A Dumb Question

[taffimai]

Whenever I go to the doctor, they ask me if there's any chance I could be pregnant. Now, as I do not have sex with men, I find it pretty easy to answer this question.

But I've never understood how straight, sexually active women in the second half of their cycle are supposed to answer that question. Because even if they're using birth control, it's only 99% effective, so there's always a chance they could be pregnant, but they haven't missed a period yet so they wouldn't really know. Is this just code for, "have you missed a period?"

Just curious.

Comments

[rustydog.livejournal.com]

I get all my Lady Doctoring at the Planned Parenthood clinic, since they're cheaper and I love the doctor. Maybe they're more PC or something - the first question they always ask me is "When was your last sexual contact?" Oh, wait, I just remembered that they take a urine sample from everybody before they even let you back to the exam room, so maybe they don't even have to ask the pregnancy question. They just *know*. Huh.

But yeah, my assumption would be that they have to cover their asses for if they prescribe any medication that could be harmful to a hypothetical or real fetus. When I take groups of students to get MMR vaccinations every semester, we have to separate out the girls and tell them to inform the nurse if there's even the remotest chance they could now be or soon become pregnant, because the vaccination could hurt the baby.

[taffimai.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I guess it makes sense if it's just a CYA thing, I was just wondering how exactly you were supposed to answer it!

[rustydog.livejournal.com]

It's like those questions they ask when you donate blood - a simple "no" would suffice, but considering personal circumstances, they can seem intensely silly. Especially since on one hand, they're trying to respect your privacy, but on the other hand, they're asking questions like "Have you ever had sex with a man who has had sex with a man who had sex with monkeys below the 30th parallel in Africa before 1984?" And you're thinking, "We could just skip the next 15 questions if you'd let me tell you I've NEVER HAD SEX WITH A MAN." Heh.

[taffimai.livejournal.com]

LOL! Yes, exactly. The nurse and I are usually rolling our eyes at each other by the time we get halfway through that section!