unfortunate/insensitive medical terminology in pregnancy

[imogenlily]

incompetent cervix - why assign a quality that we assign to people: "incompetent", to an organ? why not say "prematurely dilated"

blighted ovum - so agricultural and medieval. when i was having my first pregnancy loss, thinking about a blight on my fields was really upsetting - like one of the seven plagues or something, surely to be followed by locusts.

bloody show - sounds like a horror movie. so dramatic and fear inducing.

symphysis pubis dysfunction - dysfunction? my "pubis" is making life, jerks! fear inducing again - dysfunction doesn't sound like a pubic bone that is still totally able to vaginally birth a child.

feel free to name more, or suggest what you would rename the above terms

[Marissamom]

I have no issue with symphysis pubis disfunction, because it's a daily life dysfunction, not a dysfunction that only comes into play at birth. I had SPD, and I couldn't walk a few steps without being in pain, I don't think anyone would consider that functioning. 

[mylilmonkeys]

SP "disjunction" would probably be more appropriate.  That's what's actually happening, the whole joint spreads too far.  Oh, man does mine hurt!

[WifeofAnt]

Luteal phase 'defect'... and the worst of them all "Habitual Abortion" (for recurrent pregnancy loss).

[ibusymomto5]

I've always disliked the term "Failure to Progress" when referring to a labor that didn't progress according to the textbook timetables.

[KempsMama]

I dislike the use of the word failure any time during labor or pregnancy.  I think it's part of the reason I feel like a "failure" for having to have had two sections.

[ibusymomto5]

Originally Posted by KempsMama 

I dislike the use of the word failure any time during labor or pregnancy.  I think it's part of the reason I feel like a "failure" for having to have had two sections.

I understand. My 1st 2 were c/secs. The 2nd was for so called "Failure To Progress". I also felt like a failure after being labeled that. It took awhile and lots of reading/research to look back and realize that "I" was not the one who failed. It was all the unnecessary medical interference that caused things to derail. I was working as a labor/delivery RN at the time, and the more I read and the more I witnessed first hand every time I went to work the more and more I believed that the medical profession caused A LOT of the complications that happen during/after birth. It slowly all started making sense. I gradually started looking into midwifery and chose that for my next pregnancy. It wasn't until I had my first VBAC that I fully, fully believed that "I" wasn't somehow broken. I'm happy to say that each of my babies since then have been beautiful, complication free homebirths, and all have weighed more than either of my c/sec babies.

I am very thankful that the technology is available should women really need it, and there are some great doctors and nurses who truly love their job and have the patients best interest at heart, who will fight to the end to help a woman achieve a natural birth and avoid unnecessary interference. But, sadly there are many who are not that way. Often the result is that technology and interventions are overused and abused out of unnecessary fear, convenience, or silly rules/traditions that are not based on true knowledge of how birth works. I think often a more appropriate term for a labor labeled "Failure to Progress" would be "Medically Mismanaged Labor".

[KempsMama]

I thought after my first that the medical interventions were to blame.  My second birth, however, was intervention and pain med free until the section, after three and half days of labor and several hours of pushing.  I now believe I am one of those rare women who truly can't give birth vaginally.  It stinks.

[kalamos23]

I hate the term habitual aborter. It sucks to see that on your medical charts, trust me.

[lyterae]

Originally Posted by ibusymomto5 

I've always disliked the term "Failure to Progress" when referring to a labor that didn't progress according to the textbook timetables.

 Me too, when I finally requested my chart from my birth it felt like it was in big red letters across my record... 

[~Adorkable~]

I will just start at the very beginning, and say i hate the term "High Risk" when what they should say in my case is simply "special or high needs"

The only thing the slightest bit different with me is that I'm having twins, in EVERY other way this has been a flawless textbook blissful pregnancy!

[TrishWSU]

I hate "products of conception" used in reference after you've miscarried. No, that was my baby, not a "product of conception" that just passed.

[Liora]

I agree - I hate "products of conception" I also hate "chemical pregnancy" - whatever!  To ME it was a miscarriage.

This isn't a medical term but a misused popular term:  Test Tube Baby.  My DD was NEVER in a frickin' test tube thankyouverymuch.

[SubliminalDarkness]

I hate "spontaneous abortion." My miscarriages were not abortions, and it bothers me that the word is in there somewhere. I even had a doctor once glance over my chart and give me the eyebrow and say, "You had an abortion?" NO. I had a miscarriage. 

[ArcticRose]

"Advanced Maternal Age" I'm 38, not 70!!!

[LovingSky]

I have a friend that is a nurse.  The doctor was very hesitant about giving her the chart to look at.  He gave her a pre-warning "now just remember this is the computer, not my personal feelings"

The chart read "Elderly pregnant female"  she  was only 40 for Pete sake

[samstress]

Originally Posted by TrishWSU 

I hate "products of conception" used in reference after you've miscarried. No, that was my baby, not a "product of conception" that just passed.

this one. 

i heard this one a couple times last year when we lost our "baby", not our "product of conception". 

also, no one ever said this, but i read it in my file somewhere.  that it was a "missed abortion".  that one really bothered me.

[samstress]

Originally Posted by ArcticRose 

"Advanced Maternal Age" I'm 38, not 70!!!

this one too, of course.

[Smokering]

Toni Weschler has a whole list of these in the back of Taking Charge of Your Fertility. IIRC she also objects to "cervical mucus" - she says that as seminal fluid isn't called "seminal mucus", women shouldn't have to get the "icky" word. So she refers to "cervical fluid" throughout the book.

I agree with PPs about "chemical pregnancy", "spontaneous abortion", "products of conception" and the like. I also hate the references after miscarriages to "passing tissue". Yes, I know there's more than the baby's body present, but tissue sounds so horribly... amorphous and impersonal.

I also dislike "overdue" when it's used to mean "post-dates", but I'm not sure if that's a term official medical people use or just the general public. On a related note, I wish forms had an option for putting LMP *or* ovulation date, for those of us who don't ovulate on day 14. It's annoying to have to either tweak the LMP date or explain every time that it's not actually relevant. I guess that's more than just a terminology issue, though.

[jessica_s]

Originally Posted by kalamos23 

I hate the term habitual aborter. It sucks to see that on your medical charts, trust me.

I feel ya on that one. 

I like the line from the new Womanly Art of Breastfeeding "A failed induction? You could just as well call it a successful defense against premature birth."