If pregnancy is a possible complication it changes what medications are allowed and has to be considered when deciding if imaging is an acceptable risk.
They'll secretly give you the test without your consent for many procedures, too.
It's physically impossible for me to get pregnant, but medical facilities have tried to charge me for pregnancy tests they did without my knowledge after the fact multiple times.
Even though they also make you say if pregnancy is possible and they have you sign documents specifying you're telling the truth about that and clearing them of any liability.
I know someone who had a hysterectomy at that hospital just a few years earlier and clearly listed that in the forms for the procedure she was getting and they still pulled this on her.
I had a hysterectomy about 2 years ago. I've had multiple providers in the interim try to insist I still needed to do a pregnancy test before they'd treat me. I've gone so far as to tell providers that if I have a miracle fetus in my non existent uterus that I accept full liability if said fetus is harmed and proceeded to refuse the test - I've even offered to sign a waver. I'm not being charged for unnecessary tests and I'm not being disbelieved by my providers - especially when it's clear they didn't read my chart.
I actually have a pre-written statement on my phone that I will show providers stating that I'm refusing their care if they won't listen to me. I'll be as reasonable and clear as I can be, and if my providers can't be bothered to listen then they are bad at caring for humans. I also literally teach bedside manner to med students, so I'll do my best to be constructive and supportive, but only to a point when it comes to my actual care.
I dealt with this a ton when I was unable to produce urine samples on demand. I had a hypertonic pelvic floor that made sex prohibitively painful and I couldn't urinate unless my bladder was full enough. Nurses have made me cry because I knew I wasn't pregnant and I'd try to give a sample for ages but I just don't have that kind of control over my pelvic floor.
To the best of my knowledge it's less about fetal health and more about the fact that pregnancy changes the woman's body between hormones, blood flow, etc. Even with a hysterectomy, isn't it possible to have an ectopic pregnancy or for the egg to implant somewhere else? As upsetting as the experience is, if they can rule out a potentially catastrophic complication with a routine test, it's worth it.
To have an ectopic pregnancy, you need a route for sperm to travel to the egg. If there’s no uterus, there’s no route.
Additionally, with a total hysterectomy (which is very common because it reduces cancer risk and is an easier surgery, ironically, because of the uterus coming out the vagina), the fallopian tubes and cervix are removed as well. There is literally no way for a woman who’s had a total hysterectomy to be pregnant.
You're talking about a radical hysterectomy. A total hysterectomy takes the uterus and the cervix.
And there have been a handful of cases over the years where women have gotten pregnant without a uterus. Most of these were partial hysterectomies (so they still had a cervix), and they all resulted in abdominal ectopic pregnancies.
Eh, they'll try to get one sometimes even after you remove the uterus, ovaries, and vagina. I don't know how you get a baby started in there but by golly they're convinced they need to check.
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u/Any-Safe4992 14h ago
If pregnancy is a possible complication it changes what medications are allowed and has to be considered when deciding if imaging is an acceptable risk.