Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder why they ask for last period date in A&e

155 replies

User70 · 17/03/2019 11:30

I've recently been to A&e when I was being triaged the doctor asked when my last period was. I would have thought if you thought you were pregnant you would inform them.

OP posts:
Isitmybathtimeyet · 19/03/2019 08:08

I'd say given that HCPs know how often patients give the wrong answer, that approach would represent clinical negligence.

Whatdoesitmatteranyway · 19/03/2019 08:59

"I'd say given that HCPs know how often patients give the wrong answer, that approach would represent clinical negligence."

But they've given an answer - fine it might be wrong

They've been offered a test to determine this one way or the other.

How can it be clinical negligence? They have refused the test.

Isitmybathtimeyet · 19/03/2019 09:59

Because they know how likely it is that a woman might not know/be lying. And in some circumstances how catastrophic for the foetus or woman it might be to accept that word and then find out it was wrong, with a far greater understanding of that than most patients. So a woman says she's not pregnant, ends up with a severely disabled or lost child as a result of a procedure she should never has had, and she and that child would just need to take that on the chin because she'd forgotten that one time she had sex two weeks ago? Especially if she's being asked at a time that she's anxious or in pain. I don't think that would sit easy with many HCPs.

Whatdoesitmatteranyway · 19/03/2019 17:48

So because of the self inflicted risk of that, especially if they turn down a rest as well, other women are having tests forced on them when they don’t want or need them?

Isitmybathtimeyet · 19/03/2019 20:27

I don't think anyone should ever have a medical procedure forced on them, no. But I also understand why this might mean a medical procedure doesn't go ahead. And why I don't think that HCPs would be comfortable with an 'on your own head be it' approach given how frequently women don't know they're pregnant. It's not 'self-inflicted' if you genuinely don't think you're pregnant or if you're lying if you're vulnerable. It's about making sure that the most informed decisions are made which minimise the risk to everyone involved.

BertieBotts · 20/03/2019 07:31

You can hardly force a urine test on somebody if they really refuse. Don't be silly. It's not about blame culture it's about the fact that language is a very ambiguous communication method, a test is not. It's objective.

foxtiger · 20/03/2019 08:21

How many people who aren't actively trying for a baby know the date of their last period? (Unless it was in the last week or so.)

BertieBotts · 20/03/2019 10:35

I usually have to work it out TBF. Like oh it was on the day I was doing such and such, it must have been the Thursday before last.

BertieBotts · 20/03/2019 10:35

I use an app these days though so I can tell if I'm late.

Alloverbartheshoutingnow · 20/03/2019 12:54

"You can hardly force a urine test on somebody if they really refuse"

No, but they can withhold a completely unrelated procedure if you do.

Which amounts to the same thing.

Damntheman · 20/03/2019 14:15

I had to take a pregnancy test when rushed into hospital with suspcected (it was) appendicitis and dehydration. They wouldn't give me painkillers until I did despite me actively bleeding from my current period. It took about an hour for IV fluids to get me to the state where I could pee for the test. Agony!

Still. I'm glad they did it. I'd never have forgiven myself if I'd been unknowingly pregnant and treatment had harmed the fetus.

Medical professionals usually have reasons for doing the things they have to do. They certainly know better than non-medically educated me! So I will continue to do what my doctors ask.

BertieBotts · 20/03/2019 20:44

No it doesn't. Of course they should not perform a procedure if they can't ascertain it will be safe for the patient or not.

Mother87 · 20/03/2019 23:22

Missing the pointBlushbut you know you're getting old when the dentist no longer asks you if you could be pregnantGrin and you think you're looking pretty cool and trendy that dayHmm

Mother87 · 20/03/2019 23:27

BalloonSlayerGrin

Mother87 · 20/03/2019 23:33

Also missing the point... I remember using a new method of contraception from Boots which told you when you were ovulating so you could avoid sex/use contraception.

Fell pregnant within 3 or 4 weeks and surprise baby turns 21 this weekendGrin

Was too embarassed to mention the 'amazing' state-of-the art/drug-free/newfangled system i'd felt so smug aboutBlushand I'm sure they use it to help with conception nowGrin Certainly worked for me!Smile

Peghi · 20/03/2019 23:42

But no, we have to have someone else to blame

It's not just about blame, it's about the potential unborn child which is about to take a huge blast of radiation if they dont check before firing you into the CT scanner.

SnowyAlpsandPeaks · 21/03/2019 00:31

Doctor- can we have a urine sample to check you aren’t pregnant?

Me- yeah no problem although I do have the coil

Doctor to patient other side of curtain- can we have a urine sample to check you are not pregnant?

Young girls voice- no because I’m not pregnant!

I go to the loo, and Young girl fallows having been talked into it by the Dr.

Little while later dr comes to say I’m not pregnant, tells young girl she is.

Young girl- I can’t be! Because I don’t know who the dad is, it could be mark, John, bill, Bob, frank or Harry!!!!

I kid you not, she shouted out 6 names. Me and dp where crying in silent laughter, whilst I was whinching in pain and sucking on gas and air.

steff13 · 21/03/2019 00:51

The doctor told her she was pregnant within earshot of other people? That doesn't seem right. I wouldn't want everyone in the vicinty knowing my diagnosis, no matter what it was.

SpinningSister · 21/03/2019 01:05

I took a test because I couldn’t remeber when my period was, but I was labelled infertile for many years, and was experiencing sickness and then I felt very dizzy.

For the sickness, I nearly took some medication that was contraindicated against pregnancy because the idea of pregnancy was not in my head at all.

Anyway I’m glad I didn’t take it (only because it wasn’t available OTC or I would have - domperidone- I was 10 weeks pregnant by then.

Had I been in A and E that day, I would have bet £10,000 I wasn’t pregnant and lost

mildshock · 21/03/2019 16:02

Of course we have to ask. While I was on one of my nursing placements, a 13 year old was admitted for treatment for her chronic disease. We asked if she could be pregnant, and she said she'd never had sex. Asked permission to take a test, parents consented.

After her parents left she told us that she'd been having sex with her boyfriend for months, and that she was pregnant but didn't know how far along. She hadn't contacted her GP or a midwife, but she wanted to keep the baby.

She told her mum, but they both refused to tell her dad until after the 20 week scan!

Her dad was so angry and worried thinking we weren't bothering to treat her symptoms, when in reality most were pregnancy symptoms, and we couldn't tell him a thing. We had to keep notes out of his sight, and weren't able to discuss most of her care while he was on the ward.

He couldn't understand why we'd stopped her medication that would have affected the pregnancy, we had to be vague about the reasons. He was on the brink of tears constantly, it was awful.

He constantly made complaints about staff which would've been justified otherwise. The patient and her mum didn't say a thing until they presented him with the 20 week scan picture. Poor bloke was relieved after all the stress he'd had.

People lie all the time.

Gwenhwyfar · 21/03/2019 23:11

"Medical professionals usually have reasons for doing the things they have to do. They certainly know better than non-medically educated me! "

If someone hasn't had sex for 10 years, that someone knows better than any medically-educated other person!
I'd have complained of discrimination if I'd been kept in pain for ages because they wanted to do a pregnancy test for an impossible pregnancy.

Gwenhwyfar · 21/03/2019 23:12

"How many people who aren't actively trying for a baby know the date of their last period? (Unless it was in the last week or so.)"

It would be in my calendar so I can know the date of my next period, which is pretty important.

Designerenvy · 21/03/2019 23:19

Gwen, it's standard procedure to do a pregnancy test on women for certain procedures or before certain treatments. They apply this to "all" women of child bearing age so it's not discriminatory then .
If a woman refuses a pregnancy test, the risks are weighed up. A signed pregnancy waiver form is acceptable for some procedures/ treatments but not for more invasive ones eg: if c.t scan with contrast was needed, or a procedure under anaesthetic and many more.

TOADfan · 22/03/2019 07:53

I have had numerous CT scans, MRIs, smears, gyne tests and X-rays and never been asked to take a test to prove I wasn't pregnant... despite not being on contraception and having sex.

Them: could you be pregnant?
Me: no I can't get pregnant
Them: are you having sex, using protection?
Me: no not using protection but we need IVF to get pregnant
Them: when was your last period
Me: (for example) 3 weeks ago
Them: ok

I can't get pregnant as stated above but on many occasions I could have been and they never tested or questioned me further.

Maybe it's different in hospitals in Northern Ireland?

Gwenhwyfar · 22/03/2019 08:37

" it's standard procedure to do a pregnancy test on women for certain procedures or before certain treatments. They apply this to "all" women of child bearing age so it's not discriminatory then ."

It's not applied to men. The pp above who had to be in pain for ages because of it doesn't mind because there was a chance she could be pregnant, but if a women who hasn't had sex in years or has had a hysterectomy has to suffer like that, that is something that is done to women when there is no good reason and not to men.

Swipe left for the next trending thread