Are GPS generally this uninformed about fertility issues? Read for a laugh!

[blueberry23]

Just been advised by a GP that the fact I'm breastfeeding has absolutely nothing to do with my cycle being short and the fact I keep having chemical pregnancies (7/8 day luteal phase).

In fact she didn't even know what a luteal phase was and when I said I was having chemical pregnancies she said 'meaning?' And had no idea what it it was.

And she said 'why are you feeding a 15 month old child that child should be weaned from the breast' honestly I just gave up at that point

She followed up by saying - if you want to get pregnant have sex during ovulation' - ohhhh sure I didn't think of that. Must be where we are going wrong!

Are GPs generally this uninformed about fertility issues? I'm mind blown. First contact I've made after 6 months of TTC and two chem pregnancies. I've asked her to send me for a blood test and told her what I need to be tested for

Ridiculous!

She shouldn't make comments about how your child should be weaned from the breast. However, I would wonder whether continuing to BF could be making these conceptions less sticky. It might be worth considering stopping in the near future if you have age-related reasons for needing the conception to happen fairly soon? There is a high chance that actually getting pregnant will either make your milk dry up or make BFing mentally and physically uncomfortable, so you may have to give up when you get PG anyway.

To be honest you sound like a condescending know it all, I’m sure you’ve done 5 years of med school and the appropriate subsequent training. Just listen to yourself!

GPs are exactly that, Genera Practitioners and she’s right. Give up breastfeeding and frankly perhaps start having some respect for people.

Just because you did, doesn't mean other women will. BF is well known to inhibit pregnancy.

@CHiSOCG
This!! It's no wonder we are haemorrhaging nurses and doctors if this is the kind of entitled, arrogant patients they have to see on a daily basis

I have a child with a medical disability and another with a neurological disability.

I moved house three years ago and since then my GPs seem to believe that it's my fault that my kids get substandard care from them.

They are so dismissively pompous and fuck up my eldest son's dosage changes all the time.

They are rude to me over the phone when I ask if they can correct the dose on ds repeat prescription to what the paed consultant has asked for (via the letter they haven't read).

We are moving house again soon and I will be delighted to move our GP surgery.

I actually don't mind the lack of knowledge or mistakes, it is the patronising pomposity which is the deal breaker for me.

Quiet right 🤣

I'm a GP, and while I wouldn't claim to know in detail the effects of partial (as opposed to exclusive) breastfeeding of an older infant would be expected to have on the length of the luteal phase, I certainly know what a luteal phase is, as should any GP. "Chemical pregnancy" is a term I have only come across in informal contexts (mumsnet etc.), it was not a term ever used during my medical training/ in the medical literature that we learned from. We would usually refer to that as an early miscarriage, so that might be where that confusion is coming from. The evidence regarding whether breastfeeding during pregnancy can cause miscarriage is controversial and mixed. I have seen evidence that exclusive breastfeeding significantly increases miscarriage risk, but there does not seem to be the same evidence of any effect of partial breastfeeding, so it is hard to say definitively whether your chemicals are a result of breastfeeding or just bad luck.
Poor of her to say your 15 month old "should be weaned from the breast" already when the WHO/NHS guidelines advise 2 years. Weaning is of course an option which might (or might not) help you get pregnant, but that is your call to make. There's no "should" about it.

I think that your GP has come across as out of touch will a few of the things they've said, but I think that you're also expecting too much of a GP on the whole.

In essence GENERAL Practioners know a small amount about everything. They aren't specialists. It would help so many peoples expectations if they walked into a GPs surgery thinking of the GP as someone who'll say "Look, too big a job for me, but hey, I know this guy....". The might not know themselves if you need expert advice on something specialised, but they can refer you into someone who does know.

They don't have a textbook knowledge of the reference ranges of every single blood test (there's just too many!)so if they will likely have to look this information up elsewhere. I'm female, I'm a medical professional and while I know luteal phase is something to do with hormones/pregnancy/menstrual cycle I couldn't tell you off the top of my head.

Of course they'll check whether you're having sex at the right time of the month before they refer you on. Bear in mind that your GP will also be dealing with those women who genuinely don't know when the best time to have sex when TTC is. There's some seriously uneducated, ill-informed people out there!! You're obviously up to speed on your situation and health needs, and so it's likely that right now you are much more well read on this specialist area than your GP is.

Your GP night well have been kicking themselves when you left the room for coming over as such a moron. And she wouldn't initially be aware of the extent of your knowledge. I'd just say be aware they might only know the bare bones of what's obviously a specialism, and be ready to ask for referal onwards if you've already exhausted all the basics.

Just to say, it wasn't an NHS doctor. It was a private GP appointment booked through my works private healthcare scheme

If only everyone could comment with such respect, helpfulness and eloquence! 😁

@pbdr Sorry, the above comment was meant to quote your response ^^ 😊

I find GPs are uninformed about most things tbh. It's best to go in with very low expectations and assume they can just about manage to know where a particular body part is located. The rest is down to Google.

Not surprising really is it? Massively overworked, seeing patients who do nothing but complain and who have unreasonable expectations, expected to make hundreds of complex decisions on an almost daily basis

Quite often when a GP asks you to explain something (luteal phase, chemical pregnancy etc) is to understand what you think it means. Often people come in and say something but mean something else - the best way to check you both mean the same thing is to ask you to explain what you mean