To think the midwife will not give two hoots about my bikini line?

[IneedAsockamnesty]

I'm going into hospital in just over a week to be induced, I can not see my bikini line and am disinclined to brandish a razor and any sharp bladed object near something I cannot see.

So will the midwife even notice let alone care?

[HolidayArmadillo]

Another midwife here who would barely notice the state of your pubage. Although the poor woman who accidentally got her pubic hair clamped in a spencer wells clamp along with the cord as I tried to deliver the placenta as a student probably wished she'd had a trim beforehand. I blushed for days after that.

[TondelayoSchwarzkopf]

I am a feminist. I get what grobag is saying. There is pressure on women to 'groom' their pubic hair - and that pressure doesn't exist for men.

However, I also feel very uncomfortable with full pubes - I find them unattractive, wiry, itchy and messy. I find it easier to wash with less hair. It's my personal preference, though I recognise I haven't made that decision in a vacuum.

Nobody (apart from chatty mummy ) has said that HCPs care about pubic hair arrangements - but some people have had said their own preference. I don't think women should be criticised for removing their hair any more than keeping it. It's their bodies. Also nature is very much over-rated.

[Spaulding]

They won't give a damn .. I couldn't see down there.. Ended up having an emergency section.. In the midst of all the hullabaloo I heard the electric razor down there ... Saved me the job... Joke!!!

I wish they'd used an electric razor on me! I also had an emergency c-section, and before I went in, one of the midwives pulled out a disposable square metal razor from a packet. Just a very sharp square-shaped piece of metal. Near my bits. I was ever so slightly nervous she might end up slipping and performing an accidental section right there and then.

[TondelayoSchwarzkopf]

X-post with Jackanory - although at my hospital they say they don't care and if it gets in the way presumably a quick shave will solve the problem.

[GrandstandingBlueTit]

For both pregnancies, by the time I was in labour, l let things go completely and definitely felt awkward about it during labour.

It's ridiculous the amount of pressure on women to de-hair.

[Beastofburden]

I had all mine between 17 and 21 years ago and in those days it was very rare to shave or wax the bikini line. You only did the bits that showed outside your swimsuit, if at all, hence the name. And you didnt trim the rest at all. If I had gone in bald they would have thought I was a prostitute.

[gasman]

Another anaesthetist. We really don't give a flying fuck what your pubic hair looks like.

If you end up having a section you will get clipped (not shaved) over the wound area. The days of crappy bic razors are gone - but from a patient perspective you might not notice the difference!

I might (at a push) notice if you've had a pedicure and use it as something to talk to you about when you are in theatre.... anaesthetic patter to alleviate nerves/ anxiety can get a bit samey (car seats/ nesting/ other children) so the colour of nail varnish can liven my day up. Shallow. Me. Never.

[nosleeptillbedtime]

This thread has made me OMG. I am sooo glad I am 40. All this nonsense about pubes seems to be a younger woman thing I have been blessedly spared. The idea that women would care about the aesthetics of their genital area at birth I find astonishing. The idea that people think their genital area needs any cosmetic enhancement at any time I find astonishing. I really do.

[GobblersKnob]

Totally agree with nosleep (and others who have expressed similar sentiments) I don't do anything to mine whatsoever.

[nosleeptillbedtime]

Those posters who say hcp do notice hair: it seems clear from the comments that they only notice in terms of whether the hair is getting in the way of a procedure. They don't give a stuff about the aesthetic quality, so no need for the labouring woman to blush if she hears such a comment.

[Bue]

Matryoshka there is no difference. The only time it might affect things is if stitches or a Caesarean are required, and there is a LOT of hair. I did once mistake a very bushy muff for the baby's hairy head crowning She was in an all fours position and it was very hard to see what was going on!

[GrandstandingBlueTit]

Well, I'm virtually 40 and I worried about it during labour, but only because I've been around here long enough to know that society's prevailing attitude towards women's body hair is that even more of it needs to be routinely removed.

Other over 40s are maybe luckily oblivious to it.

[5madthings]

i didnt give a shit what the midwife thought as i said earlier i trimmed as it made post natal bleeding easier to deal with.


i have very heavy periods and trimmed for the same reason when not pregnant, matted, bloody pubes are not nice to deal with.

[mycatlikestwiglets]

When I had DS the midwife expressed surprise that I had shaved - she was all ready with the bic to prepare me for a possible EMCS and put it away when she realised it wasn't required. That was less than 3 years ago so I guess well-tamed lady gardens aren't as common as you might think.

[silverten]

Well I never bother and would be deeply, deeply unimpressed at any HCP who had a problem with it.

I'm an adult woman, not a child or a porn star.

And when I had stitches with DD they were nowhere near the hair.

Lochia is grim but really you need to be washing after every toilet visit post-delivery if you want to help yourself heal up well. And obviously that will make examinations more pleasant for everyone anyway.

[FryOneFatManic]

My mum is 69. She definitely had the shave/enema stuff going on when she had me and later my bro. And was at pains to let me know this would happen when I was pg with DC1.

The nearest I got was a shave from a student midwife above the bikini line as I was having a CS first thing the following morning. I was entirely natural second time around, and as it was VBAC, there was no pressure to be "tidy". So mum was a bit miffed I didn't have to shave completely or have an enema.

The only thing I do think, if I ever had another, would be to trim, not shave. And just for keeping clean and dealing with the lochia afterwards.

[Bunbaker]

£At 39 weeks I am still giving it a bit of a blind trim, but that's purely for comfort and not for vanity. I can just about still manage to shave my lower legs, again for comfort."

How is being hairy in any way uncomfortable?

"I find them unattractive, wiry, itchy and messy."

I find the shaved/waxed feeling uncomfortable and itchy, plus I get ingrown hairs which looks awful.

I agree with grobag, nosleep and gobblers. It isn't as if your nether regions are on public display. I worry that DD (13) is going to be pressurised to be more high maintenance than us older women.

[JenaiMorris]

I was reassured that my pubic hair would regrow and cover my cs scar (which of course it didn't - my pubes don't go that high up my belly).

How times change.

What on earth has happened that people think a bare pudenda is a required standard of personal care, akin to cleaning your teeth?

[BruthasTortoise]

I am so glad that I'm done having children. I am actually mortified at the though that the midwives who delivered my kids would've be laughing at me. Also have to say that I don't go for smears or go swimming because I have incredibly sensitive skin and can't do anything with my pubic area as I get incredibly painful rashes and this thread has confirmed that I would be facing incredible judgement about the state of it all.

[Bunbaker]

You really should get regular smears you know. I read in the local paper yesterday that our area has a much higher than average incidence of cervical cancer. That in itself would give me the impetus to get checked out.

[5madthings]

silverten i used a jug of water to pour over myself everytime i went to the toilet and washed but it still would have been grim had my pubes been long. it used to be bad enough with just heavy periods.


plus i get eczema, including at the top of my bikini line and on the top of my 'mound' iykwim? and that is better if i keep my pubic hair trimmed. i have never shaved them, but trim.

[5madthings]

silverten i used a jug of water to pour over myself everytime i went to the toilet and washed but it still would have been grim had my pubes been long. it used to be bad enough with just heavy periods.


plus i get eczema, including at the top of my bikini line and on the top of my 'mound' iykwim? and that is better if i keep my pubic hair trimmed. i have never shaved them, but trim.

[Bunbaker]

silverten the midwife advised me to use the bidet in the hospital when going for a wee, and the shower at home. It worked a treat.