (120752)
• United States
23 May 09
Oh wow, that is awful. Is she trying to gain weight? I mean of course she would need to gain weight in a healthy way, with lean meats, veggies, fruit...but is there a medical reason why she is so thin? Of course being heavy doesn't help the baby, but it sounds like your friend is in no way of being heavy. Are there no free clinics she could go see, none that would make a special effort to help her?
@Wizzywig (7847)
•
22 May 09
For both my pregnancies, I was given regular appointments with my GP and ante-natal clinics from 12 weeks onwards. I assumed that was the case for all pregnant women throughout England. When was your friends last ante-natal check? She should have been given the opportunity to discuss her concerns and her options at any point during the last 24weeks. Usually, midwives and healthcare professionals are the ones doing the chasing to reduce any risks to mother and baby! I'm glad I didnt come under the care of whichever health authority she's with.
