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

I think it's appalling actually that you're considering a complaint in the circumstances you describe.

Its certainly worth raising as an issue I think. Maybe incidental .but you have a right to expect to be comfortable and happy , He may be new to the job or just not a good bedside manner .Either way he needs to rethink his technique!

Potentially normal but should have been explained better. My first scan was like this just because of the way I'm built and where baby was. The gel/scanner was right at the top of where my pubes start and below where jeans would sit. Was a female sonographer though and dh was there so I didn't think much of it! I can see how if it had been me alone with a male practitioner it might have felt different, and yes her arm sort of rested on my body so was making contact and rubbing back and forth across Pubic bone to be honest

I had many many scans during pregnancy, a lot done by a male as he was one of the senior sonographers. To me this sounds totally normal. I have a uterine abnormality which makes looking at my womb difficult and there was always a lot of pushing/weird angles, and the sonographer has to put their arm somewhere!

I remember there was quite a lot of pressure on my pubic bone at my 12 week as baby was lying really awkwardly and the sonographer was trying to manipulate baby/uterus to try and get a decent view. I remember being surprised at how low down baby was at that stage, and I always thought I had a decent grasp of anatomy!

However, as others have said the lack of explanation is really poor and to that extent it’s worth raising with PALS. I’d be inclined to say (without having been there) that the sonographer needs to be reminded about the importance of explaining things and gaining informed consent.

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

It's highly unlikely she'd need to be asking, so your question is irelevant. Out of a hundred sex offenders, like five will be women. And even that number would be in question due to the current practice of letting an offender decide their gender.

OP normal or not, he should have discussed everything with you. That's how consent works, and no you don't just pull up women's shirts.

@FloraFoxtrots

I think it's appalling actually that you're considering a complaint in the circumstances you describe.

You don't think it's appalling he lifted up her top further than he needed to? Or that he lifted it at all? When should she report inappropriate behavior?

They don't need to have their own arm touching your the Doppler does the scanning and they hold it on top. They definitely do not need to rest themselves on you and I have never heard or experienced this before.
I don't see the harm on informing the dept. about it.

I've seen so many people say it's sexist to ask for an HCP of your own sex on here, but we're also just expected to let ourselves be touched any way and not question it. Is that what you'd say to your daughters?

At best, this guy needs retaining about how to discuss what he is doing with patients. Which means she needs to complain.

I think it depends. I've had two external ultrasound scans now (both women). The second one was really physical: arm kept rubbing again my pubic bone, even took her own hand (gloved) and was pressing down in my lower abdomen to get baby to stop wriggling!

The first one, literally only the wand touched me. It might be normal but if it made you feel uncomfortable then that is what matters

Realistically he was probably lifting her top up because it was about to get covered in jelly. I feel a bit sorry for the guy too. I've had plenty of male doctors tuck in the tissue to my trousers, pull them down a bit etc usually whilst simultaneously having a discussion about something else like my blood sugar levels. They're just getting on with the job. If OP can't cope with a bit of pressure during a scan or someone touching her pubic bone she's really not going to like the third trimester.

If I was a male sonographer I think I'd do
Anything to avoid gynaecological scans. So much scope for complaint

Yes I've had that from a female doctor - not rubbing as such but certainly pressure and moving about to get the right angle

Sounds very normal to me...sounds like the issue is poor communication but even then I’ve had female sonographers do the exact same thing with no communication either.

Realistically he was probably lifting her top up because it was about to get covered in jelly. I feel a bit sorry for the guy too. I've had plenty of male doctors tuck in the tissue to my trousers, pull them down a bit etc usually whilst simultaneously having a discussion about something else like my blood sugar levels. They're just getting on with the job. If OP can't cope with a bit of pressure during a scan or someone touching her pubic bone she's really not going to like the third trimester.

What a pile of shit. OP can expect to give informed consent at any trimester. It sounds a lot like this person didn't feel he owed her the respect of telling her what he was doing, more than likely the next HCP will.

He didn't ask to tuck the tissue in he just did it and just lifted my top up even further than it already was. He didn't explain about the pressure at all and just rubbed his wrist with pressure on my pubic area. There was more pressure on his wrist than on the sensor.

I’ve never been asked about the tissue, and if your top wasn’t high enough then that sounds right too.

The pressure is not just from the sensor but also the sonographer to make sure baby is in the right position.

I had 10 scans during my pregnancy.

@LookinInurWindowStealingUrCat nope. I have no real opinion on any of that as I wasn't in the room at the time.

I'd put good money on it though that this HCP isn't sexually abusing his patients however. Here on Mumsnet it appears to be absolutely fucking rife

I definately remember people putting pressure on my public bone to get a better view but I can't remember rubbing as such.

Fair enough to complain that his manner made you feel uncomfortable. It could all be innocent but either way, you probably aren't the only one he has made feel uncomfortable and at the very least he could get a bit more training in his scanning technique and bedside manner.

@LookinInurWindowStealingUrCat

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

It's highly unlikely she'd need to be asking, so your question is irelevant. Out of a hundred sex offenders, like five will be women. And even that number would be in question due to the current practice of letting an offender decide their gender.

Well, indeed. And also it's more likely that a woman will feel threatened by a man who may be physically larger and almost certainly stronger.

I’d agree with those saying that he probably wasn’t being creepy, he just had an awful bedside manner. I had a consultant scan recently and the baby’s tricky position, coupled with the anterior placenta, meant the (completely lovely male) doctor kept using his gloved hand to push and prod and generally manipulate my abdomen just above my pubic bone to get a decent view of baby’s face and head. He didn’t explain what he was doing, but it was pretty obvious from what was happening on the screen in response to each pole, and it was also very clear from his manner that he had his mind entirely on the job. I doubt very much that he even thought about the fact that under different circumstances touching me there might be, um, controversial. I think that’s as it should be: when a professional of either sex is looking at my baby to check on its development I want him or her thinking exclusively about baby. For me, the threshold for making a complaint that indicated suspicion about sexual propriety in this situation would therefore be extremely high. But sending in an email that suggests communication could have been better makes perfect sense. My consultant was obviously the kind of person who puts people at their ease without difficulty — lucky him, and lucky me for being seen by him. Maybe this sonographer isn’t blessed with that skill, in which case he needs to work on his verbal communication so that women in his care aren’t made unnecessarily anxious or uncomfortable.
Professional development should be about people skills too.

@LookinInurWindowStealingUrCat

Realistically he was probably lifting her top up because it was about to get covered in jelly. I feel a bit sorry for the guy too. I've had plenty of male doctors tuck in the tissue to my trousers, pull them down a bit etc usually whilst simultaneously having a discussion about something else like my blood sugar levels. They're just getting on with the job. If OP can't cope with a bit of pressure during a scan or someone touching her pubic bone she's really not going to like the third trimester.

What a pile of shit. OP can expect to give informed consent at any trimester. It sounds a lot like this person didn't feel he owed her the respect of telling her what he was doing, more than likely the next HCP will.

Who are you to call my experiences a pile of shit? Keep goading OP to report the sonographer for a normal sounding scan if you want but there's no need to be so fucking cheeky to anyone who disagrees.

I had a male scan me three times when I was PG with DD, allbeit shes 14 now
But no, not once did he touch or apply pressure in that area. He also explained what he was doing throughout, and would not have lifted my top any higher than under the band of my bra.
I wasn't there but even I feel a bit creeped out for you.
I wouldn't voice it as a complaint. But I would ask politely if it was standard procedure, and say I would rather an alternative next time.