Expert: Catherine Beier MS CBE - 8/30/2008

Question
I'm a 22 year old woman and I'm pregnant. The only guy who's ever seen my vagina is my husband and I plan to keep it that way. So, I have a question about childbirth... Is there a way to make sure that only female doctors look at my vagina when I'm giving birth? Or is it inevitable that a male doctor will get to look at my vagina?

Answer
Sara,

You may be able to accomplish this depending on the options available where you live.  The most certain way to ensure only female contact would be to choose a midwife and plan a homebirth.

The research clearly supports that homebirth with a skilled birth attendant is as safe or even safer than hospital birth for low risk women.  Both mothers and babies fare just as well at home as in the hospital.


This would be the simplest way to limit the possibility of a male examining you during your pregnancy and/or birth.  There would be no nurses nor hospital staff coming into your room and you wouldn't have to worry that your doctor wasn't on call when you went into labor.  She would be the only person attending you through your entire labor rather than shift after shift of nurses and the potential of having an on-call doctor.


If you don't think homebirth is the right option for you, then you'll have a harder time preventing this from happening.  You'll have no control over which doctor is on call during your labor and if there aren't many female OBs in your area, then the possibility exists that at some point a male will examine you.


Even if you find a solo female OB, it's still likely that her back-up will be a male.  You can discuss your wishes with your female provider to limit the possibility, but in a hospital birth this could happen more easily than at home.


Ultimately, you have the final say in who can examine you and who can't.  But your options may be limited depending on the area in which you live.


Best,
Catherine