I was talking to a vegan friend last night and she said that when she was pregnant she got loads of hassle from the midwives who told her that children should not be brought up to be vegan. She has 2 very healthy and fit vegan children now 
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One of the worst bits of nonsense I heard was from a midwife too. She asked me what I had for tea the night before, I said ‘steak’ she said ‘I knew it, all vegetarians eat meat when they are pregnant’. I was gobsmacked! For a start I have never been a vegetarian though people assume I am so I must look like one (!), secondly, what a load of nonsense, all pregnant vegetarians do not eat meat.
Anyway, please share your worst bit of advice or nugget of mis information from midwives with us here. And also, if you have had any fantastic advice from a midwife it would be lovely to balance it out.
Lisa
Any Old Cow – Shopping Bag 
Care Instructions – Shopping Bag 
“Any old Cow” Short Sleeved T 3-6 months 
“Any old Cow” Short Sleeved T 6-12 months 
Mummy Milk Rocks – Shopping Bag 
Here in the US, few women even realize they have the option of midwifery care, and in many areas it isn’t legal. Even where it is legal it is frequently not covered by insurance, so many families (like ours) end up paying out of pocket if they want to have that kind of personal, individualized care.
Otherwise, (normally) unless your doctor happens to be on call you are likely to end up with someone you don’t even know or may not even have met delivering your baby. Also, you won’t have one experienced labor support person with you the whole time unless you hire a doula and bring them with you… the nurses will be in and out and having shift changes.
Thankfully we have a great midwife… she was extremely supportive of me breastfeeding during pregnancy and tandem nursing, which I was very glad about!
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Well this meat-eater went vegetarian during most of my second pregnancy – wonder what she would’ve said to that?
Let’s see, when I fell pregnant I was still breastfeeding my son, so when I needed medication for the horrible nausea (couldn’t even eat cream crackers at one point), I phoned the NHS Direct and spoke with a midwife. I explained that I needed something that was safe for both pregnancy and breastfeeding, and she told me she didn’t think I was allowed to breastfeed during pregnancy. I wasn’t feeling up to a full debate, but just said that I was allowed.
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Hi Lisa,
Loving your new mobile-friendly site!
One of my midwives said that she thinks vegetarians have bigger babies. She added that there is no research that she has read that backs that up, but she has noticed it in her practice.
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After having an emergency c-section, a midwife at the hospital told me I wouldn’t be able to breastfeed my son. She said that because I’d had a GA and didn’t come round until 90 minutes after the birth, I’d missed the crucial bonding period and may as well give up.
I breastfed him for 2 years.
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I got told by midwife who came to see me 2 days after discharge that breastfeeding should hurt. Thanks to her I cried through every feed for about 2 weeks before seeking help. The notes in my son’s red book make me wince! (this was over three years ago, on baby two now and ignored the midwives this time, in fact I made a formal complaint about them trying to pressure me into formula feeding DS2)
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During my second pregnancy with my Son (now 5 months) I was hounded for the first 12 weeks to have the Gestational Diabetes tests but I declined it because it was impractical due to having a toddler to look after and no family in close proximity who were easy to access. I was scowled at and glared and and told “Because you are overweight you NEED this test” They did however inform me that they can spot GD in urine samples that you give your community midwife and through blood tests (which I was told by my GP are much more accurate than the glucose test) anyway, I was told I needed regular monitoring and so on. Every tests I had showed nothing what so ever but every new midwife I saw was convinced because I wasn’t a size 0 during my pregnancy that I MUST MUST MUST have GD so much so that they sent me for a sizing scan at 35 weeks because aparently I was measuring 41 weeks which meant I must be having a whopper of a baby due to GD. The scan showed my son was well within average, my fluid levels were well within average and I was measuring bang on my dates. My son was born 7lb 14oz as appose to the 10lb max the midwife had said I would “more than likely” have!
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When pregnant with my eldest a midwife told me I wouldn’t be able to drink blackcurrant squash if I was breastfeeding, as it would upset the baby.
Plenty of non-midwives told me that I couldn’t breastfeed my eldest whilst pregnant with my youngest, as it would take vital nutrition from the new baby, but my lovely midwives were very informed about nursing through pregnancy snd reassured me I could. And a woman who only had one child told me very authorativly that I’d need a strict routine once I had two children. (She’d know this how?).
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