The National College of Gynecologists and Obstetricians recommends avoiding pelvic examinations, which are often badly experienced by patients.
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L’pelvic examination in obstetrics gynecology is often useless and should not be systematic, recommends the National College of French Gynecologists and Obstetricians, which is trying to restore confidence after accusations of violence against several practitioners. Pelvic examinations (under speculum or vaginal examination), as well as endovaginal ultrasounds, are currently recommended in a number of cases for detection and prevention purposes. However, their use does not systematically bring recognized benefits, the CNGOF said on Wednesday during a press conference a few days before its annual congress.
For example, in a pregnant woman without symptoms and without a history of preterm delivery, the systematic measurement of cervical length by endovaginal ultrasound is not recommended because this examination is not associated with a reduction in prematurity, specifies the college. In a pregnant woman with no symptoms and no risk factor for preterm delivery, the systematic use of vaginal examination during follow-up consultations is also not recommended because it does not reduce pregnancy complications. .READ ALSO The legal puzzle of gynecological and obstetric violence
In addition, the college recommends asking patients about the existence of current or past violence, including in the context of gynecological or obstetrical consultation or follow-up, the pelvic examination being “less well experienced (anxiety, discomfort, pain , embarrassment, shame) in women with a history of violence than in women without. “Even if a pelvic examination is recommended, it is only offered to the woman, who accepts it or not”, insisted in a press conference Xavier Deffieux, gynecologist who participated in the development of the recommendations.
Restoring trust with patients
The recommendations come as voices grow across Europe to denounce obstetric violence, with some rights groups claiming that women are routinely denied informed consent and are subjected to rude and degrading behavior by medical staff and, in some cases, unsafe practices.READ ALSO Faced with gynecological and obstetrical violence, training is changing
The fact remains that “a gynecological examination may be badly felt, may lack benevolence, but it cannot be equated with rape, otherwise the gynecologists – already too few in the birth rooms – will become even more and more rare, so badly does the profession feel this assimilation”, warns the CNGOF.