Just out of curiosity..

Yesterday I spoke to a male friend of mine who is a nursing student at the school I graduated from. He has been telling me that he is bored to tears in his OB rotation because many of the patients dont want him to be present for the delivery, or to do the standard postpartum checks. To me, I would not mind having a male nurse care for me during delivery or aftercare, and I would think in this day and age there would be more women who wouldnt mind either. It seems that in general, there is a double standard towards men who work in the field of obstetrics and gynecology. There are women who will see male doctors but feel uncomfortable seeing a male nurse. Every woman is entitled to have a woman doctor or nurse care for her if she so requests and I totally respect her opinons. I am just interested in what other people thought of this.

So, the question is:

Would you allow a male nurse to care for you during your hospital stay? In the delivery room or post-partum? If not, why not, and/or would you feel uncomfortable with a male doctor as well?

Thanks to all in advance for responding!

I did not want a male doctor delivering me. I didn't care if I had a male nurse... but when it came down to the real deal I didn't care if the were male or female, just as long as they told me the truth, respectful of my needs, gentle and had a good bed side manner (small hands also were a plus in my books).

I actually saw a lot of different people during my hospital stay and I must admit that my favorite people happened to be males. My first favorite guy was the male intern... he was great. So gentle... i guess it was because he was still learning and he would ask if what he did was okay and if it wasn't he would ask a nurse to come in and assist him. My second favorite guy was one of the residents. He actually assisted in the birth and sewed me up. He was great. He was gentle and very personable.

But I must say that there was one male that was TERRIBLE! He lied to me and made me feel as if he did all of the work... rather than giving me the credit. And when he did congradulate me it was very condesending. Thankfully he wasn't around when I delivered.

I think it's those people like that last guy that I mentioned that gives males in general a bad reputation.

My OB is a male and I certainly wouldn't have a problem with a male nurse. In fact, there is a PA on rotation at my Dr's office right now and I always let him come in. I have seen other women decline his presence in the room though. I would prefer if they learned first hand then from a textbook. That is IMHO though and I think a lot of people feel differently.

I must admit though, my OB doesn't do internals, but even if he did and the PA was there, I would still let him come in. My OB was very nice (it was right after I had the version to turn the baby) and asked any time before he let the PA touch me in any way!!!

People still think about things like male doctors..........well I would have no problem at all...just show a medical degree.........

I have a male OB, who I know, trust and feel comfortable with, a relationship which builds over time. Because he knows me so well, I am very comfortable having him see my 'girl parts'.

I think I might feel a little shy and modest with a male nurse who I don't know from a hole in the wall, but I would deal with it.