Male sonographer kept rubbing his arm on my pubic bone. Is this normal?

[RebeccaAndBump]

Hi,

I am having my first child and I had my 12 week scan today with a male sonographer.
Just wanted to know is it normal for the sonographer to be rubbing his wrist against my Pubic area and applying pressure whilst scanning? This happened well over 10 times. I had a scan at 6 weeks and the only thing that touched me during that scan was the sensor and the gel. Any advise would be great?

Thank you

Not normal in any of the scans I’ve had, and I’ve had about 9. I’m sorry that happened to you. I hope you feel able to complain.

I suppose it depends what he was trying to get a view of with the scan. I had slightly similar but the sonographer (a woman) warned me first what she was going to do and needed to try and get a particular angle of the baby. If it made you uncomfortable then certainly raise it as an issue.

Would you be asking this question if you'd had a female sonographer?

It is perfectly normal for them to apply pressure to get a good look at a baby early on. Small babies can be a bit awkward position wise too so not uncommon for them to need to shift around a lot either.

Not something I've experienced either, sorry. Only time I've had anyone touching my public bone was when they measure fundal height (bump size, essentially).

Applying pressure is normal, but rubbing his wrist on your pubic bone not so much.

@WetWeekends

Not normal in any of the scans I’ve had, and I’ve had about 9. I’m sorry that happened to you. I hope you feel able to complain.

Thank you for replying to me. I didn't think it was normal but with this being my first I wanted to make sure before I complain. I will send a complaint this evening x

@Hellocatshome

I suppose it depends what he was trying to get a view of with the scan. I had slightly similar but the sonographer (a woman) warned me first what she was going to do and needed to try and get a particular angle of the baby. If it made you uncomfortable then certainly raise it as an issue.

Thank you for letting me know. He didn't explain a thing he was doing and tucked the tissue into my trousers without saying a word and half way through lifted my top up even further than it needed to go x

@Chelyanne

Would you be asking this question if you'd had a female sonographer?

It is perfectly normal for them to apply pressure to get a good look at a baby early on. Small babies can be a bit awkward position wise too so not uncommon for them to need to shift around a lot either.

Thank you for your answer. He didn't explain a thing he was doing and the pressure was all on my pubic area not on the sensor. It felt very uncomfortable situation x

@Twixxed

Not something I've experienced either, sorry. Only time I've had anyone touching my public bone was when they measure fundal height (bump size, essentially).

Thank you for contacting. That makes sense that I'd be touched in that area during measuring etc but felt very uncomfortable during a scan x

@WildflowerWildfire

Applying pressure is normal, but rubbing his wrist on your pubic bone not so much.

Thank you for letting me know. I'll be bringing this up with the hospital x

Was there someone else in the room with you?
It would be unusual for a sonographer to be alone with a patient. (In the hospital I attend anyway)

I've had scans very low down when I was getting scanned. I think it depends on the position of the baby.

Would you be complaining if it were a woman?

What a horrible experience for you. . I think you need to talk to someone about this. If it is innocent your mind will be put at rest. If not then he needs dealing with. There may have been other questions about his behaviour. I hope it is innocent.

Next time, ask what they are going to do. Feel free to pull your top down. Ask for a chaperone. Speak up. I know it is hard but you must for your own well being.

If you felt uncomfortable for any reason then I think you need to raise it with the hospital trust where this happened.

Posters saying it's normal and acting like she is only saying this because he was male , then why does OP feel like it felt uncomfortable to her? And why didn't he explain what he was doing?

OP sorry it wasn't the experience for you that it should have been, hope you can find some answers.

I don’t think it matters whether OP would say the same about a female sonographer. A woman is allowed to feel uncomfortable if a man touches her body in a way she isn’t expecting. We aren’t required to apply an equal opportunities policy when deciding who gets to touch our genitals.

All that matters is whether he behaved properly. I’ve had scans low down before (although never with any pressure on my pubic bone) but the sonographer has always explained beforehand what they need to do and why.

If you felt uncomfortable then you should raise it - if it's innocent they can speak to him and suggest he lets women know before doing and make sure they're happy and if it's not then you've potentially stopped other women from going through the same thing.

Not sure this sounds right to me. Ive had about 20 scans (male and female) and never had this happen.

If it's an external scan there's never been more than one sonographer, if it's been an internal scan then yes, they always get a second person in.

Most (if not all) of the time they put the tissue on me but leave me to tuck it in my trousers myself

Without being dismissive, I'd say it's normal.

Applying pressure is definitely standard to find baby, I've always had that- no issue (unless it's painful?)

Touching the pubic bone... bit more difficult to say. Most scans I've had have been quite far down, almost touching my pubic hair.

But none of us were there to actually say.

Horrid. You can always ask for a chaperone to be in the room

@RebeccaAndBump

Hard to say? At my 20 week scan the baby was hiding down low on the left side and there was a lot of pushing and pressing around where my pubic bone is to try and see because of her position. What does it say about the scan in your notes? It might be in there if he found it hard to get a clear picture.

No it sounds like sexual assault to me but I would complain and keep an open mind. If you are not satisfied with the response then I would suggest you go to the police. Would I say this if it were a woman? No. Women are rarely responsible for sexual assault and when they are, there is often a man involved too as the lead perpetrator. There are exceptions but this is generally the way it is.

This sounds really normal to me

@Chelyanne

Would you be asking this question if you'd had a female sonographer?

It is perfectly normal for them to apply pressure to get a good look at a baby early on. Small babies can be a bit awkward position wise too so not uncommon for them to need to shift around a lot either.

Whataboutery at its finest. The sonographer’s sex is relevant. As pp have said it might have been due to the baby’s position, but it would have been good practice to explain what he was doing.

Happened to me because the baby was in a weird position. It was explained though as it happened

It sounds familiar to me, but they normally said things like ‘excuse the pressure on your hip, the baby is at an angle, let me know if uncomfortable, is it ok if I tuck the paper in...’ so sounds like poor bedside manner to me.