pre-delivery "grooming" issue?

[brillohead]

Kind of a weird situation, but I was at a party this weekend and (don't ask me why) the subject of shaving came up. One of the ladies is a hairdresser who does bikini and Brazilian waxes, and she said that she had a bunch of coworkers ask her to do Brazilians for them when they were pregnant because "the doctor/midwife told them to shave before the delivery".

???

I thought that pubic shaving before delivery went out of style 20-30 years ago. I even challenged this woman, asking if it wasn't just that these women were self-conscious and *chose* to be "bald" for their deliveries, rather than being "told to" do it by their OB/CNM. When I had my son 10 years ago, there was never any mention whatsoever about shaving from my midwife -- they didn't even shave me for my c-section. Another woman at the party has a 17yo and a 7yo and she was never told to shave by her OB. (all of these births happened in the same town, which only has two hospitals)

When I had knee surgery five years ago, I was very specifically told NOT to shave my leg for a week prior to the surgery, to minimize the chance of infection / microabrasions. I really did NOT want to go in there like a cactus, but at least I could understand the reasoning behind it.

I just truly cannot wrap my mind around this situation... it boggles my mind that anyone in this day and age would consider it "standard" or "necessary" to be shaved/waxed prior to the delivery. I know that more women than ever are shaving/waxing (pregnant or not) just as a personal grooming choice. A guy at the party said his stepmother has been an L&D nurse for eons and she had remarked a while back that shaving has become much more popular in the past 3-4 years.

But I just can't believe that there are OBs (and midwives! I *really* had a hard time believing that a CNM would say this!) out there telling women who are 8-9 months pregnant that they need to shave off their pubic hair before coming to the hospital, or else the hospital will shave it off when they get there.

I figure if anyone will know, it will be you folks here... is this really a standard procedure anymore???

[brillohead, ADN, RN]

I am cracking up here, y'all!!!

I can just see it now.... CamaroNurse hooks up with Spidey's mom's son, and when people ask how they met, they'll have to reply, "Well, this woman we don't know --oddly enough her name was "brillohead" -- started a thread on the internet discussing the shaving/waxing of pubic hair, and so we hooked up and have been together ever since!!!

I can just see the pastor's face when ya go in for premarital counseling and tell him this story!

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Wow . . . . amazing that girls think they MUST have this done.

If you REALLY think about . . . certain intimate situations with a partner were not invented in the last 20 years.

They've been around a long time.

Before waxing.

What a thread . .. . ...

steph

[GooeyRN, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

I am glad my husband is clueless that this is the norm. He is one of those change your own oil/tire/engine types, though.

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

Well, dearie me I didn't see that one coming!! We had a similar genre known as the "jackass" culture. They wore blue workshirts their mom embroidered with spiffy counter-culture icons like peace symbols, ankhs and the "keep on truckin" dude. They would drone on endlessly about Kurt Vonnegut and watch Disney's Fantasia while stoned out of their minds. Frequently known to invoke Woodstock as a means to get their freak on while appearing to be avant-garde, and have you listen to Crosby, Stills and Nash "if you can't be with the one you love, love the one your with" as the final kicker.

So, yes Camaro- your mom must have lived very far away. We invented that stuff.

PUBE

BRAZILIAN

PUBE

I simply cannot help it. CSNY had a song entitled "Almost Cut My Hair."

Almost cut my hair

It happened just the other day

It's gettin kinda long

I coulda said it wasn't in my way

But I didn't and I wonder why

I feel like letting my freak flag fly

Cause I feel like I owe it to someone

Must be because I had the flu' for Christmas

And I'm not feeling up to par

It increases my paranoia

Like looking at my mirror and seeing a scar

But I'm not giving in an inch to fear

Cause I missed myself this year

I feel like I owe it to someone

When I finally get myself together

I'm going to get down in that sunny southern weather

And I find a place inside to laugh

Separate the wheat from the chaff

I feel like I owe it to someone

I am seeing (hearing?) this song in an entirely new light now...

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

I am glad my husband is clueless that this is the norm. He is one of those change your own oil/tire/engine types, though.

Me Too! Mine Too.

Well, dearie me I didn't see that one coming!! We had a similar genre known as the "jackass" culture. They wore blue workshirts their mom embroidered with spiffy counter-culture icons like peace symbols, ankhs and the "keep on truckin" dude. They would drone on endlessly about Kurt Vonnegut and watch Disney's Fantasia while stoned out of their minds. Frequently known to invoke Woodstock as a means to get their freak on while appearing to be avant-garde, and have you listen to Crosby, Stills and Nash "if you can't be with the one you love, love the one your with" as the final kicker.

So, yes Camaro- your mom must have lived very far away. We invented that stuff.

:rotfl::yelclap::redlight::tku:

steph:D

[RNnbakes]

am 24 and i refuse to shave my legs (my friends say am not that hairy though), talkless of a wax. Dont they hurt? I waxed my eyebrows once and they hurt like crazy. But seriously if my Obgyn or midwife is telling me to shave before delivery, there better be a serious medical condition to warrant this.

Besides I googled "the landing strip" ....

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

am 24 and i refuse to shave my legs

Ah . . .I'm not that much of an old hippy though - I do shave my legs as I cannot stand the feeling of one hairy leg touching the other hairy leg. I'm blonde but have hairy legs and arms.

So far, no one I've spoken to in L&D has ever told a woman to shave/wax . . .prior to delivery.

steph

[ShiphrahPuah]

My wife had a baby this past winter. She stopped grooming down there due to the obstacle of her belly a couple weeks before she gave birth. She went through a couple hours of attempted lady partsl birth before they shaved the top of her pubic hair for an emergency c-section. No mention was made of shaving her or her shaving herself before that.

But yes, even guys in our 30s expect very little to no hair down there. "The Amazon" as one poster put it would not be attractive.

OK, sorry John, I know you jumped in where you could really get an earful. I just don't get guys who "expect very little to no hair down there." As I said in my previous post, where do all these guys in this generation get this idea, p0rn??? I waxed my eyebrows once, and it HURT. I cannot imagine doing it down there where everything is so sensitive. And as an L&D nurse, I have shaved plenty of women before a c-section, and I can't imagine a woman shaving ALL of that off one her own on a regular basis -- there are some delicate parts down there! As it is, women have to do so much more with makeup and hair than guys ever do. I hear from my single friends that single guys often have horrific hygeine, and yet they expect this from women? And why are 15 year old girls who aren't even sexually active yet getting the idea they should be spending money on getting waxed? This is as bad as young girls thinking they have to starve themselves to be attractive to men. As women, we need to teach our daughters that they are more than just objects. I am not completely against a woman shaving/waxing because SHE wants to, but I am very worried about the undercurrent of what men expect from women these days. I am so glad I am married to a steak-eating manly man who can fix stuff around the house and who is attracted to the female body as God made it. I may be making assumptions, but I think guys who take all their cues from p0rn may eventually find all real women disgusting and will be left only with getting excited by their hand, a bottle of lotion, and pictures of hairless digitally-enhanced women.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Oh ShiphrahPuah - you've got me laughing out loud.

Nursel56 - along with your take on guys from that era - there were also the bleach blonde surfer dudes who wanted to channel that Woodstock era by listening to Jim Morrison or Bad Company while stoned on pot, 'ludes, LSD, etc.

Can't Get Enough

From Bad Company album

Well I take whatever I want

And baby I want you

You give me something I need

Now tell me I got something for you

Come on come on come on and do it

Come on and do what you do

I can't get enough of your love

I can't get enough of your love

I can't get enough of your love

Well it's late and I want love

Love that's gonna break me in two

Don't hang me up in your doorway

Don't hang me up like you do

Come on come on come on and do it

:rotfl:

[nursel56]

QUOTE=CamaroNurse;4307473]I simply cannot help it. CSNY had a song entitled "Almost Cut My Hair."

I really love these songs, because most of the guys of that era not only cut their hair, they very likely are working for Goldman Sachs or similar job-- so they went from sticking it to the Man to being the Man, lol.

QUOTE=Spidey's mom;4307742]Ah . . .I'm not that much of an old hippy though - I do shave my legs as I cannot stand the feeling of one hairy leg touching the other hairy leg. I'm blonde but have hairy legs and arms.

Nursel56 - along with your take on guys from that era - there were also the bleach blonde surfer dudes who wanted to channel that Woodstock era by listening to Jim Morrison or Bad Company while stoned on pot, 'ludes, LSD, etc.

Even as a 70s girl, I was horrified by the hairy leg thing, and armpits, too!! Ewwwww!! No I do not care if Joni Mitchell had hairy armpits fuh-get-about-it! Same thing with make-up. You'll have to pry my carnation pink "Pot'o Gloss" out of my cold dead hands!

Steph- yup-- first heard the word "narly" (gnarly? knarly?) on a Carpinteria, California beach in '72. It took Sean Penn to really popularize that character so many years later. I think we made sand candles that day. I will say the arts and crafts from that era were pretty fun. . .

Here's another thread on this from '09 not sure if it went hopelessly astray. . .:)

Shaved Mons - Phenomenon - Nursing for Nurses

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Oh my gosh . . . .sand candles!! I'd completely forgotten about those.

Wow, a trip down memory lane is fun.

And I'm with ya on the hairy armpits/legs . . . . it was quite popular back then but not with ME.

Gotta take my 8 year old to a Hunter Safety class . . . I'll check out that link later.

steph

[llg, PhD, RN]

It's sad, really ... that so many people can't accept healty, clean human body as being OK. It's teaching young women that their genital area is not acceptable as nature made it -- even if it is cleaned and "groomed" a bit.

I wonder about those men who insist on complete baldness -- like a child's body. What deep psychological process is behind that? Are they intimidated by the thought of a real woman ... a mature woman ... a animalistic woman ... a woman of power? Does it have something to do with their mother and the need to not have sex with someone "like their mother?"

I don't pretend to know ... but I think there is something behind the trend ... something worth thinking about.