Mw didn't wear gloves

[babynelly2010]

Hi, I had our baby few days ago. My waters went and I was told my examinations will be minimal.
First exam was done I was 5 cm, she asked if student mw can have a feel. I said oh I thought you guys minimising number of exams, she said we will count this as one. Ok, I am in full blown labour, who cares, so let her a go.
Then we went to labour room, finally got the epidural and they had shift swap.
New mw examined me and I swear did not wear gloves. Another mw came in later, I think they spoke briefly about gloves. And she wore them since them. We ended up in emergency c section, baby is fine but I am paranoid about these gloves. Dh says he does not recall, but I am pretty sure. I did not have any drugs but epidural.
Is there any reason why mw would not wear gloves on examination? Sounds strange right.... should I ask to be tested?
Do mw get tested regularly?

What do you want tested for? You sound like you are so anxious about this perhaps she forgot ? But you can't be sure her hands would have been washed either way

Is your midwife still seeing you after the birth i think you should speak to them about this you have been through an awful lot

I am sure her hands were clean. What do you think she gave you?

In general Mws wear gloves to protect their own health - what would you like tested for?

God my post is shite what I meant to say is you can't be sure she wore gloves, but her hands would have been washed.

Do you mean she gave you an examination without gloves?? I highly doubt it, why would anyone want to put bare hands in someone else's body. Whether she did or not, I'd be disgusted and gob smacked if she didn't, but if she didn't wear gloves, she'd have clean hands. What do you want to be tested for? She won't have given you anything

I thought they wore gloves so they don't spread germs between patients. I do remember her washing hands, so should be fine right.

I don't know what she could give me so I posted here. I don't ever have strangers wondering down there with out gloves. If I was not in state I was I would of said something but at that time it did not seem important.

I agree she should have worn gloves but if she had washed her hands it shouldn't be a problem. The vagina is not a sterile environment and the gloves themselves aren't sterile either.

I honestly really don't think a midwife wld give you an internal without gloves, maybe she was wearing a different type which were not immediately noticeable like other ones.
Sometimes they are white, blue, clear.

Gloves don't particularly protect against spread of germs, it's handwashing that does that. Unless the gloves are sterile, which they wouldn't be in this situation.
They're to protect the midwife from your bodily fluids, in case she has any cuts or scratches on her hands.

There's no extra risk to you unless she hasn't washed her hands, and gloves are no substitution for habdwashing.

unless you're talking about a sterile procedure HCPs wear gloves to protect themselves from the patient rather than the other way around! I'd be seriously if she did an intimate exam without gloves though ... that's not very nice for her.

Agree gloves don't stop the spread of infections good hand washing dose. Gloves are for the protection of the person wearing them so though I'm surprised she didn't wear any the fact you remember her washing her hands is far better when it comes to stopping infection than anything else

I find this quite strange if you definitely are sure she didn't wear gloves.

Ok, may be she had clear type. Later on they were blue. It could also be the delirium of labour but I did feel sort of all there but who knows really.
Thank you all.

I am actually at the replies. Whilst I don't imagine for a minute that the midwife wasn't wearing gloves, I can't believe how many people think an internal examination without gloves is appropriate so long as hands are clean! An internal examination without gloves would warrant a complaint for abuse - which is why I'm sure the midwife did wear gloves.

Generally blue gloves are non-sterile and sterile gloves are pale in colour. Sterile gloves should always be worn to carry out a vaginal examination as although the vagina isnt a sterile environment, a VE is an invasive procedure and every exam carries the risk of introducing infection into the vagina. When a VE is performed the MW is not just entering your vagina she is also feeling your cervix and touching the babies head (if waters have broken) so again sterile gloves should be worn after hands have been washed, to reduce the risk of introducing infection and to protect the MW.

Agree with Ravioli ^. This would be abuse in my eyes, totally wrong so I really hope the op got it wrong.

I wouldn't mind no gloves - not sure I have ever noticed whether a midwife or a doctor was wearing them or not

Hand washing is a must.

In relation to "are midwives checked regularly"

They're classed as exposure prone procedure workers, and as such are tested for HIV, Hepatitis C and Hepatits B as well as having a response to the Hepatitis B vaccine in case they come into contact with it when they enter into employment with a trust. If for any reason, they fail to respond to the Hep B vaccine, they will be tested every 12 months to check they remain a non responder. Should any worker be potentially exposed to a blood borne virus (so a needle stick injury, splashed in the eye with blood or similar) then the donor is tested for known blood borne virus's, and the staff member is followed up if required.

In terms of risk, Exposure Prone Procedure workers face risks every single day in their job, and are extremely careful about minimising risk to themselves and their patients, their continued career relies on it.

There's no way any HCP will put their hands up your fanjo without gloves - seriously don't worry.

I'm a midwife and there is absolutely NO WAY she did a VE without gloves. It's just second nature, it's part of the VE ritual if you like. Apart from the health/cross-infection risks, there is a lot of bloody show/fluids in your average labouring vagina and she'd have made a right mess of her hands - I once - only once! - had to catch a baby sans gloves (mum standing up with baby's head out literally as I walked in the room, no time to glove up or baby would have landed on the floor!) and honestly my hands felt icky for ages despite all the obsessive washing I did. It just would not have happened.

Is it possible you have some anxieties around the birth that are expressing themselves with a fixation on this particular idea? Worth exploring maybe?

I still can't believe that people wouldn't mind someone performing an internal exam with bare hands! It would be a total violation.