Bath time in Lorna Stewart’s home makes a bit of a splash. Lorna’s little girls, aged two and four, have a wash guided by their mum. Like many parents, Lorna checks they wash their faces, necks, hands and feet. Unlike many parents, she also asks, ‘Who’s ready to wash their vulva?’ (Inside Health, Radio 4, 10 August 2021).
How often do you say ‘vulva’? Can you name its different parts? Vulva is a rarely spoken thing, and not only during children’s bath time.
Fiona Reid, consultant uro-gynaecologist from St Mary’s hospital in Manchester, is worried that so many adults have a poor understanding of the external female genitalia. ‘Many people don’t realise that there are three holes: the vagina, the anus and also the urethra. Often they seem to think that the urethra and the vagina are one and the same. There is also considerable confusion about the clitoris and the urethra – and that can be among people who are training as medics, let alone the general public!’
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