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Harpy Seminar: Ob-Gyns

Posted by BeckySharper in Harpy Seminar, Women's Health on Nov 23, 2009, 9:00am | 53 comments

O HAI. U CAN HAZ DUCKBILL.

O HAI. U CAN HAZ DUCKBILL.

Welcome to Harpy Seminar, a regular feature we plan to have at regular intervals, unless we get too busy to have it at regular intervals, in which case it shall appear whenever we have time and inclination for it. Each Seminar begins with a question, which we discuss amongst ourselves, and we then edit the highlights of our conversation into a post. Please feel free to join in in the comments!

So this week I went for my annual look-see at the ob/gyn. The nurse-practitioner I usually see asked if I would be willing to let a student do the exam instead of her, and I agreed. The student nurse, Rebecca, was really cool and we chatted about “Mad Men” (love it!) and the Stupak Amendment (HATE IT!) while she stuck various things in my vagina. It made me glad that women like her are still joining Team Women’s Health, despite the insanity of malpractice insurance, harrassment by right-wing wackjobs and betrayal by our elected representatives.

I’m lucky my insurance covers the feminist, all-women practice I go to (if you’re in NYC, I highly recommend them). Like most women, I’ve had both positive and negative experiences when it comes to reproductive health care, and I had to work to find the right place for me. Today, we’re oversharing about our ob/gyn experiences.

Let’s discuss the good, the bad and the ugly of gynos. Planned Parenthood? Student health centers? Private care? Male doctors? Female doctors?

PhDork: I went to PP from the get-go, pretty much. Spring of my freshman year of college until ’01, when I got a full-time job with coverage, and then back to PP from ’03-05 or so, when I got on the Dude’s insurance.

SarahMC: I went to PP for exams and birth control when I was in college. My experiences were always positive there, as well.

BeckySharper: Have never been to PP. My first pelvic was done by the same nurse-midwife who delivered me (she was always MamaSharper’s health care provider). It was very circle-of-life in an oddball feminist kind of way. That was a good experience.

Then, when I was in college, I went to the student health center. It was state-run (I went to a public school) and in the Bible Belt. It was about as bad as you’d expect. I wrote about it in my post on yeast infections; they basically operated under the assumption that all college women were dirty, dirty sluts, and they should scare us as much as possible so we’d cease our slutty ways. Hence, I was told that my perfectly normal yeast infection might be caused by HIV, even though I’d only had one sex partner. Stories like this were rife on campus; the place was just a pit of alarmist paternalism. Oh, and they used metal duckbills and refused to prescribe Plan B. After one experience there, I paid out-of-pocket to see a private doctor in town.

The student health docs were both male and female, and actually, the most judge-y of the bunch was female, so it kind of blew up my idealistic theory that women ob/gyns are always more sympathetic.

SarahMC: Luckily, my experiences have been fine with both female and male doctors and nurses. I don’t have a particular preference for one sex. Whenever I’ve seen a male doctor, there has always been a female nurse in the room during the exam (which does make me more comfortable).

sarah.of.a.lesser.god: I had a private and male OB when I was pregnant, and he was fantastic. I actually felt far more comfortable with him than I did with the two female GYNs I previously had. I get a yearly pap smear from my regular internist, who is a woman.

BeckySharper: I don’t have a problem with male gynecologists, but I choose to see female ones. I much prefer dealing with women simply because I think their first-hand experience–they have vaginas and they’ve been in the stirrups too–gives them a better understanding of any issues I might have, physical or otherwise.

PhDork: I’ve had almost universally good experiences with the nurse-practitioners. Some were warmer or more chatty, some were taciturn or even brusque, but no horror stories of rudeness or pain or judgment. And, thank Dog, no “so let’s talk about you having babies” stuff, although they have thrown in “if you get/want to get pregnant” every now and again. I just nod. They said “if.”

All of my providers have been women, and yes, I prefer that (although maybe now simply because that’s my normal?). But I agree there’s something to be said for the value of shared genital experience.

What do you think? Share your genital experiences in the comments…

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53 Responses to “Harpy Seminar: Ob-Gyns”

  1. Isa says:
    November 25, 2009 at 3:46 am

    The practice you go to… sounds awesome.

    Late as well… but… my GP is a man. He’s a fantastic doctor and a really nice person. He’s been a great help to me since I was a teenager, and he’s done a lot to help me through my struggles with bipolar disorder. He was the first doctor to prescribe me birth control, and I’m totally comfortable with him.

    The first doctor I talked to about birth control, however, was a psychiatrist… basically she was like, “WEELLL you are crazy and crazy people should not reproduce so GET YOURSELF SOME BIRTH CONTROL” and she made me incredibly uncomfortable. In the hospital I had a nurse who told me that the best birth control was a pillow between my knees, and that I should go to church (WHAAAAT?????!!!).

    So, all things considered… I’m pretty OK with my GP doing pap smears etc. At first I thought I would rather have a woman, but this guy is pretty much the best doctor I have ever visited. He’s always non-judgmental, understanding, and kind. Most unfortunately he’s leaving town… I really don’t know if I’ll be able to find another doctor this awesome.

  2. emilyanne says:
    November 26, 2009 at 11:35 am

    I’m very late to this but I will say that I had two fantastic ob-gyns since being in the US. The woman who delivered my first child was wonderful and helped me adjust to a very different birthing experience from the one i would have probably had in the UK plus I completely trusted and respected her.

    When she left I was really upset but the male ob-gyn I was given is equally great in a different way. I don’t perhaps have the chats with him that i had with her but i completely trusted him in every decision and he was always very clear about why we were doing what when. I will always be grateful for the fact that it was largely his doing that my second birth was so relaxing despite the fact that all the evidence suggested it shouldn’t have been.

    Btw for anyone interested both of them were attached to St Vincents Hospital in the West Village in New York and I can not recommend them more. My treatment at St Vincents was wonderful and everyone from nurses, midwives, lactation consultants through to the ob-gyn and aneasthetists was great. Although i did still have insurance issues but doesn’t everyone in this country…

  3. Interesting posts, weekend of 11/28 « Feminists with Female Sexual Dysfunction says:
    November 28, 2009 at 7:49 pm

    [...] Harpy Seminar: Ob-Gyns – After reading the Harpies’ experiences, the short version of my experience can be summed up as, “Wow you are so lucky… oh I wish my experiences with gyns was that simple, easy, straightforward. Oh I wish. How are you doing that anyway? Having a vagina does not a good, empathetic gynecologist make.” Actually, the last few visits I had with the local gyn weren’t completely miserable… the results of those visits were since I had to go on meds over & over again but the visits themselves were more comfortable than they had been. Still far from perfect though. I need that doctor to be less rush-rush. [...]

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