"The doctor you were booked in with is not allowed to see pregnant women"

[Bea1985]

Strange question...


I'm 30 weeks pregnant and awaiting referral to physio for spd. The pain has been so bad this weekend that despite paracetamol' fancy pillows etc etc I've had two hours sleep for the past 3 nights and have called in sick to work.

Got an emergency/same day gp appt by calling up at 8am. They told me to come in at 11.

Was just about to leave the house and have a text message from the go surgery asking me to call ASAP.

"We've had to move your appointment to 4pm as the doctor you were booked in with at 11 ... He is not allowed to see pregnant women" the receptionist definitely said HE is not allowed......

I asked why and she could not tell me, just that that's what it said in the notes she was reading out...

So I'll just have to wait for appt but can anyone think why this would be ? Curious...

[KarateKitten]

Maybe he lost a baby last week?

[LegoCaltrops]

I would be questioning why they made the first appointment for you, surely they know you're pregnant? It's pretty inconvenient that they left it so late to change your appointment time!

[KarateKitten]

His own I mean. Maybe he's asked to hand overpregnancy related appointments till he can cope better?

[FuzzyOwl]

I hope it isn't as KarateKitten says because I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Maybe he came into work and had to declare something innocuous like a cold/bug/virus which doesn't impact most patients but could pregnant women, so appointments have been rescheduled as a safely measure.

[Bea1985]

Maybe karatekitten.... I hadn't thought of that. It's just she said "he's not allowed" but that could just be the way she worded it.

Totally legocaldrops, I was so pleased to be nearly getting to see someone and now have To wait all day... I'm just too shattered to argue, just "ok, see you then".

[user1471462428]

I would think pregnancy loss too. My old GP didn't do 6 week checks due to his stillborn son.

[Bea1985]

Yeah maybe FuzzyOwl.... I really hope it isn't that a baby was lost, that would be bloody awful.

Such a strange one!

[Cakescakescakes]

He could have a child at home with chicken pox or slap cheek or something else that could be dangerous for pregnant women. I wouldn't automatically think there's something in any way dodgy going on. If there were concerns about the dr then he would be suspended while being investigated etc.

[TheSpottedZebra]

It could be anything, like he suspects one of of his own children to be getting chicken pox, so he's steering clear of pregnant women and immunology compromised people for a while.

[Bea1985]

Oh no user..... How sad if that is the reason :-(

[TakeMe2Insanity]

"He's not allowed" is as she is reading it off the computer. The reality is probably quite personal.

[ItsLikeRainOnYourWeddingDay]

I wouldn't think anything bad of it. If something had happened he wouldn't be seeing any patients.

I would guess his partner has maybe lost a baby, he has lost a pregnant mum or a baby or simply he has been exposed to something that is very dangerous to pregnant women such as slapped cheek.

[AndNoneForGretchenWieners]

Could be that he's got chicken pox or rubella at home. Could be that he's had some form of medical treatment - my DH is having a PET scan on Wednesday and isn't allowed to be in contact with pregnant women or small children for the rest of the day.

[KadabrasSpoon]

He probably has something potentially dangerous to pregnant women e.g. I've just had the chicken pox vaccine so have to avoid pregnant women that aren't immune and newborns for a few weeks.

[FuzzyOwl]

The "not allowed" could be that the Practice Manager has made the decision because of one of the above reasons. The fact you were originally booked in with him would make me think that it is an unexpected reason that has just come up because I would have thought that any receptioonist would have known that certain appointments could not be booked with certain doctors (assuming you told them the reason at the time) and arranged for you to see someone else in the first place. Maybe there is a policy that any doctor whose own child has an infectionous illness cannot see pregnant or immunocompromised patients.

[PinkHeart5913]

Could be his lost a baby and understandly can't face treating pregnancy at the moment and that would sadly be my guess

Could be his got a little cold/virus etc and has decided it's for the best if he doesn't treat pregnant people

The "he isn't allowed" would of just been a note from the practice manger and the receptionist read it out like a robot

[KitKat1985]

I would agree that it would either be because of difficult personal circumstances (father of a partner with repeat miscarriages or similar) or he's been exposed recently to chickenpox / shingles etc, and it's a safety precaution.

[Bea1985]

Yeah, I never thought it was anything sinister as he'd not be allowed to see anyone then! They all sound like reasonable explanations. My brain is so feeble today I literally could not come up with one idea ..... oh well, 4.5 hours to kill . More paracetamol for me and maybe a nap if I'm lucky.

[nocampinghere]

maybe he has a child with chickenpox? It will be something like that. if it was something very personal i doubt they would have told you, they would have just made an excuse.

[ginnybag]

I, too, think something like a personal reason rather than anything suspect.

GP's don't tend to be allowed to carry on at all if there's anything sinister.

Reception will only have been told - Dr X, no pregnant women. They likely won't know why, and wouldn't share it even if they did. We had a GP at my former surgery who was undergoing chemo. We limited who they saw for a while, both the their sake and the sake of the patients. The patients obviously weren't privy to the details.

At best, it might be better worded, but I wouldn't worry.

[Bea1985]

Hope it's not the first option PinkHeart :-(

[Nuttynoo]

My GP wasn’t ‘allowed’ to see pregnant women either - turned out he just didn’t want to because he had better things to focus on

[AnnieAnoniMouse]

Bea. it's vastly more likely he's been in contact with someone with something infectious, that runs a risk of danger to unborn babies.

I hope you manage to get some sleep today. Maybe set an alarm this afternoon because Sod's law you'll be sleepy when you need to be leaving for the Drs 😖

[teainbed]

That's an odd one. Agree either pregnancy loss or infertility related OR he is having chemotherapy or radio-iodine treatment?

[teainbed]

Should have explained, when I was pregnant I was not allowed to see patients who were on chemo or take bloods from them as they were potentially teratogenic.