Woman defended after admitting she swore at doctor while giving birth

‘I feel pretty guilty and am considering sending an apology note to the hospital,’ new mother reveals

Giving birth is known as one of the most difficult and painful tasks a woman can do.

In a recent Reddit post shared to the popular “Am I The A**hole?” subreddit, a new mother spoke candidly about her experience in the hospital while she was in labour and giving birth. “I was in labour for close to 30 hours and was incredibly exhausted. My doctor was great the whole way through and I never had any issues with him,” she wrote in her post.

The woman explained that because of a heart condition she had, she couldn’t receive an epidural. She wrote the pain was so intense towards the end of her experience that she felt “on the verge of passing out”.

“During an awful contraction I said ‘Jesus f***ing Christ’. My doctor looked at me and said ‘Please don’t use the lord’s name in vain’. I quickly responded with ‘Go f*** yourself’. My doctor didn’t say much for the remainder of the birth,” she wrote in her Reddit post.

After giving birth, her husband suggested that she apologise to the doctor for swearing at him, but she never did. “I feel pretty guilty and am considering sending an apology note to the hospital,” the woman wrote before concluding by asking people to weigh in on the situation.

In response, many people took to the comments section of the Reddit post to defend the woman, with users arguing it is the doctor’s job to make their patients comfortable. Others suggested the doctor has likely found himself in similar situations before, due to the nature of his job, and should not responded the way he had.

“I mean, I cannot imagine that that is the worst thing any obgyn heard during a birth. I have an acquaintance who was a nurse in a NICU, and she says it’s a pretty common occurrence for even the most .. religious/whatever of women [to] curse like a proverbial sailor ...,” one comment began.

AITA for swearing at my doctor while giving birth?
byu/AnswerTrue8371 inAmItheAsshole

“Your husband needs to relax, and honestly, if your obgyn REALLY said this to you in the middle of labour... f*** that guy. Honestly, while this may seem extreme, that’s a doctor changing moment. How concerned about your care could he possibly have been if ‘Jesus F***ing Christ’ gives him pause? I mean it’s not like you said to him to be careful because you want to sacrifice the baby to Satan within 10 minutes of being born.”

Another person agreed, writing in the comments about a very similar experience she had while giving birth. “I had a completely unmedicated labour (not by choice). At one point a male doctor came in and told me that I needed to relax and stop screaming. I told him to f*** off,” the comment began.

“He left sharpish and the midwives found it hilarious ... When your husband and doctor push a human being out of their genitals, then they can have an opinion on what you say during labour. Otherwise, they can, as you perfectly put it, go f*** themselves.”

“You shouldn’t be apologising. You should be complaining. Tell anyone who’ll listen that this guy is willing to stop doing his job and scold a woman 30 hours into labour because of his religious beliefs. Wouldn’t you want to know that if you were picking an OB?” a third person asked while taking to the comments to defend the woman.

The Independent has contacted u/answertrue8371 for comment.