Family Planning

Friends of mine have been examined when requesting contraception.... When I was at college a girl in my class went to the drs for the morning after pill and he wouldnot give it to her until she had had a breast and vaginal exam. He examined her vagina up her knee length denim skrt whilst she was still topless!!!!!

I guess the doctor just wants assurance of the fact that the patient being given the pills is not someone who should not be using the pill that is why he insists on examining the patient.

I believe an exam is almost always part of initiating family planning.

That's just part of the drill.

Well, my first girlfriend - this was in the UK nearly 30 years ago - certainly had a full check-up when she went for contraception, and so did her friend. This was in the days before AIDS, and we freely made love without condoms. In fact it was when we were relaxing in bed together one afternoon after sex that she told me about her exams - basically the first time she went on the pill she had had a breast and vagina exam, the latter with the speculum, which I'd never heard of before. It was hearing about this that helped me get my own med fetish revved up, as it was obvious that she was turned on talking about it.

When I when to the doctor to get on the pill, I was given a complete gynecological examination. I think they want to make sure you are in good health, and physical condition, before they prescribe the pill.

Yes, I think it's the norm in N.A. Many years ago my roommate's 27 year old girlfriend got the full treatment when she went to get birth control.

She didn't enjoy it too much (she was always a bit sullen anyway). She said the gynecologist "opened her up and climbed inside, and a had a good look".

And many years before that another roommate had an 18 year old girlfriend who also had the same experience. She was rather blase about it: just told us she was going for a "physical".

Doctordoctor

All of the women that I have talked with in the US said that they had complete exams to get birth control.

The people I know who are on it didn't require an exam. ???

Every 2 years I have had birth controlexams till I was 30.

During these exams my weight was measured, the doctor listened to my heart and lungs and a breast and gyn exam was also performed.

I know most doctors now a day don't perform it anymore.

Certainly in the UK up to about 10 yrs ago you got a full breast and pelvic exam before going on the pill. At the 3 monthly visits it was usually just weight and blood pressure. The roughly every 3 yrs you got another complete physical and pap smear. The time between paps could be reduced if you changed partners frequently.

I have a complete gyne exam twice a year so I don't have a special exam just for the pill, however a lot of my friends get a full pelvic exam every time the prescription has to be renewed.

I just recently went to get birth control, and I got with just my blood pressure taken, however, I think it was with me sort of brushing off the full exam until next time. The doctor told me that when I renew my prescription, I will need a full one. This seems to be common of my friends as well.

I once was having a coffee and overheard two women talking. One was wearing a long denim shirt dress with belt and boots. She was about 35 with blonde hair about a size 12 and looked very nice.

She told her friend that she had just been for a cap fitting. Her firend asked how it went and she recounted how the dr had her remove her belt, unbutton her dress and remove her bra and knickers.

He then tried several caps for size having her walk around in her boots with her dress unbuttoned. He felt for fit with her standing up, squatting and laying down.

I remember wishing I was there.....

No doctor I have gone to will prescribe or renew your birth control prescription without a full exam. I think it's common practice in the U.S.

During the 70's when my wife was taking the contraceptive pill she had 6 monthly checks with one of the doctors at our local surgery. all of the doctors were male in those days and she had to see whichever doctor was available. Her breasts and vagina were examined on each visit and it would be quite normal for the doctors to insist on her being completely naked for her exam. This was in the UK

Yes, they do a full exam in Canada as well. It would be funny, all the freshmen girls on campus would create a beeline for health services in early September. 😃

I worked as a Contraceptive Counselor at a large family planning clinic, and everyone who wanted BCP or IUD got a complete exam- breast and pelvic by the Nurse Practitioner before getting their contraceptives. Guess they wanted to make sure there were no contraindications.

When I went to university health services for a prescription for the pill I was given a full exam. And I mean everything including breasts and a pap smear. I was sexually active by then but the speculum was still a bit of a surprise despite knowing what it entailed.

I read that, technically, there is no point for a pelvic and breast exam to prescribe the contraceptive pill - it's rather more about a blood test (certain conditions are worsened by the pill), but that doctors used the contraceptive prescription to enforce gynecological exams on women. Perhaps also the idea that a woman on the Pill is likely to be promiscuous so they should check for STDs.

When my wife was on the Pill she basically had to see her GP every few months, no examination, just renewal. I think she got the gyn exam once a year or less.

I read that, technically, there is no point for a pelvic and breast exam to prescribe the contraceptive pill - it's rather more about a blood test (certain conditions are worsened by the pill), but that doctors used the contraceptive prescription to enforce gynecological exams on women. Perhaps also the idea that a woman on the Pill is likely to be promiscuous so they should check for STDs.

I was 16 years old when I met my husband and I went on the pill, all the girls at my school thought we would all need to have pelvic exams to go on it but we did not. I think they stopped doing that in Britain a few years before it was my time because doctors had decided the pill was not so new any more and it was safe usually for most ladies. I think they still have exams to go on the pill in America though, I think it is different there.

I think that thing about checking for diseases is just not true though @Pecan_nutjob. I do not think going on the pill means somebody is more promiscuous than somebody using other kinds of contraception. They just were not sure if the pill was safe or not so they just kept checking that it was not harming ladies' health.

I think, and I have no evidence to back this up, that the no BC pills without a full exam is a carryover from when men pretty much ran the entire health care system. Even now that it has been proven to have no benefit, and there are more females than male gynos, they are hesitant to buck the trend that has been established.

If men needed to get receive a similar exam or even an EKG to get Viagra, the shit would never have become near as popular as it is.

It is an unfairly biased, sexist system. It may change, but I think it will be slowly.

Amethyst: The thing is, the Pill may be dangerous because it changes hormone levels, which may have consequences in some cases (cholesterol..), especially if combined with e.g. smoking. This is what the blood test is about. Examining the genitals does not give any information with respect to that. For instance, doing a pap smear will give information about the pap virus, but this has nothing to do with the dangers of the Pill itself; it has more to do with the dangers of being promiscuous.

As reggind said, these attitudes are likely to be a hold-over from decades when the health system was run by men with a paternalistic attitude. You may, rightly, think that going on the pill does not means somebody is more promiscuous than somebody using other kinds of contraception; but many people used to think that a significant proportion of women on the pill, particularly young ones, would become promiscuous. For instance, during the parliamentary debates on the legalization of oral contraceptives in France in the late 1960s, some (male) politicians said such things, with sheer horror.

It is difficult to understand sexist attitudes from the 1960s (which permeated the mindsets of physicians educated in that era) with a 2018 mindset.

Amethyst: The thing is, the Pill may be dangerous because it changes hormone levels, which may have consequences in some cases (cholesterol..), especially if combined with e.g. smoking. This is what the blood test is about. Examining the genitals does not give any information with respect to that. For instance, doing a pap smear will give information about the pap virus, but this has nothing to do with the dangers of the Pill itself; it has more to do with the dangers of being promiscuous.

Yeah there are still the questions about things like smoking, I think it is a bit of a risk factor. I have never smoked, there is nothing good about it at all and it is dangerous for your health anyway, never mind if a woman is on the pill. I think it was a bit silly to think that a girl who wanted to go on the pill must already be promiscuous though. I think they have improved the pill though during all the time it has been used and when they did not find it caused problems they could stop the exams, I think they still like to do it in America though when maybe they could just look at how it does not usually harm health.

My wife had the bloodwork and I'm glad they did because the pills were messing with her liver. That's one of the reasons we probably don't get much sex, because she doesn't like condoms either (they do smell yucky, at least the ones I got).

I'm trying to get the OK for a vasectomy, which I imagine will have it's own pre-family-planning exam.

While I do not know the statistics, there are many women and teenage girls on the pill for no other reason than to regulate their periods which were irregular or because they had frequent spotting.

In my country doctors must done a gyno exam before they prescription any kind of contraception. Also we had a medical inquiry about any health issures, smoking, period and birth control. Officially, they should done a blood test to check hormonal system (but nobody do that). A lot of gynecologyst taken every year a pap smear and vaginal ultrasound. In the receptionist you will be seen a handbills (and you can take it and a little bit reading about that). I had a two doctors who was specialist in IUD treatment. Sometimes doctor will be ask about any question of that or any symptoms. Last visit I was changing my pills and had a breast discomfort (in PMS) and I had a accurate exam.