...to be amazed by how little some women know about their bodies?

[Celebelly]

Just an idle thought while browsing Conceptions/Pregnancy forums. Every day there seems to be someone asking 'Could I be pregnant?' with seemingly no idea how their cycle works, when you can realistically get pregnant, etc etc. I really find it quite worrying that education is obviously failing women in this way and that all we seem to be taught is how to deal with periods and nothing else. I really find it astounding that so many women don't seem to understand how ovulation works and how conception takes place. It's not even for conception; it's really valuable for contraception too to understand how a menstrual cycle works. Some of the questions are really mind-boggling.

AIBU to wonder why so many women apparently don't know how their body works? And to wonder what can be done to fix it?

I agree OP. There is an appalling lack of knowledge about the basics as well as individual circumstances.

The woman’s have three holes thing. I can understand why some women find it confusing. I know there are three holes, I have Biology A level after all. But I usually change my tampon when I pee because whatever way I am built down there, it gets soggy. So maybe other woman are the same, hence the confusion. I happen to know my mum is the same. And yes I do know how to put in a tampon correctly.

I don't know how my cycle works (apart from in general terms) because apart from when I was on the pill my periods have never been regular and I don't really have any hormone related symptoms (at least not ones that are noticeable). My cycle varies from two to six weeks (and sometimes is shorter or longer for no apparent reason) and my period has no particular pattern either (varying in length, heaviness and pain levels). This makes things like booking smears a bit challenging..

Having had to self catherterise for a short time period in my life I can assuring that knowing about your various “holes” and easily locating them are two entirely different scenarios

The idea that all women have 28 day cycles is a myth. Plenty of us have cycles between 25 or 35 days.

The clinical definition of irregular periods is any cycle that's shorter than 21 days or longer than 36 days. Those would be completely normal and regular cycles, so the idea that 28 days is typical is indeed a myth

If you're like me and have PCOS you can go anywhere between 40 days and 8 months between periods!

@AbsentmindedWoman Mon 05-Feb-18 22:55:01

I'm amazed by the naivete of people who believe all bodies operate like perfect automatons.

Extends to HCP. Had to see my GP for the morning after pill many years ago. She asked when my last period had been and responded to my reply with 'Oh, so you're late anyway'. Nope, I had a five week cycle.

Huge 2nd for Taking Charge of Your Fertility. It should be required reading for every adult woman. I thought I was reasonably well informed but then I read TCOYF and was stunned. Cervical fluid!! Luteal phase!! Temp shifts! Lots of things that had been happening to my body since my teens were explained to me for the first time when I read that book.

I think at school they were so focused on teaching us not to get pregnant they didn't teach us anything about ovulation. I knew very little about it until we started ttc.

Oh gosh, I remember having to explain to an ex boyfriend in my early 20s that women have three holes. I had to draw him a diagram and everything!

I've had to explain to a junior doctor that he was trying to catheterise a patient's clitoris, and that her urethra was several cm away

I feel sad about the number of women who are disgusted by their own bodies. I wonder if the two issues are related.

I’m pregnant with a DC2 that happened at a time in my cycle that it really shouldn’t have, and I found out at the 12 week scan I was actually 14 weeks. Things can be odd even if you are paying attention.

I don't see it the way you do. never paid much attention. I never read up on timings, my cycle, never really paid much attention.
I got pg both times, the first time of trying!! I thought we'd have more 'practicing'

So, yeah, I guess I am the very woman you are talking about.

But I didn't look it up, or read into it, just because I wasn't interested and didn't need to.

My GP told me she checks people know how to have sex after having a young couple who thought they were infertile.

I didn't ask her to elaborate.

I saw a post from a woman asking if it was still possible to get pregnant if she had sex the day before her period was due. I will admit that I was quite surprised that someone could actually think was a possibility.

I know all this stuff, but when ttc you can get a bit hopeful at the slightest sigh of pregnancy, even when you know it’s not really feasible

I’d like to point out that between my DH and I
It's 'between me and my DH'. I just thought you might want to know, as you're studying for your second degree.
(I tried really hard to make this post sound genuine.)

I agree with poster up thread who said that even womens' health doctors seem to assume that we're all text book. For years my (male) doctor struggled with the fact that I didn't have a regular 28 day cycle. Then when I had a Mirena IUS for pain and heavy bleeding,he seemed mystified by the fact that I stopped having any periods at all after a year. This is fairly common with a Mirena,so why he was so surprised I'll never know.

There are many parents who do not allow their children to be taught sex Ed. They do not discuss it with their children either.
In work we meet many young women who have no idea that inside them are ovaries , a womb or that they even produce eggs. It's incredible but true.
In many cultures this is the unspoken and they do everything they can to keep it that way.

I saw a post from a woman asking if it was still possible to get pregnant if she had sex the day before her period was due. I will admit that I was quite surprised that someone could actually think was a possibility.

You can if you're ovulating late

If you normally have a 28 day cycle and ovulate day 14, but have a wonky cycle where your ovulation is delayed and you only ovulate on day 27, then you can still get pregnant even if your period is due on day 28.

It's unlikely but possible.

Obvs for other people - I'm infertile so £50,000 of IVF hasn't worked, but apparently it's possible to have some sex and make a baby...

I think some people just aren’t interested. DH has no idea about biology, which means he is a terrible patient when he is ill as he can’t describe what’s wrong. “I’m not well” covers everything from a cold to norovirus, and if I ask him what’s up and if he has a fever or pain or the trots or what, I get a shrug and “I’m not well” - he’s got multiple degrees in scientific stuff too ffs.

Oh, and he thinks that heart attacks and strokes are the same thing too.

I can barely remember the name of my biology teacher let alone how my cycle works based on GCSE Biology of 19 years ago!

It wasn't something I gave any thought to over the years. When I was TTC I read Taking Charge of Your Fertility and that was an excellent overview of the system.

However, I've just had my first dating scan and it came in 3 weeks before my last period. Still not convinced how that happened, need to do some research...

*if you think your period is due on day 28 rather

If you ovulate on day 27 then your period would be due at day 27+ whatever the normal length of your luteal phase is

bananafish - the woman had had sex the night before her period was due and then her period arrived as expected. She then asked if it was possible to get pregnant from the sex she’d had the night before her period had started.

I’m well aware of how ovulation/my menstrual cycle works.

I had some weird symptoms, but I knew I couldn’t be pregnant because I was on the pill, hadn’t missed any, hadn’t had any illnesses that could interfere with it, AND besides, we hadn’t had sex at the right time of the month anyway. I only took a test so I could answer with a confident “no” when the doctor asked the inevitable question.

My weird symptoms are now a 9 year old boy. Apparently textbook knowledge doesn’t necessarily mean you totally understand your own body!

The one about not knowing there is a separate hole for urine, urethra, is hilarious.

I once said to someone who didnt know, so how come you can still pee with a tampon in?

They were🤔