I had my last midwife appointment on Friday and was officially discharged from their care. This does not only mean that a health visitor will be regularly checking on Amy from now on, no, it also means that I had to hand in my maternity notes and with them my entire pregnancy: the results of my blood tests, my scan reports, my birth plan and all the little reports that the midwives have written in the hospital and after we have been discharged.
During the last 9 months I have grown quite fond of my orange notes. I took them to every appointment at the health centre and hospital and I was regularly reading what the midwives had put down after every appointment. I know it sounds a bit weird but I am kind of sad that they are gone. I am sure that I would have loved to sit down at some point, drinking a nice cup of tea and going through them. They would have been a nice memory, not only for me but also for Amy when she is older, allowing us to look back on my pregnancy and how things went. I know that it's important to keep medical records but why was I allowed to keep my maternity notes with me throughout the whole nine months of my pregnancy just to hand them in as soon as my baby is born? Were you disappointed when you had to hand in your notes and do you think it would be a good idea to allow mothers to keep their notes at home and just take them in when a medical professional asks to see them?
I know exactly what you mean! I loved reading all the comments and finding things to worry about and then when I had to hand them back felt kind of lost! Why aren't we allowed to keep a copy?! lol
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't miss is having to cart a sample of wee everywhere hee hee!
I hate not having a record of the first 9 months I spent with my baby... I wished each time I had photocopied them but always forgot. I think it is an important item that documents a milestone in your life and your babies..x
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm gutted. I didn't even know we had to hand them in. If I had known I would have definitely made a copy...
ReplyDeleteGet a copy! I wrote to my hospital - you are allowed to request them but you may have to pay. I moved areas and wanted to take them in case I decided to have another baby as the births weren't all that straightforward.
ReplyDeleteI think it cost me £15 or something like that but I got the notes from both pregnancies included all the details about delivery and aftercare in hospital, it was very interesting reading and I learnt things I didn't know!
Read this http://www.nct.org.uk/info-centre/information/view-38 and this http://www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/antenatalhealth/testsandcare/howgetmaternityrecords/ which should help.
Hope this helps, and keep us posted!
As Mrs M said, you can get a copy it's really easy!
ReplyDeleteinteresting. I had an earlyish baby and in the haze of things I dont even know what happened to my Mat notes but now you mention it I would have liked to have them!
ReplyDeleteOoh, I think I'll do what Mrs M said and get a copy. It's not weird at all to miss them, hon. I know I will.
ReplyDelete