Was GP unreasonable?

[Whosthatgirll]

I saw the doctor today for mental health problems and all they seemed concerned about was putting me on contraception (have a newborn and 3 year old) namely the mirena coil as she said you only need to have periods if you want to get pregnant, otherwise get rid of them. I told her I didn’t want anything at the moment as we haven’t decided our family is complete yet and may want a third child (took a long time TTC DC1 after the pill so didn’t have hormonal contraception between the 2 children), at which point she said (and completely seriously not as a joke) “what would you want to do that for” when I didn’t answer as I was in shock she said “more children would just be more inconvenience wouldn’t it”. I can’t believe she said that, especially as it was infront of my 3 year old who understands a lot. I did not link my mental health to having children and just can’t believe this happened today.

As a GP myself I think her comments were completely out of order - and it's perfectly plausible, @plumberdrain, for a doctor not to have every detail of a patient's medical history on the tip of their tongue. The relevant information rarely jumps out of the chart at you, you have to go looking for it.

The GP was completely unreasonable, as are the pps who think they know better than the OP about when she is done having children. FFS. Well done on seeking mental health support, OP, and I am sorry it came with a heavy dosage of misogyny and disrespect. Can't imagine a father going in would have been subject to the same out of order comments.

so you don’t always have read of the recent patient notes before seeing a patient? because had that GP done so… they would have seen numerous notes tensing pre discussions and the sterilisation itself.

Maybe i have always been lucky with my GPs, but they seem to have read my notes before i am sat in front of them!

and i am not talking about * every detail of a patient's medical history on the tip of their tongue.* This is the sterilisation of a child bearing age patient during the birth of her 4th child.

Sorry, I agree with the GP

i do.

She has a patient in front of her with a new born and a toddler with a serious enough mental health condition that she’s come to a GP for help.

She deals with the contraception issue which is normal post birth, particularly so when the patient in front of you is struggling and not currently on any contraception.

She addresses the mental health concern by prescribing any depressants (not much else a GP can do at current time)

Well done for getting help for your mental health. It's likely to be an unpopular opinion, but I would be inclined to agree with the GP. Having another baby wouldn't make your life (or your mental health) any easier/better right at the moment. MN is full of threads from women struggling with their mental health, juggling numerous children and just about surviving. Get your head sorted first and think about the next baby when things are more settled.

And I don't think it's any better or worse discussing your reproductive health rather than your mental health in front of a 3yr old