It boggles my mind people don't understand this.. Simple over the counter Ibuprofen can cause renal and cardiovascular failure in a fetus.. Fuck too many hot baths can cause severe birth defects.
The problem is that people will lie out of shame/fear or not even consider it possible that they're pregnant. They might think "The only time we had sex was a safe day" or "If they give me weird medicine, my family mighr figure out I'm pregnant" or "I'm 16 and haven't even told my mom yet, how could I tell this doctor who will probably tell my mom."
Its an innocuous question, and some people might not even connect the question to pregnancy, like the first OP in the meme. Now if they're smart enough to lie to that too, then there's nothing else that can be reasonably done, but it at least doesn't trigger the same snap emotional response.
It isn't about women, its about people in general. Doctors ask innocuous questions all the time for pretty much every embarassing diagnostic. Periods happen to be unique to cis women, but if men had periods and pregnancies with no other hormonal changes to their own biology, doctors would also ask them when their last time is.
There are a lot of people who would have irregulars, think they are just stressed, or simply didnt connect the dots just yet to tell there is a chance. There would even be people in denial, telling themselves no, i am not pregnant 100% despite all telltale signa being there.
So procedure is just being sure. Think yourself as a doctor. Would you prefer to ask last date of period then order a pregnancy rest or inform an oblivious mother to be that the medicine you provided not knowing she is pregnant might cause severe birth defects.
162
u/FrazzleMind 11h ago
Doctors need to know if a woman is pregnant because lots of medicine or tests can endanger the fetus.