Words in turn humiliating or guilty, catastrophic consultations, missed deliveries, episiotomy without consent ... For the last few months, the word has been free around gynecological and obstetric abuse, which many women, of all ages and from all social backgrounds, claim to have been victims of .
The stories of these traumatic experiences have recently been multiplied in the press, on blogs ... On October 5, the shocking work of documentary filmmaker Mélanie Dechalotte, "The Black Book of Gynecology" (ed.First), is came to drive the point by compiling dozens of testimonies relating to this taboo, long remained locked behind the walls of the medical offices and hospitals.
The issue has been taken seriously by the government and even led to the commissioning of a report on the subject, the report of which is expected in March 2018, recently announced the Secretary of State for Gender Equality Marlène Schiappa .
"We accompany women, all women, in their health journey"
Hitherto silent in the face of these accusations, the profession has decided to react. This Monday, October 9, the National Federation of Medical Gynecology Colleges (FNCGM) has indeed, through an official statement, to make the voice of these professionals seriously questioned.
"As doctors serving women (bound by the oath of Hippocrates), gynecologists want to publicly challenge all current attacks that we are the target", we can read in the preamble.
"During our years of activity, we accompany women, all women, from the youngest to the oldest, in their path of health, but more often than not. The women mobilized, thanks to the Defense Committee of Medical Gynecology (CDGM), by the millions they signed petitions for the return of medical gynecology in our country. The specialty of medical gynecology is therefore present, to such an extent that women complain of its absence in certain regions. "
"Untruths" that "undermine confidence" patient-caregivers
Deploring that "a certain number of misrepresented spreads affect the confidence and well-being of our patients," the caregivers also wanted to clarify certain points:
"No, we do not examine young patients for a simple request for contraception - unless it is a complaint or a pathology, say the writings.
No, we do not put an IUD in a wild way. We explain to our patient the course of the act. We schedule medication if needed for easier placement.
No, we do not prescribe the pill to all women. We let our patient make an informed choice by giving her all the information we have and explain the beneficial effects of different types of pills for certain diseases. We give the advantages and disadvantages of other forms of contraception.
No, our pregnancy follow-ups are not "sloppy" even if the patient is fine. "
And to point out, as to the prescription of certain methods of contraception, including the pill, also at the center of a lively debate about its side effects, "we do not flood the planet with endocrine disruptors".
Finally, wanting to remember their mission, gynecologists still insist on regular monitoring of their patients throughout their lives, which is necessary in the early detection of cancers in particular, but also on the many training courses they are called upon to follow. to improve the information and well-being of patients.
"Because it's always the best we want for them," they conclude.