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A doctor’s office is a safe place to not just talk but actually solve medical problems. And since we leave our privacy well shut behind its closed doors, we can hardly imagine what doctors have to deal with on a daily basis.

This time, we’re not talking just about any doctors but obstetricians, gynecologists, and midwives who meet, greet and treat pregnant people. Who help patients to bring healthy and happy little angels, aka daredevils, into this crazy world.

“Midwives/gynecologists of Reddit, what's the weirdest thing you heard from a pregnant woman or her family that made you think they had no prior sexual/medical education?” someone asked on Ask Reddit. The thread soon turned into an illuminating read giving us a very rare glimpse into all the craziness doctors have heard from their patients.

#1

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women When my great grandmother went into labour with her first child at 18 she asked how the baby was going to come out and the midwife said "the same way it went in love".

ThePsychicHotline , Büşranur Aydın Report

To find out about the importance of knowledge in reproductive health and sex ed, and why there are still so many gaps regarding that in our society, Bored Panda spoke with Danela Zagar, INTIMINA Global Brand Manager who was happy to share some insights.

“We believe that children should start learning about reproductive health before the girls start menstruating (and this applies to boys as well),” Zagar said. According to her, education is the only way of fighting shame and taboos connected to puberty, changes in the pubescent bodies, periods, etc.

#2

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women My Dad was a GP (he retired about ten years ago). He had a couple - lovely people, very young, a bit unworldly - come to see him to discuss their failure to conceive, about thirty years ago, when I was ten or so. He was bright enough to ask what they were doing in bed.

They had BOTH somehow come to the conclusion that what was needed to make a baby was penis/belly button contact. I have no idea how anybody was getting any satisfaction, or how on earth they kept believing this after doing it once - it must have been a horrible experience. He explained (literally) the facts of life to them, and on coming home had THE TALK with me and my brother, just in case we were also stupid.

The couple in question ended up with two kids. Good old Dad.

centopar , Gustavo Fring Report

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WordWeaver
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Western civilisation ha so many sexual hang ups because of screwy religious attitudes imposed on generations. Thought sex ed was supposed to help there?

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#3

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women I’ve told this story before, but it bears repeating...

I worked as a telephone triage nurse and received a call from a very concerned young lady. She said that she was pregnant and had gone to an appointment with her OB-GYN that day and had some questions. This was relatively common; patients can sometimes feel rushed in the doctor’s office or forget the questions they were going to ask, so they call and ask us later.

Me: Ok, no problem! How can I help?

Pregnant lady: Well, the doctor told me I can’t have any more s*x until after the baby is born!

Me: (Looking at her record in the computer) Ok. I see you’re pretty far along and were having some pre-term contractions, which can be caused by s*x. So the doctor recommends no s*x so that the baby doesn’t come too early.

Pregnant lady: BUT HOW WILL I FEED THE BABY?!?

Me: Ummmm....what?

Turns out, her male partner convinced her that babies needed to eat semen to develop, and this could only be done with PIV s*x. I told her this was totally wrong and gave her a quick lesson about the umbilical cord. She was skeptical until I pointed out that single women and lesbians have perfectly healthy babies without constant s*x. “Oh, ok! That makes sense!” she said. Then she thanked me and started to hang up the phone- I could hear her calling her partner’s name as she hung up. Would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation!

nursejacqueline , Derick McKinney Report

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JinjoBread
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Her partner sounds like a f****n pervert. What a disgusting thing to say to someone.

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“This is exactly why INTIMINA recently issued The Wonder Girls Guide Book (and an audio version) - to help young women prepare for womanhood and feel free of shame connected to periods and to help parents to have open conversations with their kids about all puberty and sex and reproductive health topics.”

#4

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women I do ultrasound. When I was a student, I did a rotation at a small OB/GYN clinic. One day, a woman and her husband came in for a pelvic ultrasound. They had come to see the doctor because they were having trouble conceiving. They said they had been having s*x regularly for almost a year, and had not gotten pregnant. My instructor asked the patient if she was on medications (standard question).

"Only my birth control pills."

In a year of trying to get pregnant, neither she nor the husband had thought maybe she should stop taking her birth control.

tolkiensghost , MART PRODUCTION Report

Zagar explained that education has to come from parents and teachers. “Unfortunately, many education systems around the world are lacking sex education in their curriculum,” she added.

The 2020 survey commissioned by INTIMINA and conducted by OnePoll (on 2,000 US women) found that there are some major gaps when it comes to what women know about their own bodies. The findings showed that nearly one in four misidentified the vagina and 46% could not properly identify the cervix. Over half (59%) identified the uterus as a different body part too.

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#5

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women Not a MW or gyno but a story from a doctor in a town where I used to live:

A man and wife had a daughter. Then he somehow (farming accident?) lost a testicle. Then the couple had a son a year later so all his parts work, right? Then a few years later they have another daughter. All hell breaks loose in the maternity waiting room between the two families. His family is insisting that the mother was fooling around because "he lost his girl testicle in the accident." The doc had to separate them, then had to give a lesson about reproduction right there to explain that men's testicles aren't made to be one to make boys and the other to make girls. Members of both families were apparently confused about it, he said.

jgcunn519 , Patricia Prudente Report

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DuchessDegu
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Plot twist, he actually lost the boy testicle and the son was actually someone else's 🙄

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#6

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women I work on a busy labour ward. Took a call from a woman who wanted to ask me about a pregnancy test result. I tried to explain that we are for the other end of the pregnancy but she wasn’t really getting it so for an easy life I just thought f**k it and told her to go ahead.

Her - I had a baby 12 weeks ago and I’ve just done a pregnancy test and it was positive. What does it mean? Me - can I ask you a few more questions? Her - sure Me - Than kyou. Firstly, had you stopped bleeding after having your baby? Her - yes Me - have you had unprotected s*x? Her - yes Me - have you had any early pregnancy symptoms? Her - well I’ve been feeling sick in the morning. That’s why I did the test. Me - I see. Well from the information you’ve given me then the test may indeed be right and you may indeed be pregnant. Her - but I can’t be. I’m breastfeeding. I haven’t had a period yet after having the baby. Me - (taking deep breath) didn’t your midwife tell you about contraception before you left the hospital? Her - yes Me - did you get any? Her - no..... Her - oh.... s**t.

I get so many women who think they can’t get pregnant if they are breastfeeding. It’s bollocks. If you’re reading this, breastfeeding, not using contraception and not wanting to have a baby in about 9 months time, then stay away from all penises until you’ve got yourself sorted. Don’t wait for your first period. You’re fertile before it even happens.

victhemaddestwife , Nataliya Vaitkevich Report

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Katinka Min
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is SUCH an old and common belief. Where the hell does that even come from??

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Laura Ketteridge
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Exclusive breastfeeding CAN suppress ovulation. But is it not, I repeat NOT a sure-fire way of preventing pregnancy. Many women have used breastfeeding as way of spreading out the number of children they have. However, it has nowhere near the same level of success as birth control options (eg, pill, diaphragm, condoms, etc.)

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JesT
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This comment can be used in other aspects of life, "stay away from all penises until you’ve got yourself sorted," lol.

savannahyoung avatar
S
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've literally never heard of this myth. I was always told you're most fertile after birth. Breastfeeding or not.

asteidl14 avatar
Disgruntled Pelican
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm glad I'm not alone! I've always heard that you have to be SUPER careful after giving birth so you don't immediately wind up pregnant again.

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Roxy Eastland
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Breastfeeding reduces the likelihood of conception (hence aristocratic women not being allowed to breast feed their own babies) but it isn't a guarantee!

jen_hunt_9250 avatar
Alethia Nyx
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Aristocratic women didn't breastfeed because it was considered messy, dirty, and beneath their dignity. As queen Victoria said "I'm not a cow". Also they believed colostrum was no good, which we obviously now know the opposite.

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Heather Talma
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've heard that you're actually EXTRA fertile for the first couple months after childbirth.

brittenelson_1 avatar
B.Nelson
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And this is why my sister and I are so close in age. My mom thought the same thing 🤣

acucharts avatar
JPotts
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've never heard of the breastfeeding myth. There should be a list of all these crazy beliefs handed out and talked about in sex ed class.

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Donna Clanclan
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm here because the doc didn't explain to my parents that you can get pregnant between the time you have a baby and the woman starts menstruating again.

curriejg avatar
James G. Currie
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Breastfeeding *reduces* the probability of becoming pregnant...it does not *prevent* pregnancy. To put it another way...why do we buy lottery tickets, when we know it is unlikely (generally, 1 in 14 million for most), but we still buy! You're more likely to be struck by lighting (about 1 in 50,000 chance), and yet we still walk around carrying metal umbrellas!

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Lex
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I saw this belief on a TV show once, but I didn't realize people actually believe it.

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Pamela Blue
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

About 2 out of 100 people who use breastfeeding as birth control get pregnant in the 6 months it can be used after a baby is born. Breastfeeding won't prevent pregnancy if you feed your baby anything other than breast milk. (oh, and this is medical fact)

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JensenDK
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My mother told me that, when my first child was born. There are 12 months between my older siblings - my mother learned it the hard way...

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Just me
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Had my period 6 weeks after birth, and yes, breastfeeding. That means I was ovulating just 4 weeks after birth. People who do not educate themselves enough about this, will probably end up pregnant again shortly after.

atribe1973 avatar
Sammie 19
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was fertile even though I was the pill. I couldn't bf my eldest so went back on birth control just days after giving birth. 4 months later I was pregnant. No mishaps taking the pill, hadn't forgotten to take it. After I had my 2nd i went back on the pill and refused to have s*x for over 9 months. When we did he used a condom as well. Still got pregnant. I had 3 in under 3 years. Youngest was born in June and eldest turned 3 in October. By October my tubes were tied.

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Jessica N
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah it is definitely an old wives tale that breastfeeding prevents pregnancy! Mine are 10.5 months apart. Wine at a wedding reception...sigh. lol

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Tigerpacingthecage
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The thing is that you can't get pregnant until your cycle starts again. Breastfeeding usually delay your cycle meaning you don't have a period. Its not uncommon to not have a period for over a year when you breastfeed (after my second child it took 16 months to get it back thanks to breastfeeding). BUT you never know WHEN your cycle starts again and that first ovulation (and a chance/risk to get pregnant) is 2 weeks-ish before that. So it's true that in many cases exclusively breastfeeding does create "natural" space between kids historically. That being said I have 13 months between my first two kids while breastfeeding and didn't get my period back in between- so it was on that first ovulation. Conclusion; you can't get pregnant without a cycle and breastfeeding often delay that but you never know when it will start again.

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abby smink
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Honestly, nothing is 100% so long as you're of childbearing age, have a uterus, and have sperm go into said uterus.

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Emerald Gal28
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hahahahhah this is what my mum used to say too then she went on with well there's always abortion. Then she'll go on with oooh the left boob is for baby's food,right boob is for baby's drink😂 remember to give left then right so baby can eat then drink hahahahaha. So one day I pumped 150ml per side and showed her...so which is food and which is drink?😂 She got upset and say I mixed it then I tell her nope... it's one for each side so which is which? Then she told me...oooh I've never seen breastmilk pumped out,I always thought it will be the colour of the food we eat.LOL she breastfed for like 2 or 3 weeks max cos my dad prefers to suck on it till it's dry so none for the babies...all of us ended up on formula by week 3.

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MediumPimpin
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I know a couple of people with siblings 10 months apart in age. One has an older sister and little brother, both less than a year apart from him in age. Some women are quite fertile right after delivery.

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AK to LV
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah my aunt believed this and she ended up with daughters less that a year apart🤦🏻‍♀️

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MellonCollie
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yup, this happened to friends or our about 6 years ago. I mean, come on people!! They already had 2 kids, and were still totally convinced of this nonsense!

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Aline Cahill
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I didn't have a period for 15 months after my first 2 kids. All breastfed on demand. It really depends on several factors, every woman is different.

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Sandra Culpepper
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Was actually told after birth your super fertile the first year and since I had a c-section to use protection.

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marianne eliza
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some man back in the mists of time, observed that animals that were still nursing wouldn't get pregnant when an errant male tried. They didn't know about estrus or breeding season or how animals differed from humans. But since it was that way for female animals, it just has to be that way for female humans.

kkermes avatar
Kim Kermes
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Once upon a time, wayy before baby food, babies were breast fed much longer, and the group could only support just so many pregnant women, it was tabu to have sex with a nursing mom.

heather_45 avatar
Heather
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My aunt believed this. Maybe still does for all I know since she's not the type to be convinced by evidence. She has 6 kids and more than once has been at our house crying about how she couldn't possibly be pregnant again because she was breastfeeding.

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The Starsong Princess
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My grandmother had my dad 10 months after she had my uncle. Apparently, she had no idea you could get pregnant again so quickly because her mother had her babies (10 of them) 2 years apart. She was also quite confused about how she got pregnant with my uncle - they only did it once quickly and she didn’t think it counted. But all was made right with a quick marriage but apparently she cried her eyes out both times in the doctor’s office. To be fair, it was 1940.

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Got Myself 4 Pandas
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have always been infuriated that breastfeeding didn't stop my periods at all - I was told all throughout my first pregnancy that breastfeeding will likely prevent me having a period until I wean the baby - did it hell, literally by time my kids were 4weeks old it was period time and was insanely regular from that point on. I was gutted, I didn't want to go back to having periods. Whereas my friend is still breastfeeding her youngest who is now 18months and no sign of her period - so jealous

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Suz66
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Or use birth control like the midwife suggested. (Condoms don't interfere with nursing.)

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#7

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women It goes like this:

Me: Your pregnancy test came back positive.

PT: Oh, I couldn’t be!

Me: Are you sexually active?

PT: Yes

Me: Are you using any birth control?

Pt: No

Me: Then why don’t you think you could be pregnant?

Pt: Because I couldn’t be!

Me: ...

Repeat scene many times over past 20 years. Denial is not a river in Egypt.

safT1st , cottonbro Report

Moreover, fifty-seven percent of the women surveyed admitted they don’t know as much about the female anatomy as they should. Forty-two percent wished they had a better understanding of what the different organs in the reproductive system do. Lastly, over a third (35%) would want to know when a woman is her most fertile and three in ten (29%) want a breakdown of the different stages of pregnancy.

The same women who participated in INTIMINA’s survey were asked who they blame for their lack of knowledge. One in three (36%) said teachers while 28% blame their parents. One in four (27%) said their lack of knowledge was due to government education standards or religious organizations (24%).

Zagar noted that all this lack of knowledge has the potential for real-life consequences. Over half of respondents (52%) think their knowledge gaps are preventing them from advocating for themselves in the doctor’s office. As if that wasn’t enough, fifty-four percent don’t remember or haven’t got advice from a medical provider on alternative menstrual hygiene products other than pads and tampons.

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#8

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women My mother is a midwife and this one story sticks out.

A couple is in her office looking very somber and the woman has been crying.

Mom: “what brings you in today?” Man: “this” points to a spot on woman’s lip Mom: “looks like a cold sore” Man: “what are we going to do about this” Mom: “have you tried abreva?” Man: “that is for herpes” Mom: “yes this is a form of herpes” Man: “I knew it. Check her for gonorrhea and chlamydia please” Mom to woman, ignoring man: “have you ever had a cold sore before?” Woman: “yes in 2012”
Mom then had to go in circles for 20 minutes with the man about how it’s not sexually transmitted necessarily, how it’s very common, she didn’t cheat on him since she had it for years, and that he probably had it. He cursed my mom out for “accusing” him of having an STD after she said that last bit and stormed out. My mom had to have a come to Jesus talk with the woman about leaving this loser. Crazy how little people know and how angry people get about how ignorant they really are.

ashlyn0912 , Fabio de Oliveira Tabalipa Report

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chrysalis_1 avatar
WordWeaver
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ignorant male view is that it is always the woman's fault. And that penises RULE!

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#9

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women I used to work in a medical field and witnessed this hilarity:

A teenage girl enters the clinic and gets testing done due to an irregular period. She and her mother are deathly afraid that she won't be able to have kids. Standard tests are run and she is scheduled for a followup the next week.

Fast-forward to the next week she and her mother come back to get the test results. Again they bring up their concerns that the daughter may not be able to have kids and how important it is to them that this situation is handled. Sonogram results come up and SURPRISE ! it's twins!

Nuck_Figgers_88 , MART PRODUCTION Report

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Random Panda
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I laughed way too hard at this. I hope the grandmom-to-be was happy.

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#10

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women A heavily pregnant woman put her finger in her belly button and pulled out something gross. She immiediatly freaked out, making her husband freak out as well. She called my friend, who is a doctor specializing in ob/gyn, and almost cried on the phone:

Preggo: "Help!! I just pulled something out of my belly button!!"

My friend, MD: "... yeah??"

Preggo: "So... have I removed a plug or something? Have I hurt the baby??"

My friend, MD: "But you just pulled something gross from your own belly button.. right?"

Preggo: "Yeah but.. isn't my belly botton connected to the babys belly button? Isn't that how she gets all of her nutrients and stuff?"

And then they had a looong talk about the uterus, placenta and where our belly buttons originate from.

Mind you, this isn't about the preggo not being educated, she is a lawyer. But she caught pregnancybrain. And had a laugh about it afterwards :)

napnapnap Report

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Judes
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You can be educated in one field, but a complete fool in another field.

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Zagar explained that in today’s digital age, everything our parents or teachers didn’t teach us about our reproductive health can be found online. “So the best recipe for becoming your advocate in a medical setting is to do your research and use that medical information for asking the right questions when visiting your doctor.”

INTIMINA is dedicated to women’s intimate health, and Zagar said that one of its responsibilities is to tackle the myths about women’s bodies and bodily functions. There are so many myths and misconceptions and that is why education is crucial. “The most common myths are: women cannot get pregnant while having sex during their period, women should not exercise or have sex during their period, and they are more likely to get attacked by sharks or bears while menstruating,” she said.

#11

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women I’m a midwife.

I was booking a woman at the beginning of her pregnancy and she wasn’t exactly pleased about being pregnant. I asked her if she was sure she wanted to continue the pregnancy (there’s no point me booking her if she wants a termination). She starts ranting about how it was the soft drinks industry’s fault and how she’s going to sue them. I was pretty confused at this point and asked her what she meant. She informed me that she had been washing her vagina out with cola following sex and that she must have bought a bad batch as she was now pregnant.

I went to see a woman who had delivered her first baby a few days previously. I knew she had had stitches but she seemed to be in a lot of pain. I asked her if she wanted me to check them and she consented, and when I did, I got a strong whiff of chemicals. I asked her what she was using to clean her vaginal area with (we advise women to just use water for the first few days). She told me she was using Dettol (a household disinfectant here in the UK) as she always used it in her kitchen and she’d never got ill from her food, so it must work in preventing infections. A few words with me and when I saw her the next time she was moving around freely like she was in a tampax commercial.

This one isn’t really to do with sexual education but was really a WTF moment. We have bags that are given away to new parents and they have free samples in - baby wash, fabric conditioner, nappy cream etc. I examined a baby who was 10 days old and her skin was almost red raw in places. I thought it was the worst case of eczema that I had ever seen and that she should get the baby checked out at the hospital. While I was trying to get through to them I asked her if she had been bathing the baby in anything (again we advise using water only for the first couple of weeks). English wasn’t her first language but her husband came home at that point and translated for me. They had received a free sample of fabric conditioner in the pack. This had a picture of a smiling baby in the front. They assumed this was baby soap, had bought a massive bottle of it, and had then bathed the baby in it. Neat. Luckily the baby had no lasting effects.

victhemaddestwife , Tiomax80 Report

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Seabeast
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yikes. The douching with cola thing is a very old myth. I'm surprised that it's still around.

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#12

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women As part of my midwifery education we had a woman come in from a fertility clinic to talk about the process a lot of our clients go through to get pregnant. She said the first thing they ALWAYS ask the patient, regardless of background, is how often they are having s*x. The amount of people that thought you could get pregnant any time after having s*ex (i.e. have s*x and get pregnant from that s*x 6 months later) was crazy. Also people who came from very conservative religious backgrounds and had no knowledge of s*x and didn't understand why they weren't getting pregnant after getting married.

WrackspurtsNargles , Pedro Lima Report

#13

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women I work in Public Health and Family Practice. We get our own special ones. Most recently the lady with chlamydia that stated she did not use birth control because “you cannot get pregnant if you have an STD”. Right. Yes she knew she had the STD and yes she was sexually active.

deleted , Tima Miroshnichenko Report

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Bernd Herbert
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

isn't that a felony? I think in Germany that could be" bodily injury caused by negligence"

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When asked whether sexual wellness is still a taboo subject, Zagar confirmed that’s the case. “It is still a taboo in many societies but things are slowly changing thanks to brands that advocate intimate and sexual health, and also the mainstream media who are opening up the conversations about these taboo topics.”

“At INTIMINA, we believe that educating people and empowering young women to feel free of any cultural taboos and stigma is what every modern society and education system should be doing,” she added.

#14

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women We had a woman come to triage one day, in no visible distress, but certain that she was in labor. She denied feeling any loss of fluid, contractions, or pain. When questioned further, she explained that she was already “dilated 4”. She was accompanied by her granny, who explained that SHE had checked her granddaughter at home and she was able to fit four fingers inside the vagina, so she knew it was time. Not in the cervix, in the vagina.

ScrubCap , Jimmy Conover Report

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Lily bloom
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh hell no. If there was a winning lottery ticket uo there, I wouldn't let granny go digging for it. Gag!

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#15

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women I work at a microbiological lab and we took routine swabs from a pregnant woman to rule out STDs or other infections that could harm the baby during birth. We used a speculum to be able to see and take samples from the cervix. The patient asked whether we could - since we were already at it - take a picture of the baby with her cell phone. Through the vagina. She thought you could see the baby if you looked into the vagina.

lullaby225 , Edward Jenner Report

#16

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women Dad was a high risk OB/GYN. Once had to argue with a woman that her daughter emphatically did not get pregnant from swallowing. Despite her protests that her daughter was a virgin, to which my dad replied he was only aware of one previous virgin birth in history.

spacemanspiff30 , Cedric Fauntleroy Report

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Something
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's actually possible to get pregnant while technically being a virgin.

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Zagar argues that “one of the most important places where taboos need to be broken is in our homes, meaning parents and children need to have open conversations about normal processes that happen in our bodies, such as menstruation, but also about sex, pregnancy, reproductive health, and sexuality.”

When we talk about menstruation specifically, despite the fact that billions of people experience it, it has historically been treated as something that shouldn’t be seen or talked about publicly, Zagar said. “Amongst our many projects and endeavors of breaking taboos, INTIMINA also collaborated with Pantone to create a bold shade of red called ‘Period’ to break the taboo and get everyone to talk about periods, regardless of gender, age, or life stage,” Zagar told Bored Panda.

#17

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women One of the nurses I used to work with said they had a woman in come in who was in labor (her first child) and she gave the woman a hospital gown to change into. When they went to check her to see how dilated she was, they noticed she still had her underwear on. The nurse told her she would need to take them off. The patient was confused. Come to find out, she had no clue the baby was going to be coming out of her vagina.

speculumqueen , Jonathan Borba Report

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Shelli Aderman
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

😳 Y’all sex education is not the devil, I promise! PLEASE teach your children, and give them access to books! 🙏🏾

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#18

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women Kinda late to the party. I had a woman call the office to make an appointment, and when I asked her what the appointment was for, she said that she needed a Fallopian tube. I was said, “...do you mean you want to get your tubes tied???”

She says, “No, I’m trying to get pregnant.”

kitty_bean , Andrea Piacquadio Report

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#19

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women Not a midwife but did have an acquaintance who got pregnant while her husband was in the army deployed. She had convinced her husband that they needed to try and get pregnant. So how do they resolve the issue of long distance and time? They concocted the plan of using a turkey baster, where the husband actually mailed a package of his little soldiers to her and she used the baster on her self to impregnate herself. No doctors were consulted during this time. And this story all came to light in divorce court when someone actually convinced the husband the baby was not his.

Wald0Found , Matthew Hickey Report

#20

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women I had a girl call the office because she swallowed a cherry seed and was worried that the baby was going to choke on it.

kellywithayy , Anna Shevchuk Report

#21

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women I had a cousin that had a friend that told her a way to save money was to stop taking her birth control for 6 months. Friend told her that birth control pills were still effective for 6 months after taking them. As you can guess, she ended up pregnant, it was the only reason we found out about her genius money saving plan.

JBSConCarne , Thought Catalog Report

#22

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women Son of an OB/GYN here.

Story 1:

Patient: I can’t be pregnant OB Dad: Why not? Patient: We haven’t had s*x! OB Dad: Have you been naked together? Patient: Yes. OB Dad: Has his semen ever made contact with your vagina? Patient:...yes... OB Dad: Bad news, those little guys are swimmers!

To this day I still wonder if the dude has to pay child support or not. Like “[my American people] your honor, I did not have s*x with that woman!”

Story 2:

Fat woman didn’t know she was pregnant until giving birth. OB Dad said family was very excited for her in spite of being surprised.

Story 3:

Fat woman claimed she was pregnant, claimed she was in labor, OB dad had to explain to her and family there was no baby. Family freaked because they’d all been buying her stuff. She started yelling that he’d taken her baby...the ruse was unreal. I heard she ended up in the news later trying to kidnap a child claiming it was from the pregnancy that didn’t happen.

deleted , cocoparisienne Report

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DuchessDegu
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Story 3, that sounds like a mental condition more than ignorance

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#23

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women Not a midwife but do medical triage over the phone. Had a 19yo ring because of abdominal pain, asked further into the assessment is she was pregnant, she is! Call changes tone, how far along? 37 weeks! Could you be in labour, she doesn’t think so. “I just need to put the phone on my bed while I get changed” why are you getting changed “but embarrassing I think I wet myself” do you think that could be your waters, she sounds skeptical but grudgingly agrees it could be, I ask if she can get to the hospital, no everyone in the house is drunk, I ask if I can send an ambulance, she doesn’t want me to as she has “a house full of people watching the match”( this is during the football World Cup) she enventually agrees as though she’s doing me a favour...

Watsonmolly , Jimmy Conover Report

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Roxy Eastland
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Bless her, sounds to me like underneath it all she wanted someone to care and to insist that she was to be looked after properly.

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#24

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women Two of my favorites:

What day of the week do I need to have s*x to have a boy?

Do you microchip babies after birth?

bambiscrubs , CDC Report

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Katinka Min
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The second one really made me luagh. I'm guessing the people have pets? :-D

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#25

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women A woman in her 40s with 6 children didn't know that women have a urethra separate from their vagina.

PrestigiousPath , National Cancer Institute Report

#26

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women A friend of mine works labor and delivery and told me this story. A 13 year old pregnant teen comes in. Days like this for the staff are hard, and they’re trying to be as sensitive as possible. As they’re getting her ready for delivery she starts to panic, saying that the “hole” isn’t big enough for the baby to come out. She thoughts the baby was supposed to come out of the bellybutton.

haireypotter , freestocks Report

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Roxy Eastland
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Someone raped her and now she has to go through with birth without understanding what is about to happen. I can only hope she gets the help she deserves and her life improves.

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#27

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women Midwife here- at least once a month I will being looking after a woman who is shocked to find out that a vaginal examination is the way to check cervical dilatation

pierogiparty , MART PRODUCTION Report

#28

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women The amount of times I’ve had to explain to a patient and/or the father of her baby that the baby in fact does not come out of the “pee hole” is concerning.

Another time, a woman called the L&D unit and told me she knew she was ovulating because the app on her phone told her she was and she had just had s*x with her husband. “Am I pregnant”? were literally the next three words out of her mouth.

okitay , Tim Samuel Report

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Wysteria_Rose
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have to laugh because this is my first thought after having s*x with my husband when my baby fever is horribly bad! I don't ask a doctor that but it is a thought I have.

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#29

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women Had a woman ask "when do you know if a girl is going to change into a boy?" I had to clarify "you mean when a ultrasound can tell if it's a boy or girl?" She replied "no, we already got an ultrasound that said it was a girl but I don't know when they can turn into a boy." I had no response to that.

SoSpandex , MedicalPrudens Report

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Elliot Fowler
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Technically speaking that woman is correct. All humans start as females when the fetus is barely starts forming in the womb. It is only at 9 weeks that the gender chromosomes start influencing the baby to become a boy instead of a girl.

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#30

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women I have an aunt who is a gyne, she told me some woman wants to be checked because some man kissed her and she have this superstition that woman can get pregnant through kiss or hand touch. So weird.

shura27 , Katie Salerno Report

#31

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women Not a midwife but I had an acquaintance try saying that she was only pregnant for 6 months but that her baby came out full-term, like her child was fine and needed zero medical attention due to being so premature.

I don't think she was actively lying, but she was not a bright person. She might have found out she was pregnant at 3 months and just assumed that she was just newly pregnant by the time she found out.

Or maybe she felt bad for drinking/partying early in the pregnancy so she refused to acknowledge it until it was convenient.

Either way it sounded very fishy.

Careless_Hellscape Report

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Zack Podany
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I mean everyone knows the timer doesn't start until you get the test results.

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#32

Not an MW or gyno, but one time I made out with a girl and the next day she was crying because she thought she was pregnant. We were 22.

discostud1515 Report

#33

Doctors Share 33 Weird, Unworldly, And Seriously Concerning Things They've Heard From Pregnant Women Once heard a pregnant woman say ‘I want to shave but I don’t want to hurt the baby’

MrEpicGamerMan , cottonbro Report

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Elin Calliel
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Shaving is very difficult when heavily pregnant. Tying one’s shoelaces is nearly impossible and trying to bend down or contort oneself to do these things feels like one is squashing the baby.

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