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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think they shouldn't have made me take a pregnancy test.

123 replies

ItsNotPossible · 02/04/2014 20:13

This is light hearted because I do understand rules are rules, but.......

I was in hospital today to have a minor operation. Beforehand I was asked if I could be pregnant. I replied no definitely not and the nurse ticked the form happy with my answer.
Twenty minutes later she returned to me with a pee pot and said I needed to take a test. Not really a problem, it's just a quick pee in a pot.

However:

I am 54 and haven't had a period for 3 years 4 months.

I November I completed 8 weeks of daily radiotherapy to my pelvic area which would have left me infertile.

I was in hospital to have an op to re-open the top of my vagina and entrance to my cervix as the radiotherapy had fused them together. I didn't have sex with my DP during the 8 weeks of chemo and radiotherapy because I was too ill. That finished in November, we still haven't been able to have sex since completion of treatment because I was fused

All of this they were aware of. How much blummin evidence of not being pregnant does one need.

OP posts:

melbie · 03/04/2014 11:32

You will be amazed how many "virgins" or people who "could not possibly be pregnant" give birth in toilets in A&E. It is not fair to ask a nurse to make the decision about who they can be certain is not pregnant hence the protocols.

2rebecca · 03/04/2014 11:37

I don't understand what the big deal is. If the protocol they have to work with says you need to have a pregnancy test then you have a pregnancy test or don't have the treatment.
They aren't deliberately being mean to you and you are taking it far too personally. Pregnancy test negative, box ticked, no need for drama.

Certain procedures and treatments require regular pregnancy tests, women having roaccutane for acne need monthly pregnancy tests even if they are nuns. If you won't do the test you don't get the treatment.

AskBasil · 03/04/2014 12:50

“The cost is the minor inconvenience of peeing in a cup for women who cannot possibly be pregnant”

No, that is not the whole cost. As I said earlier in the thread, the other cost is that the patient's feeling of powerlessness and being a supplicant rather than an equal partner in decision-making, is re-inforced at a time when they're already feeling vulnerable. This is not a good way to make patients feel and I'm pretty sure most HCP's wouldn't want to do this. At least I hope not.

“I think it's a clumsy attempt at stepping away from paternalism into shared decisions, fully informing the patient etc. it's not handled well, unfortunately tone, competence at communicating and common sense are in rather uneven distribution”

Ah, that's it isn't it Cafecito - I think you may be right, I agree that the intentions are good but the culture of paternalism is still so deeply ingrained that when the NHS tries to step outside of it, it often still gets it wrong. It does explain why the pointless question is asked though, so thanks for addressing tht.

FryOneFatManic · 03/04/2014 13:07

I agree that testing to be sure is generally a good idea.

But I also agree that the way they are going about it is all wrong, and patronising to women.

A very simple statement along the lines of "we routinely give a pregnancy test to all women under [insert cut of date applicable]" is much better than asking all the questions as in OP's situation and then insisting on a test in any case.

RevoltingPeasant · 03/04/2014 13:41

Fry completely agree. The way it has been phrased to me before each surgery is, "could you be pg?" Followed by "how do you know?"

There is no way to avoid discussing your sex life when asked those questions, which I would really rather not do. I tried to tell the surgeon last time that my husband and I were unable to have sex at the moment, and he started asking if he (DH) masturbated near me. Ffs! So I had to discuss that in front of him, a registrar, and the med student, all men. How fucking humiliating. After which he sent me to toddle off and pee in the toilet anyhow.

Seriously, a blanket test recommended would be so much better, coupled with a legal waiver for any woman who really really doesn't want to test for whatever reason.

KatyMac · 03/04/2014 14:22

So, why was I tested (I'll quote my previous post so you can see why I was confused) as I was (or had been) pregnant

"I was in having a D&C because I'd had a miscarriage

They made me do a pregnancy test - it came back positive........apparently that is normal"

RuddyDuck · 03/04/2014 17:58

I understand that there have to be protocols, but it is the way they are applied that is an issue.

Interesting that none of the nurses/ drs / hospital workers on this thread have responded to my point that I had to take a pregnancy test before minor gynae op, but not before the 2 hysteroscopies I've had recently. Presumably there's no logical explanation because the protocol isn't logical?

Shonajoy · 03/04/2014 19:03

I'm 46 and had cervical cancer two years ago, removal of uterus, tubes, ovary, and 3cm at the top of my vagina. I've had medical problems since. I've been asked literally twelve or so times before each surgery could I be pregnant, and last time I cried, I was so fed up with it. It takes two minutes to read my notes, I'm sick of explaining. And every time they say it I feel like I could have had another baby.

shewhowines · 03/04/2014 21:42

Hi, i think i know who you were . It sounds as if you've been through the mill. Hope you are coming through the other end. Yes, I agree, it could be very upsetting for some women in our position. Glad you are ok about it all. Good luck for a really good recovery from now on.

Dahlen · 03/04/2014 21:55

Take consolation from the fact that she clearly considers you on a par with Mary.

Sorry you've had such a rough time of things and hope you feel better soon.

justtoomessy · 03/04/2014 22:04

Sorry just finished 3 12 hour shifts in a row. Any woman under the age of 60 that comes in feeling unwell, requiring an X-ray of abdomen, any woman with any kind of abdo/chest pain, anyone requiring CT.

We don't always have notes to hand, people have sued because they have not been asked that question or tested then later been pregnant. People lie and say there is no way they could be pregnant and it turns out they are and trust me they would be the first to complain if they had had a procedure that may have harmed their unborn child.

Yes lesbians get tested too....see above..people lie and I live in Brighton and now a fair few lesbians with children/babies!

It is just procedure, the same as all the other questions/tests done. The gynae DR's always insist on a pregnancy test, always, no matter what. Again it is just procedure.

I also have to ask 'who do you live with' 'do you feel safe at home' 'do you have a social worker' to people that don't like it. We have to ask many questions and do many test due to the huge amount of people that complain/sue.

We do urine dipsitcks on men too but they clearly can't be pregnant so it is only women that get that test unless they are transgender going from female to male.

RuddyDuck · 03/04/2014 22:18

justtoomessy, I get that it should be standard procedure, but it's not being applied in a standardised way, hence my query about why, in the same hospital and with the same gynae consultant, did I have to do a pg test before minor surgery but not before my hysteroscopies?

Also, why do they bother asking if I might be pg if I have to do a pg test anyway? As others have said, why not just have a standard protocol that any woman under 60 does the test unless they have had ovaries/womb removed?

NurseyWursey · 03/04/2014 22:20

In some trusts it is ruddy it was in mine. IMO there should be a blanket rule. And I asked people could they be pregnant so it's not as much as a shock if I have to tell them that they are.

AskBasil · 03/04/2014 22:27

LOL.

We get that the NHS has to cover its arse. We get that it would be highly negligent not to check that someone's pregnant. We get that women lie, are mistaken, don't know and it's good to have a belt and braces approach. In the main, with a few quibbles, that's not being seriously contested.

We're talking about treating patients with respect here. Did you not notice that justtoomessy?

justtoomessy · 03/04/2014 22:27

I have no idea as I work in A and E. It is standard in my workplace and just like nurseyworsey we ask a) because the paperwork asks it os us and we have to tick it and b) so the patient then knows we are going to be testing for it.

Plus you'd be amazed at how many women have no idea about whether they have had a total hysterectomy, whether both ovaries removed or just one so a patient saying they have had this done does not necessarily mean its true.

justtoomessy · 03/04/2014 22:28

I answered the question posed to me further up the thread.

AndreasVesalius · 03/04/2014 22:39

I'm 33 and fertile. I have had lots of diagnostic tests recently including CT scans and nuclear imaging. I've not once been asked if I may be pregnant. Seems odd that I wouldn't even be asked but someone who clearly couldn't be pregnant would be asked and tested.

AskBasil · 03/04/2014 22:40

Fair enough.

I can see the point of that Nursey - sort of preparing some for a really unexpected (and possibly unwelcome) piece of news which comes at an incredibly bad time; I think there must be a way to do it which doesn't involve leaving patients feeling as if what they say will be ignored.

They work miracles day after day. They're clever enough to come up with a way of talking to patients which leaves the paternalistic baggage behind.

justtoomessy · 03/04/2014 22:54

Just because you weren't asked does;t mean to say you urine wasn't tested though unfortunately. Sometimes you urine will be tested before you have been asked that question i.e. by HCA's or other nurses not looking after your care. Literally everyone woman is tested in my department.

justtoomessy · 03/04/2014 22:56

Plus it also depends on the department too. A and E everyone is tested other departments might not work in the same way. A and E use it to rule out causes for fainting, pain, feeling shite etc as well as before X-rays on abdo/chest/pelvis.

Meerkatwhiskers · 03/04/2014 23:00

In the day surgery I had a placement (I'm a student nurse) it was a blanket policy to test all women under a certain age apart from those who were having surgical management of miscarriage as obviously they would come up positive anyway.

It's all very well saying that I have fertility problems it's impossible, my mentor told me that she had told several infertile women they were pregnant. And they couldn't have their lap and dye that day

In our a&e we test all women who present with abdo pain. Not everyone. Just in case. Some are pregnant, some aren't (we usually knew in advance from their booking in sheet as they had pain or bleeding). I never had the pleasure of breaking any news lol.

AndreasVesalius · 04/04/2014 08:10

I wasn't asked for a urine sample so I don't think they can have tested me without my knowledge.

I knew I wasn't so it didn't matter, but it doesn't really make sense for it to be standard procedure for some hospitals and not others.

thebody · 04/04/2014 08:19

it's not the tests or procedures that hurt it's the language used the lack of a smile/touch/empathetic nod, gentle helpfulness, sympathy and time.

that's the difference between a good HCP and a bad one.

ex nurse.

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