A Medical Student's Emotional Journey in Obstetrics and Gynecology

“Moiz, I don’t know why I’ve been having irregular menses for the last 3 months and it’s heavily bleeding. Do you know something about this or can you help me in this regard?”

Being a third year medical student, I had no answer to this question from one of my female friends who was a non-medico, so I just advised her to visit a nearby hospital. But this was very embarrassing for me as a medical student that I knew nothing about the problem of a patient. The only positive point in the whole story was that I decided to study gynecological problems with dedication whenever I’d get a chance.

Fast-forward to February 2024, this was my first Obs/Gynae call in the outpatient department in the hospital when I saw women of different ages coming for booking visits, routine antenatal checkups, and regular gynecological problems. I was supposed to take histories from the patients, study their cases and present them to the consultant I was working under. While taking histories, I realized the same question and reflected back on the question I was asked a year and a half ago. But being a fourth-year med student, I’d still recall my gynecological knowledge with a lot of difficulty. Somehow, I decided to sail through the situation and held my stature with the confidence of a consultant and took histories of the patients. 

I was witnessing future mothers with anxiety and fear in their eyes—fear of losing their child before birth, fear of unwanted pain, and fear of seeing their child with a lifelong congenital anomaly. On the very first day of the rotation, I saw the unintentional affection these women had towards their unborn children. As a student who lives away from his mother, I felt homesick and missed my mom even more when I realized that she had been through the same pain and processes. When I realized my mother had to go through all of these booking visits (first prenatal appointment), antenatal (routine medical checkups during pregnancy), natal (doctor’s visit during labor), and post-natal (doctor’s appointments after the birth of the baby) checkups because of me, I felt immensely grateful to her. I am thankful for the blessed smile of my mother, which hid all of her pain during her pregnancies, and for giving me a safe shelter in herself for the whole thirty-eight weeks, nurturing a home in her heart thereafter, and enduring the pain of labor just to give me this beautiful life. This gratitude extends to all mothers and women who hide their pain behind a beautiful smile, endure gynecological challenges, and face whatever else may be happening to them, including instances of domestic violence. They are all real-life heroes.

In my humble opinion, the Obs/Gynae departments in hospitals and medical schools serve as a tribute to all women, offering a supportive hand to those who endure the excruciating pain of labor, the relentless agony of menstrual cycles, and the lifelong effects of cesarean scars—all in the profound act of bringing life into the world. As a man, I understand that I can never truly relate to the pain women experience during menstruation, pregnancy, labor, and more. However, I can empathize by imagining the intensity of their pain. I recognize that it is women who hold the power to bring life into this world. To all my fellow men, I implore you—if you cannot share in the physical pain, then at least share in the intensity of the experience. Stand beside the women in your lives, honor their strength, and cherish the gift of life they bestow upon us all. Allama Muhammad Iqbal beautifully articulates the following poetic verse in his poem Aurat in Zarb-e-Kaleem as a tribute to women; whether she be anyone, she is the daughter of Eve and the essence of worldly life.

وجود زن سے ہے تصویر کائنات میں رنگ

اسی کے ساز سے ہے زندگی کا سوز دروں