To think men should not be allowed to be gynaecologists

Before gynaecology, women were historically tended to by other women during childbirth and probably sought advice from other women with regards to issues relating to sex, menstruation and menopause. This is still the case in many societies across the world without access to modern medicine. I think this is what people mean when they say gynaecology is historically female-dominated.

It's only relatively recently in modern medicine that gynaecology has been practised and at the time of its inception, medicine was dominated by men.

Not really, no? We could say that about jobs that continue to be male-dominated e.g. pilot, but when a job has been female dominated for 12 years and - most importantly - will get more and more female dominated based on the pipeline of trainees, then it’s not really a “man’s job” anymore, is it?

There used to be more male teachers than female until 1993, but no one would say teaching is traditionally a male job because of the “zillions of years” before 1993 when there were more male teachers than female teachers, would they.

I think most people have just talked about their own experience. If you have had serious medical issues and received excellent sometimes life saving care you can feel quite defensive of the doctor who gave it to you (particularly when it’s being suggested that there is something perverted about a man wanting to go into that speciality and there are assumptions being made about women having more empathy through having shared lived experience etc which may not always hold up in reality).

I have had two male breast surgeons. Both were excellent and very sensitive to my concerns about my appearance etc. I haven’t had a female breast surgeon (they literally do not exist in this country for the specific operation I had). If I say that my surgeons were very good, that is no comment on female surgeons. Nor would I usually make their maleness part of a conversation about them.

Traditionally is is the operative word. Maybe there have been more female general practitioners in the past 10 years, but in the zillion years prior to that, it was a job primarily held by men. Thus, I think it could be considered traditionally a man's job.

General practitioners are not generally men though, are they? That hasn’t been the case for over a decade.

Historically there have been more male gynocologists than female, so I don't know that I would call it traditionally a woman's role.

Regardless, I've been to men and women, I've always preferred a man. My family doctor is a woman, she's the best I've ever seen; my whole family sees her. Is that misandry, since general practitioners are traditionally men?

but lived experience can be different even woman to woman ?

I was diagnosed with a large invasive breast cancer l didn’t even know was there until a routine mammogram. It never occurred to me to ask if my consultant would be male or female, and yet I’d always thought that in that scenario l would prefer a female doctor. I guess when you hear the word ‘cancer’ your priorities change.

So it’s not possible that people can experience great care from a man and it’s just because women hate women?

You know some women are crap at their jobs, or someon doesn’t gel, even at that level?

It’s not. It’s just a self-selecting group. This is a thread against male OBGYN, so posters are sharing experiences to the contrary. I myself have never had a male OBGYN despite having ongoing issues and seeing quite literally dozens of consultants over the years (tbf most of those were since moving to the US where there are even fewer male OBGYN than in the UK, but still). So this thread has been an eye-opener, to the ‘post code’ lottery aspect of the NHS and the fact that patients seem to often not get a choice of doctor, which seems bonkers to me now I’m in the US.

The male midwife stories are a little odd though, I agree with you. Seems strange that so many MNetters have experienced a male midwife and all those experiences were nothing short of fantastic.

As I said before, there is some sort of internalized misogyny that leads to so many women saying “The best [insert traditional women’s role here] I ever dealt with was a man”.

I have significant reservations about male midwives, breast surgeons and gynecologists. It is unfair to just dismiss these reservations as 'silly' when I may have good reason to feel this way. Women should be offered the choice of a female in hospital settings.

Very, very weird post. OP could attempt to request a female obs/gynae.

Very unreasonable. Best gynae ive ever seen was a man. He was thoughtful, asked me more questions than any female gynae I've seen and most of all listened to me and sorted out the treatment I required. But, to be perfectly honest, I wouldnt have cared if I saw a trained monkey, as long as the issues I had were dealt with.

Before this thread, I had never heard of anyone struggling to see a female OBGYN, so it must be to do with location and the fact there is generally limited choice of doctors in the NHS - you get what you’re given. The trend is definitely moving towards more and more women in this specialism and has been for years.

Well than there shouldn’t be an issue getting a woman if there are more women than men. How come it’s not that easy? Are they not working the same amount? Are they all in one geographical area?

Due to my childhood experiences I have significant issues with being naked and vulnerable around women. I always choose a male staff member where possible as it makes me feel safer.

OP should have the right to see staff who make her comfortable, but so should people like me too. Banning one gender will always hurt some patients no matter which it is.

Are they not? This is just an observation on my part but I believed that trend had been reversing over the last decade in both the United States and the UK.

According to the GMC, female practitioners currently account for 63% of the obstetric and gynaecology workforce and that women are continuing to increase dominant residency in the field.

This is one situation where the issue is not about the men, it’s about the women. Why aren’t women training in this specialism?

Because we would currently need more than a 1:1 replacement ratio unless all of those women are able to do the job without having mat leave, going part time around the family etc.

What you see on this thread is a self selecting sample, mainly of people disagreeing with OP. It is not surprising that those who had a male midwife would mention that whereas those who had a female midwife would not.

You see my point, though. Less than 200 male midwives in the country-47000 women. But Mumsnetters all seem to have dealt with one of the men….

I get that most gynecologist men are perfectly competent, but when I was in medical school all the womaniser-type lads went into gynaecology. Make of that what you will.

I work with 4 male Obstetricians/Gynaecologists, 1 very well experienced male midwife and another who is very close to becoming qualified. I used to work with another who retired just before Covid but given I work in a large teaching hospital and not a rural area it’s not surprising.

And I said some not all… or did you just decided to ignore that part of my post in your snarky reply?

Can we call it ‘sex’ please given we are talking about women’s healthcare provided by men

Someone used the word ‘icky’ and others suggested it was creepy