Tips For OB/GYN Patients

Many women prefer a female gynecologist or midwife for a variety of reasons. You can find some reasons below.

1.) They feel very uncomfortable having a male gynecologist treating them for intimate female health issues.

2.) They feel like female gynecologists can understand some things better. For example, men never have cramps, ovarian cysts, and other female health problems.

3.) They want to protect the intimacy between their husbands or future husbands and themselves.

4.) They want their husband to be the only man in the world to see them naked or access certain parts of their body.

5.) Religious and moral reasons.

6.) They have been sexually abused by a man in the past.

7.) Many women have never been sexually abused by men in the past, but they have experienced verbal harassment such as innuendo, catcalls, vulgar sexually explicit language, having to see the pornographic magazines that male coworkers at the workplace might bring, seeing sexually explicit photographs and videos selling on the windows of porn shops, and hearing some men talking about which women have good bodies and sexual actions in details that could be done on them.

Men who don't want their wives to not go to a male gynecologist are not crazy. They just love their wives so much that they don't want another man to access and see the private parts of their wives. Some women and their husbands want to protect their intimacy and they feel like their intimacy is violated when the women are treated by male gynecologists. The bond between a husband and a wife is very special when they never expose their private parts to another person of the opposite sex.

There are a lot of wonderful female ob/gyns in mixed practices, but you will need to find an all female ob/gyn practice if you are going to have a baby and want to have the assurance of having a female ob/gyn deliver your baby. All doctors in a practice are on rotations. Women usually can have the assurance they will be seen by a female ob/gyn in a mixed practice if it is for routine tests or scheduled surgeries. You should always be sure to ask the ob/gyn to keep the door closed when she is doing an intimate procedure or examination on you. It would be helpful if you could ask her to put a sign on the door that says "Don't Disturb".

If you choose to have a home birth with a midwife, you need to make sure that you have a backup plan with an all female ob/gyn practice to deliver your baby at the hospital in case there are some complications. Make it clear to your midiwife that you don't want a male gynecologist. Midwives are often much more sensitive to your needs for modesty than female gynecologists. Many midwives even do breast examinations, pap smears, gynecological examinations, etc. Check out reasons to consider home birth with midwife. There are some birthing centers in the US that are exclusively staffed by midwives. Birthing center is an excellent choice for women with low risk pregnancies who don't wish to give birth to their child at either home or hospital. If you are interested in finding a midwife, go to the Find a Midwife page.

We encourage pregnant women to create birth plans about how they want the birthing experience to be. They need to be sure that they include who they want to be present at birth. You need to make sure you come up with a plan in case you have to have a Cesarean Section. We recommend that you check out Create Your own Birth Plan Through BabyCenter and Birth Plan on American Pregnancy Association.

You need to be sure to discuss with your ob/gyn about how you want an all female medical team for the birth. Remember that the team may consist of the female ob/gyn doctor, nurses, anesthesiologist, and scrubs. If you will have an epidural, you will need an anesthesiologist to administer the epidural. It is best if you could get a female anesthesiologist. If that is not possible, you need to speak to the doctor and nurse and request that they keep your private parts covered all of the time while the anesthesiologist is present to protect your dignity and modesty. If you must have a Cesarean Section, you will be required to have an urinary catheter. You should ask that the male anesthesiologist stay out of the room until you all have done all of the prepping for surgery including the insertion of the urinary catheter.

As for gynecological surgeries such as hysterectomy, you need to talk to your ob/gyn and ask that you have an all female ob/gyn team for the surgery. Remember that this team will consist of surgeon, assistant, nurses, scrub, and an anesthesiologist. Tell her you want the assurance that no men will walk in the operating room during your surgery including maintenance workers who may need to fix lights.

Check out the directory that lists hospitals with at least one affiliated all female ob/gyn practice.

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