You must have heard or read stories of the times when a visit to the gynaecologist got wrong. While there are some professional gynaecologists who often treat their patients with utmost respect, many of them make their consultation a horrible experience. And they end up humiliating women for sharing their sexual histories with families. Especially, for the fact if they are sexually active.
Now, can you imagine that how would a woman, who is experiencing symptoms of endometriosis, feel if the gynae that she is visiting to sexually-shames her? So much so that the gynae tells the patient’s mom that the vaginal canal of her daughter was “not like unmarried girls’ should be”. WTF right?
It recently happened with an unmarried woman from Chennai and this Twitter thread narrating her experience of the gynae visit is what deserves your attention. The thread posted by @le_tom_quack suggests that the experience was shared by the patient’s friend. Here’s the whole story:
1. The woman visits gynae regarding symptoms of endometriosis
CW: unprofessional behavior by gynecologist
— desi fele💫 (@le_tom_quack) August 3, 2022
my friend (25f, unmarried, since it's relevant here) went in for a gynaecological consultation at Dr. Mehta's Hospital, Chennai regarding symptoms of endometriosis. she visited a Dr. Nikhat Nasreen and talked about her symptoms (1/n)
2. The gynae realises that the patient might be sexually active
before the physical examination. things went down badly incredibly quick when the doctor realised that my friend may have been sexually active. she began to describe to my friends mother who was on the other side of the screen how her daughter's vaginal canal was (2/n)
— desi fele💫 (@le_tom_quack) August 3, 2022
3. The gynae then tells patient’s mom about her vaginal canal and that she may have been “using fingers”
"not like unmarried girls' should be". she then privately asked my friend about her sex life/masturbation where my friend answered that she was not currently sexually active. she then began telling my friend's mother about how her daughter may have been "using her fingers" (3/n)
— desi fele💫 (@le_tom_quack) August 3, 2022
4. The woman asks gynae about its relevance to the endometriosis consultation
in between a fit of giggles. my friend tried asking how this was relevant several times but was met with "im only telling you this because its important" each time. the entire exchange lasted about 35 minutes where little about (4/n)
— desi fele💫 (@le_tom_quack) August 3, 2022
5. Before finally discussing the actual concern, the gynae belittles the patient and makes her admit about being sexually active
the actual concern was discussed. everything else was just Dr. Nikhat shamelessly getting this girl to admit to having been sexually active. when the endo symptoms were finally discussed, it was because my friend made a point of asking her about it in an annoyed manner to (5/n)
— desi fele💫 (@le_tom_quack) August 3, 2022
6. The gynae then suggests her to use tampons during periods
which the doctor responded with further belittlement. even after this, Dr. Nikhat made it a point to take the humiliation further a notch by suggesting tampons during periods whereas she doesn't usually "recommend tampons to unmarried girls" (6/n)
— desi fele💫 (@le_tom_quack) August 3, 2022
7. The gynae has positive feedback from patients online
we looked Dr. Nikhat up after my friend was back home and only saw overwhelmingly positive feedback from patients on practo, Apollo etc. it's clear what this means. unmarried women somehow don't have the same rights to obgyn healthcare as good, family oriented women do. (7/n)
— desi fele💫 (@le_tom_quack) August 3, 2022
8. “Why does an obgyn visit have to be traumatic at all?”
to think that women have to go through judgement and humiliation of this kind just to keep their health in check is cruel. why does an obgyn visit have to be traumatic at all? (8/n)
— desi fele💫 (@le_tom_quack) August 3, 2022
9. Why is it okay to discuss confidential information of the patient with family?
why does a doctor think it's okay to discuss what's been said in confidentiality with her family seconds after its been discussed? why do doctors think they have a right to prod and dig about sexual history in cases where it holds little relevance? (9/n)
— desi fele💫 (@le_tom_quack) August 3, 2022
Here’s how netizens are reacting to this thread:
Hey there ,
— Parkinson (@thesurgeonsG) August 3, 2022
There is something called
“Patient Confidentiality”
Ensuring the security, privacy, and protection of patients’ healthcare data is critical for all healthcare personnel and institutions .
You can book her under this.
That’s horrible. I don’t even know what to say…Wish caregivers would respect patient confidentiality and realise that patients’ personal lives is none of their business.
-@VijuRavishankar
Unprofessional n horrible…
— Karthik journalist (@KKarthik589) August 3, 2022
This is some fucked up human
— Shiva J (@_JGarner37) August 4, 2022
When I tell you gynaecs esp Indian women gynaecs are the worst. You are lucky if you find a gynaec that will actually listen to you instead of shaming or gaslighting you to unimaginable extent https://t.co/g33gZ3kGZt
— Sara K 🌟 (@littlemisanemic) August 5, 2022
CW: Shaming women for being "sexually active"
— Nush (@djnush_) August 3, 2022
Unmarried women in India generally have traumatic visits to gynecologists. https://t.co/EQCwIL4lgh
Very unprofessional ! Smh! https://t.co/xTBimPs48x
— Premu (@PremuSarma) August 3, 2022
Blanket CW
— Gayathri | காயத்ரி (@sadgradgaya) August 3, 2022
While there is a changing trend in medicine we still have a lot to do when such doctors exist. https://t.co/ziUajnfi23
Many women in India keep facing such traumatic experiences while visiting gynaecologists. And it should stop. Sharing such personal information of reproductive health with stranger is anyway a difficult task, don’t make it harder and definitely no patient should go through such treatment. The consultation should be healthy.
