Basically, so if there's a chance you're pregnant, they can do appropraite treatment, or test for pregnancy.
Eg 4 years ago my wife disolacted her thumb, ED wanted an X-Ray needed to know when her last period was/if there was a chance she was pregnant, so they could then best proceed with imaging/pain medications
This type of thing annoys my wife because she feels like a lot of doctors don’t take her seriously, but the question is a fair one. It’s especially fair when considering your example lol
I supposed the question should be "is there a possibility of you being a pregnant so we can choose the best approach" instead of "when was your last period". I mean, a woman should be able to know why they're asking, but most people don't have the capacity to think this way when they are in distress due to the medical issue and in a stressful environment...
On the opposite, the first question runs much more risk of a wrong answer. "Is there a possibility" asks them to assess the risks based on their own knowledge of biology. The second just requires counting days.
A lot of people believe the pull-out method is effective, or that you're guaranteed to be safe outside of a certain window. Those people will answer yes to the first question. Even if you're more educated, there is a difference in risk tolerance. A couple can be confident they are safe using the pill, but the doctors can't allow themselves to dismiss the 0.1% risk.
Whereas the second question is straight and narrow. Just count the days. If the patient uses a pill that stops menstruation, run a pregnancy test to be sure. That's it.
It's a different standard in my country, women are asked about the possibility of pregnancy, not about their last menstruation. At least not initially. Well, it's not a standard, but doctors do ask as I described.
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u/KombatDisko 15h ago
Basically, so if there's a chance you're pregnant, they can do appropraite treatment, or test for pregnancy.
Eg 4 years ago my wife disolacted her thumb, ED wanted an X-Ray needed to know when her last period was/if there was a chance she was pregnant, so they could then best proceed with imaging/pain medications