Nov 13

“You Have Nice Legs, You Must Work Out.”

“You have nice legs- you must workout.” - OB/Gyn while the woman was positioned with feet stirrups, legs spread, waiting for a vaginal exam.

57 people dislike these words.

There are 20 comments to this post.

Argentina had this to say, Nov 13, 2011 @ 7:11 pm (Quote)

OK exam is OVER!!

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Kit had this to say, Nov 13, 2011 @ 7:12 pm (Quote)

Creepy!

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Kat had this to say, Nov 13, 2011 @ 7:13 pm (Quote)

Yeah…cause I don’t feel awkward enough in this position.

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Jessica had this to say, Nov 13, 2011 @ 7:26 pm (Quote)

…and legs closed, get up and leave. gross!

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Shannon had this to say, Nov 13, 2011 @ 7:37 pm (Quote)

Let’s give the OB the benefit of the doubt here. Maybe s/he was assessing the damage those well-toned legs could do if s/he crossed the well informed pregnant Mama.

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Details Reply:
November 14th, 2011 at 5:14 am Details(Quote)

Ha ha Note in chart, make sure this one get the epidural. Could be dangerous!

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Jena Reply:
November 14th, 2011 at 11:53 am Jena(Quote)

LOL

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Skyfire had this to say, Nov 13, 2011 @ 7:43 pm (Quote)

I’ve only ever had a female Dr, nurse, whatever; so I hear all these in a woman’s voice, and ones like this don’t seem all that bad to me. A male Dr, nurse, whatever would make this a little creepy to me, but I’ve never had to be in that position.

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Elizabeth had this to say, Nov 13, 2011 @ 7:55 pm (Quote)

Ok- this was mine. He was definitely a guy- and he looked likehe was 12. My friend and I called him doogie howser behind his back. I was only 22 at the time. This is the same OB that, when I went in at 42 weeks with the same pregnancy- to be induced for low fluid- he said “what are you doing here? You aren’t far enough along to be having a baby!”
so he’s an idiot AND a insensitive jerk.
He then proceeded to give me double the dose of cervidil needed to dilate my cervix and sent me into a hellish 4 hour contraction fest with about a minute break between each ctx. I am lucky my uterus and my daughter made it out of that labor whole and alive respectively.

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Jane Reply:
November 14th, 2011 at 3:19 am Jane(Quote)

Ugh! Wow, what a horrible doctor. It might be worth reporting him, stating in the letter that you want to make sure his negligence and suggestive comments are on file (not that you want to pursue action against him) because you want to make sure his actions are documented for the inevitable mom/baby who are not so lucky to survive his inattention.

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Heidi had this to say, Nov 13, 2011 @ 7:57 pm (Quote)

I can understand that it would sound better coming from a woman, because “nice legs” from a woman sounds envious, not sexual. But I still think it is preferable to just do the exam and not make comments on the appearance of a woman’s body when she is spread eagle.

Besides, a woman doctor could be attracted to a female patient as well. So a doctor can really never assume that somebody won’t take this the wrong way, and it’s better to avoid anything that might make a patient uncomfortable.

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BeckyJ had this to say, Nov 13, 2011 @ 9:05 pm (Quote)

That is when I would be closing my legs and pulling on my pants. You KNOW he wasn’t looking at her legs…….

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jaed had this to say, Nov 13, 2011 @ 9:47 pm (Quote)

(I posted this a few days ago but it seems apropos again):

Dear Doctor,

During a pelvic exam, please resist any temptation to compliment or insult a woman on her looks, weight, and/or genital configuration. If it has medical import, save it until after the physical exam is over. If it doesn’t, she doesn’t care what you think.

Love,

Everyone

P.S. We really shouldn’t have to be explaining this to anyone who wasn’t raised by wolves.

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Kristin had this to say, Nov 13, 2011 @ 10:20 pm (Quote)

ARE YOU SERIOUSLY FLIRTING WITH A PATIENT WHILE PERFORMING A GYN EXAM?!?!?

Hit yourself in the face until you have learned to treat people with respect.

This may have simply been meant as a compliment, but after reading the OP post, it’s a creepy come on.

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BeckyJ Reply:
November 14th, 2011 at 5:34 am BeckyJ(Quote)

He could be hitting himself for a while…..That worries me.

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Sara had this to say, Nov 14, 2011 @ 12:05 am (Quote)

It’s all a matter of context. My OB/Gyn says things like that as well and I would never take offense because I know it’s not meant as a come-on.

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Mama Wrench had this to say, Nov 14, 2011 @ 1:43 am (Quote)

This makes me think of a scene from “Scrubs”: “Slap yourself very hard on the face and walk away.”

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Emily had this to say, Nov 14, 2011 @ 11:11 am (Quote)

i don’t care male/female this is NOT okay in any context – besides the point that vaginal exams aren’t even ever needed in pregnancy (in most cases and something that sadly i only really realized with my 4th baby) it is bad enough that your most personal space is on display for a relative stranger not only to look at but to interact with NO words are ever needed except maybe to alert the patient of what the provider is about to do/touch so they are on the same page… this is just gross!

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