https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 28 Apr 2026 05:40:02 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women/page/2#post-263628 Sun, 19 Aug 2012 04:27:41 +0000 looch 263628@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I use a mix of male and female medical professionals. I try to be an educated consumer and do my research to find someone that has the appropriate training and mindset to treat my family.</p> <p>I have always had a male OB/GYN and while I delivered at a hospital that uses midwives to attend the birth, the midwives and attending OB had not ever given birth. Some of the postpartum nurses and lactation consultants hadn't either, so I don't think it makes much difference if you use a man or woman in these situations. It is more a matter of comfort and agreement with philosophy. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women/page/2#post-262880 Fri, 17 Aug 2012 17:05:39 +0000 birdofafeather 262880@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>i don't think they are BAD for women, but i prefer female doctors when talking about lady parts and for the most part, that's all i've gone to the doctor for (annuals, PAP, etc). i've had many other doctors that were males for my dentist, tonsils, etc. but for the general lady stuff, i prefer a woman. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women/page/2#post-262759 Fri, 17 Aug 2012 15:29:10 +0000 serendipity 262759@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My docs/dentists are all been male except for my OB/GYN. I agree with @Mrs. Blue that I choose based on experience and bedside manner. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women/page/2#post-262750 Fri, 17 Aug 2012 15:23:12 +0000 Mrs. Blue 262750@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrbee: In the past, I've gone to female GYN's because I was just kind of shy for some reason about seeing male doctors for that kind of stuff. My OBGYN now, however, is a man and a fabulous doctor. He's super and I would recommend him to anyone! Outside the arena of OBGYNs, I see a mix of males and females simply based on their ability, bedside manner, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women/page/2#post-262689 Fri, 17 Aug 2012 14:38:13 +0000 cranberryapple 262689@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Male or female, I think it depends on the doctor! I figured going to a female OB was the way to go and never considered a male doctor. I didn't quite like her and was referred to my male OB who is AMAZING. Wonderful bedside manner, very caring and gentle! I think we kinda expect these qualities from women, but men are capable of these qualities as well! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women/page/2#post-261893 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 23:31:34 +0000 Mrs. Pickle 261893@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Right now all the doctors my husband and I go to are female. I just realized that. The only exception is my husband's urologist. My first gynecologist was a male, and I only stopped going to him because I moved. I'm comfortable either way. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women/page/2#post-261872 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 22:53:02 +0000 HLK208 261872@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've always had male doctors, except my dermatologist...that's the only female doctor I've had. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women/page/2#post-261840 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 22:27:02 +0000 MamaCate 261840@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: I have the same perspective! I prefer women doctors because I would like to give them my business to support their efforts to make it to the positions they are in!</p> <p>That said, I do not have exclusively female docs right now due to insurance and logistics, but when I have a choice, I always choose a female doc for those reasons. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women/page/2#post-261755 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 21:45:28 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 261755@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I only see women docs. My reasons are different than others though. Women are less than 50% of medical professionals and I strongly support gender equality in the sciences and one way to do that is support women providers, especially in specialties where women are under represented (orthopedics, surgery, ophtho). It's my way of giving back to other women who worked their asses off in medical school sometimes working twice as hard to be seen as good as their male counterparts.</p> <p>For that matter both my kids are girls so a woman pediatrician only makes sense as they grow up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women/page/2#post-261658 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 20:57:00 +0000 MamaMoose 261658@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Honeybee: if you're getting naked at the optometrist something shady is going on!! : ) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women/page/2#post-261654 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 20:54:33 +0000 Honeybee 261654@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If we're talking about all doctors, I do have a male dentist and a male optometrist and I've seen a male family practice doctor a couple times. I'm totally comfortable with those situations, since they don't generally include me being naked. :-) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women/page/2#post-261585 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 20:28:42 +0000 Arden 261585@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yoursilverlining: I don't want to continue on this subject because I don't want to hijack this thread with another subject, but I want to clarify something. </p> <p>I was not saying that female providers = good rates.<br /> I was saying treating birth as natural and keeping interventions low = good rates. </p> <p>In much of Africa and many Asian countries (as well as Eastern Europe), interventions are very common.<br /> Untrained midwives intervene with birth consistently by doing things like pulling on the umbilical cord, not allowing women to eat or drink during or for many hours after birth, etc. This isn't a case of trained, capable women providing low intervention but research-based care. </p> <p>There are many male doctors that provide excellent, low intervention, research based care.</p> <p>I did say that countries like the United Kingdom that use primarily women for care have excellent rates. My point was not that they are better because they have women, but that they have women and they are still better. Therefore, men do not equal good care, and women do not equal good care. </p> <p>The comment that medical care in the United States has improved since care was taken over by mostly male doctors from traditional midwives is what bothered me. It has nothing to do with the change in gender, it has to do with the change in birth culture. </p> <p>And because @Mr Bee pointed out that this conversation is far more about birth culture than it is about gender, I agree that this thread isn't really the appropriate place to continue it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women/page/2#post-261494 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 20:01:22 +0000 yoursilverlining 261494@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Arden - your opinion seems to be based on quite selective information. According to the UN and WHO, some 95%+ of maternal deaths (which are 1,000+ a DAY, in this day and age) are in Africa and Asia where mostly women help women deliver babies (and mostly midwives versus doctors). </p> <p>Yes, the maternal death rate is higher in the US than some European countries, but less then 1% of maternal deaths occur in "developed" countries to begin with.</p> <p>Seems a little misleading or naive to say that as a blanket statement countries where more often women help women deliver babies see lower death rates, since actually, that isn't true at all. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women/page/2#post-261485 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:58:39 +0000 MsLipGloss 261485@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MamaMoose @MrBee: Ditto. I agree.</p> <p>@PrettyLizy: Exactly! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women/page/2#post-261454 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:46:16 +0000 MamaMoose 261454@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Arden: but I think Mr Bee's point wasn't necessarily that male doctors are BETTER just that they aren't worse/bad for women. And I agree with him there. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women/page/2#post-261448 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:42:07 +0000 mrbee 261448@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Arden: This thread really isn't about birth being a medical problem, and which gender is to blame for that. I understand though that that's a subject that you feel very strongly about.</p> <p>In any case, your comments have just made me more depressed about how men are perceived at times. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women/page/2#post-261443 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:37:04 +0000 Arden 261443@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MamaMoose: I don't think it's JUST men that caused the problem of treating birth as a medical problem, or that continue it today. There are plenty (probably the majority) of female doctors that have the same problem. Even midwives sometimes come into birth with this attitude. </p> <p>But I don't think we can say that men make it better, either, after seeing that the birth rates are far better in countries where mostly women deliver babies. It's not the fault of men, but it isn't better because of them either. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women#post-261441 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:36:26 +0000 MamaMoose 261441@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Arden: gotcha. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women#post-261433 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:31:19 +0000 Arden 261433@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MamaMoose: Yes, ideally I'd want an OB or midwife that had given birth.<br /> But for a gyn, I just like the fact that she's female. She has the same anatomy, she knows what menstrual cycles feel like, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women#post-261432 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:31:12 +0000 MamaMoose 261432@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrbee: just want you to know that even though I personally prefer a female doctor from a comfort perspective I totally agree with your view point. It seems inconsistent to me to say infant and maternity mortality rates have decreased because of MEDICAL researches and improvements and then to say men have had a negative effect on pregnancy in the US by treating it as a medical problem. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women#post-261424 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:27:18 +0000 MamaMoose 261424@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Arden: I'm interested to know... Would you only want a female OB who is also a mother? In my opinion a female who hasn't had a baby really doesn't have any more insight into what a pregnant woman is going through than a man. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women#post-261406 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:15:22 +0000 mrs. bird 261406@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Arden: I'm with you on the 'getting it' part. It's the same reason many parents prefer a pediatrician that has had children, having personal experience with something gives providers a prospective that can't be taught in med school. There are plenty of great drs with no personal experience with what their patients are experiencing, but it can also be a great help when they do. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women#post-261403 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:13:28 +0000 mrbee 261403@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Arden: I get that you prefer female doctors, midwifes, and doulas. :)</p> <p>That wasn't really what my last post was about though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women#post-261385 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:03:53 +0000 Arden 261385@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrbee: I think for general doctors, gender doesn't matter at all. Male dentists, family doctors, pediatricians, are all just as good as women. Sometimes better, it totally depends on the doctor. </p> <p>But for OBGYN's, I would prefer a woman. I think they just "get it" more, they know what you are going through, they know how it feels, they understand. Of course there are always bitchy female doctors, so it isn't a perfect rule. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women#post-261352 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 18:47:02 +0000 mrbee 261352@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Arden: I don't have any insight into the points you raise.</p> <p>Overall, I am probably being overly sensitive. Sometimes it feels like men get blamed for a lot of things. I often feel like men can do no right. It's something I will just have to come to terms with on my own. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women#post-261233 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 18:16:08 +0000 mrsjyw 261233@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Not at all!! I had a male pediatrician growing up... and the last two (including my current) obgyns have been male. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women#post-261212 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 18:07:36 +0000 banana 261212@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have a male OB and I love him! He's super caring and warm and had him deliver both my babies! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women#post-261208 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 18:05:51 +0000 mrs. bird 261208@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>i have a female dr, honestly the thought of having a male OB/GYN makes me feel extremely anxious/panicy. i know some great ones, but i wouldn't be comfortable with it. that's ok 'cause DH would also prefer that i see a female. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women#post-261198 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 18:01:12 +0000 matador84 261198@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I never had one until I got this OB and I think he is fantastic. Guess it just depends on the person/their personality/their training, etc. He is actually in practice with his wife and they deliver as a team! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-male-doctors-bad-for-women#post-261197 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 18:00:24 +0000 Rubies 261197@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My family doctor is male and I love him! And when my OB went on mat leave halfway through my pregnancy, her colleague became my new OB and he was wonderful! </p>