*trigger* was this a thing in the 90s?

[Buxton87]

I was only 20 (1996) when I had my first 'exam' at the doctors when I said I might be pregnant.

The doctor laid me on the table - said I was probably twenty weeks as per the last date of my period (my dad had died the same year - I was not in a great place). But the thing is, he told me to take off my top to examine my breasts. Was this a normal thing back then??

My partner at the time was waiting in reception. My son is amazing and we co-parented after only two years together, but everything has been good.

I had another child 15 years later and it was a totally different experience (NHS-wise!) It's been almost thirty years and I'm still upset about it.

I'm an intelligent person and I'm still so angry at the person I was then to not speak up.

So my AIBU:
AIBU - make a complaint
YABU - Forget about it, man!

My first sentence literally says things have changed since then!!

It obviously isn't seen as important now to examine women's breasts during pregnancy. No doubt research rendered breast examinations redundant.

I was responding to @Bobtheamazinggingerdog who asked what the point of that was because what could a GP do? I was merely telling her what did happen then (not now) and give my experience of how it actually helped get treatment recommended back then for inverted nipples and being a read head with very sensitive nipples prior to the birth to make things easier.

Obviously it's good that you already knew about all this prior to your obstetric consultations and probably prior to pregnancy by the sound of it, but not all women know about inverted nipples, how to treat them or the fact that fair skinned or redheaded women may have specific problems that darker haired or darker skinned women don't suffer as much.

This is true! They introduced them later on.

@Bobtheamazinggingerdog haha sorry I just realized that I said I was responding to you when I was actually responding to you again. I've been asleep in between writing the original and I've just woke up and realize what I did silly me sorry

This is nothing compared to some of the posts here, but a few years ago a GP patted my bottom as I was leaving his room at the end of the appointment. I was too shocked to say anything, and it probably would have been my word against his. He's still practicing now.

Exactly. And if there weren't so many male GPs who at best behaved inappropriately and at worst actually committed sexual assault then perhaps breast examinations could be done when necessary and appropriate.

Stop blaming women for rises in breast cancer.

Could they have been looking for scoliosis? I remember back in the day they used to have a medical team come to our school and class by class we would troop in, boys and girls mixed, strip us all naked to the waist in the gymnasium and we would all have to stand and bend in a row while doctors checked our backs for any curvatures and our shoulders for any unevenness.

there were chaperones in the 1980s, i dont know when chaperones were bought in

I had very much the OPPOSITE experience in 2002 at 13 year old.

I went to the doctors in pain with a golf ball sized lump in my vagina, they refused point blank to examine it, run tests or do ANYTHING... they basically didn't believe me, told me 'its just period pain' and the lump 'its just your cervix and don't touch it'.

I now hold a medical degree myself plus personally went through 10 years of infertility and IVF (so very acquainted with the workings of my reproductive area) and can categorically say it was NOT my cervix and the pain is nothing like period pain.

It turned out was a hernia, it did finally heal itself about 2 years later but 2 years of pain and being made to feel like an idiot who doesn't know my own body.

Not once did any doctor/nurse (male or female) bother to do any tests or examinations of my complaint. They just shooed me away and told me 'its normal' it made me feel like a pervert who was doing something wrong just for asking for help.

I'm in my 50s and I remember my breasts being examined by doctors when I went for appointments for other things when I was in my 20s. It was a way of checking on breast health before mammograms.

Mid nineties and no breast checks during pregnancy.

However, when I was 15 I had sinusitis, saw a female GP who checked them! My mum saw the same GP for a sore throat and she checked hers too. We both thought it was odd.

Saw an osteopath at 15. He was walking round the table while massaging me and my hand was on the edge of the table, as he walked round his erect penis rubbed against my hand then he asked to check my breasts!

I agree, the standard breast exam was done lying flat on your back. The doctor (man or woman) did each breast individually staring at the nipple and working outwards in a spiral, gently checking for lumps or skin dents until reached edge of the breast. Last was a quick check of the lymph node in the armpit and then the second breast.

Breast exams can’t be done as well in sitting or standing, they’d never be done with both hands grabbing both breasts at once. Those are not exams. Those are assaults which did happen.

I agree too, seeing a doctor for a sore throat, or bladder issue or other unrelated medical concern would not warrant a breast exam.

Breast exams were done early pregnancy because estrogen receptor breast cancer can go from dormant to aggressive while pregnant and they can’t do a mammogram on a pregnant woman. It’s why they encouraged us to check every day in the shower while pregnant too.

That's just reminded me of a GP feeling my breasts when I was going for a routine exam (was doing a play and had to have a general mot). Absolutely no reason for him to have held both breasts. Had completely forgotten about it.

I had similar in the 90's (in another country). He was a terrible doctor too. My Dad loved him because he was real "man to man" but he missed two very serious illnesses my mother had, and groped me the way you describe when I went in with a pregnancy scare at 16. I imagine he's dead now.

Not in ANY WAY to defend him, I do wish doctors were a bit MORE hands on now though. I've felt a few times for myself and my kids in this country over the years that a physical exam would have been more appropriate than questions.

First baby in 1995, nothing like this happened to me (private consultant).

What an amazing young woman you were. I hope that you are as courageous now as you were back then.

Well, it sounds a bit weird given that we live in such a diverse world. They obviously can’t use that test on darker or black skin tones so why not just give everybody the test they would use for a darker skinned person?

I'm going to agree with this. About 12 years ago, aged 18 I had my first gynae visit. It was privately as on the NHS it's impossible to see one for PCOS. I had an amazing experience and had a full internal exam, breast exam and lots of really amazing advice. I remember him asking me to take the bottoms off first and put on this paper skirt thing. Once that exam was done I was sent to dress my bottom half and he performed the breast exam. He gave me absolutely no eye contact, he was actually looking away. Made no inappropriate comments. I felt respected. I don't think a breast exam in and of itself is a problem.

I had a horrendous experience getting a generic womb ultrasound. The tech used words like 'panties' and was just so awkward it made me feel awful. I think it's just down to the person's bedside manner and how they've been taught. I don't think there's anything with the breast exam.
However, if I was getting a breast massage for 5 mins with eye contact, I'd probably have felt different!

I had quite a few internal examinations by female doctors at the Brook Advisory Centre in the 80s when on the pill. When pregnant in the late 90s I didn't have a single internal examination.

No breast examinations at all.

Yh as a redhead myself this made me a bit squeamish 🤔

You think a GP spending several minutes "examining" the breasts of a teenager with a sore throat (but not looking at the throat) was purely acting out of medical need?

Wow.

I had breast exams with mine. Both the female GP who confirmed pregnancy and referred me to OB, and then the male OB, both did a breast exam. It’s useful as they are looking for lumps. This also occurred with a colleague of mine when they had pregnancy confirmed, and a lump was detected. Biopsy confirmed cancerous. This allowed a decision to be made to continue pregnancy or not (they did), and treatment decisions to be made during pregnancy and a surgical plan. They gave birth and then immediately had a mastectomy, and I mean immediately, as in within two hours of birth.

So way, way back in 1989 I was 17 and went on the pill but I went to the sexual health clinic for it (not the GP). After my first year I went back and had a check up, they did a smear test and a full breast exam and they did that every year until I left to move areas. So I think in some places it must have been standard.

@User0000009 They would have been checking for scoliosis. I had this same test as a child. It's very normal, the Dr needs to see the whole spine, hips, knees and feet. The difference now I've found it Dr's tend to explain what they're doing and why.
As already mentioned though, Drs tend to just issue pain killers for all back pain and are a bit too hands off in my opinion. They're almost scared to do the exams needed. DD had awful back pain this year and we were very lucky in that we got a GP who got her to undress to her vest and she did lots of tests on her. We ended up getting physio and finding out lots of things.

Some of these stories are horrific and blatant abuse, but many I'm reading are just patients that weren't informed why something was happening. Some medical tests are bizarre!

Some of these stories are shocking and clearly abuse. However, in regard to pregnancy appointments in the past, I have heard that breast checks would often be carried out to ensure no inverted nipples/normal development of milk ducts for breastfeeding etc.
I was living abroad for one of my pregnancies and this was offered to me by a female Doctor as part of their standard procedure. I declined though.

About 35 years ago I started work in a company, let's say it was media related, and we retained a "company doctor". He would examine every new starter - a pre-employment medical. The nature of the business meant we employed many young women, and he did breast examinations on every one of them, but not any of the older women we sometimes took on and obviously the men never took anything off.

Looking back on it, he saw it as a perk of the job, came with the retainer. I think exploitation like this was common and hopefully of its time - that is to say a man like that wouldn't get away with it as a matter of course now. I hope. But for those who are saying oh yeah that's because of x y and z, this is why people hide in plain sight isn't it. Some people like to cling onto the belief that those employed in certain positions of trust e.g., doctors, teachers etc., can do no wrong.