confusedHello again,
I wanted to post about doctor familiarity with cups, and my experience with different docs in "my circle". I'm not what I would consider a cup evangelist, but it seems to have come up a lot lately and I've been really disappointed with the lack of knowledge out there. So I started prodding every medical professional I know to see exactly what they did know. Let's just say it's a sad day for cups out there...
My OB: (A 40 year old cis-female ex army doc who I'm not crazy about, but got referred to after my primary left...) I started using cups after I got an IUD. The IUD Divas page was a great resource for researching iud's, and I stumbled across cups there. When I had the follow up appt for my iud I talked with the ob about cup use. She says "Oh--you mean Insteads." No... "Oh--you mean cervical caps?" No.... So I bust out my Lunette Selene and do a little impromptu show and tell. She was very open to the idea--her motto was "Whatever floats your boat, just don't yank your iud out." Very much a non-issue. So accepting, but not informed, interested or enthusiastic.
My PCP: (A 50 ish man, trained in Kentucky, appears conservative and uber professional--he's just okay.) Not a clue. Never heard of them. Neutral on the subject, appeared uncomfortable talking about it.
My kids' Ped: (A 60ish woman, has a female partner, self described "old hippie", LOVE her...She's ruined me for all other doctors...) I haven't had a chance to ask her specifically, but her staff, who were of a similar demographic had never heard of them. So more show and tell, referred to the Lunette website, they asked questions, seemed open to it, kind of that frowny puzzled look. A positive interaction. I will ask the ped herself when we go back in 2 weeks.
My cousin's wife who's a Ped/Hospitalist just out of residency: (30 y/o, married to my cis female genetic research scientist cousin, very active in the LGTB community back east, super liberal--two of my favorite people in the whole world, godparents to my children) They had heard of the Keeper from someone at the all women's college they went to, but knew nothing more and didn't know any users. *This one surprised me--I thought for sure she would know something about cups! Lots of her residency was spent focused on women's health!!
Anywho, I'm .5 for 4 right now. (Half a point goes to my cousins wife for knowing the word Keeper"--not a full point because my cousin had to tell her what it was....) Just to put it all in perspective, my area (The Pacific Northwest) is extremely "green". Almost everyone I know cloth diapers their kids, you can find Insteads in every grocery store, breastfeeding a year and beyond is the norm, Diva Cups in the health food stores, everyone composts/gardens/buys local/recycles/babywears, etc. So I am just SHOCKED that the medical professionals who live and work in my area don' t know about cups...
Hmph.