I’m a midwife and these are the items I’ve found lost inside pregnant women
DURING labour, there are things you expect to happen.
In most cases, there will be screaming and shouting - before a new bundle of joy is welcomed into the world.
While you'd expect to find a baby during the birthing process, midwives and doctors quite often find a treasure trove hidden up women's vaginas.
For them, it’s nothing short of “another day on the job” - as was previously seen in episode two of BBC One’s series, This Is Going To Hurt.
In one scene, a doctor meets a young woman who had something lodged up her vagina. But she refused to say what it was, because it was a surprise for her boyfriend, who was also there.
The surprise was a Kinder egg with an engagement ring inside, which the boyfriend hadn't been able to retrieve.
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The story is true - which doesn’t surprise Piroska Cavell, who worked as an agency midwife at NHS trusts all over the UK, and in the private sector.
The 55-year-old has pulled dozens of objects out from the vaginas of mums-to-be who were about to give birth.
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While she said people think midwifery is “sitting around cuddling babies”, it couldn’t be further from the reality.
After an incredible career, she eventually left her job to set up a wellbeing clinic, , in Whitstable, Kent.
But after 10 years in the profession, Piroska has dozens of toe-curling stories.
Bikini “bottom”
She revealed “one of her best” to The Sun - finding a pair of bikini bottoms inside the vagina of a woman about to give birth.
Piroska said: “It had been up there for quite some time, the smallest string bikini bottom.
“I said, ‘I just need to remove these’, and she said, ‘Oh, I haven’t seen those for about nine months’.
“She was having sex on the beach about nine months previously, after a few glasses of wine, and she had a tiny tiny string bikini on - one of those that ties on the side.
“The ties had come undone, and it hadn't fallen off, it had fallen in.
“It wasn't the greatest perfume, shall we say? And so she had wondered if she'd gotten an infection.”
Piroska said items can get lodged behind, or wrapped around, the cervix, leading to a fair few unexpected findings upon examination.
She said: “The plastic top of the broom was a surprise for sure.
“I have also discovered lost tampons, false nails, dislodged piercings and pen lids.
“More embarrassingly for the patients is that we very matter of factly pop the items in a plastic bag similar to those you use for liquids in the airport and hand them back to them so they can see them and decide what they would like to do with them.”
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As a foreign object, anything stuck inside the vagina is a concern because it could lead to an infection.
Piroska said: “We recommend any unusual discharge, odour or discomfort - don’t be shy, come and get checked, we have seen it all.”
