We had a patient the other day, very very Orthodox — he wouldn’t even make eye contact with his own wife. He would come in with his head down, staring at the floor — he probably couldn’t even describe me, always staring at the floor. I never once saw him look at her. They can’t expose their arms to their husbands so obviously the vagina is like a whole new level.
Buzzfeed has a piece on what it's like to be a maternity ward nurse in one of NYC's top hospitals. One of the unusual things is having to deal with the uniqueness of haredim, as an unnamed maternity ward nurse notes:
The religious Jews tend to be difficult. Sometimes they come in with their whole gowns because if they’re really, really religious they can’t expose their skin to their husbands and you can’t work with those things in the delivery room, and they don’t get it! So it’s like, can you relinquish that shit for now so I can take care of you? They can’t expose their arms to their husbands so obviously the vagina is like a whole new level.
We had a patient the other day, very very Orthodox — he wouldn’t even make eye contact with his own wife. He would come in with his head down, staring at the floor — he probably couldn’t even describe me, always staring at the floor. I never once saw him look at her. He was on the other side of the curtain as much as possible.
[Hat Tip: Dr. R-F.]