Pussy = Pain

When going to see their OBGYN, most females don’t think about having to advocate for themselves for pain management.

When I was a freshman in college, I decided to get an IUD or an intrauterine device, a form of birth control implanted in the uterus. Before my appointment I was given no pain medication and no warning of what to expect immediately after the procedure. I was told it wouldn’t affect my ability to perform the rest of my daily activities. For me at least, and other females I’ve spoken to, feel vulnerable at their OBGYN visits because of how exposed we are. Lying down in the patient bed with my feet in the stirrups, I waited for my doctor to enter the exam room. Once she arrived she explained the procedure step-by-step as she proceeded. First, she explained she had to open my cervix, and I wish I hadn’t looked at the instrument she was going to use. Using a medieval looking device she opened my cervix, causing quite a bit of bleeding. That was most definitely the most painful part of the procedure, as I felt that my insides were being split. After the implantation my doctor told me I was free to go home. However, when I went to check out and pay for the procedure, I started sweating profusely and felt extremely faint. Luckily a nurse noticed and pulled me into another patient room where they put a wet paper towel on my head so I could wait for my sister to come pick me up because I clearly wasn’t driving home. As a white woman though, I understand that I didn’t have to advocate for myself to show how much pain I was in for the medical professionals to take me seriously. however, this is not the case for females of color. Below is a video on how medical professionals hold the cervix in place.

https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPd2a1rs2/

According to a UNC case study following C-section deliveries linked here, “During two different 24-hour periods, severe pain (noted as between 7 and 10 or greater on the pain scale) was more common among black (28%) and Hispanic (22%) women than among women who identified as white (20%) or Asian (15%). These differences could not be explained by clinical factors associated with postoperative pain control – such as advanced age, weight or surgical complications, suggesting that how providers treat women from different races may contribute to inequities in postpartum care.” Even though Black and Hispanic females reported high amounts of pain, they were given less pain medications than White and Asian females. 

Below is the account of a female whose pain wasn’t taken seriously by her doctor. If you want to read about more horror stories from females that have experienced similar OBGYN traumas please visit the cite linked here.

“I had a cervical biopsy when I was 18, and the doctor was like, ‘You’ll feel just a pinch.’ Then I felt, well, a chunk of my cervix cut out and screamed. He was like, ‘Shhh.’ So I cried quietly, and he looked up at me and said, ‘Why are you crying? There are no nerve endings on the cervix. I know you aren’t actually feeling pain.'”

Anonymous

Unfortunately, there isn’t much being done about this issue right now. Females need to advocate for themselves when they are in pain and to not accept apathetic treatment.