Op-Ed: I Became a Doctor Strictly To Fist Women In Their Third Trimester
I’ve been a practicing obstetrician for over 50 years. I’ve guided countless women through their lives from their first menstruation through menopause. I’ve delivered thousands of healthy, beautiful children to women from all walks of life. And the one thing that keeps me going is my passion for putting my entire hand inside of their vaginas in their third trimester to let them know “how dilated they are”.
Sure, I could be gentler or, frankly, just discern their dilation from sight, but where is the thrill in that? Where is the excitement? Where is the satisfaction that comes from when a woman, about to go through the most painful ordeal in her life known as labor, replies with an “Ouch, you’re hurting me” as I journey my closed fist into her birth canal only to ascertain “No, you’re not ready yet, the baby will come when it’s ready”.
Yes, it’s wonderful to bring new life into the world and to know I’ve shepherded this miracle of life from conception to birth, but what’s really gratifying is the fisting part. Yes, it’s the fisting.
