Podcasts about ob gyns

Howard and Antonia dive into their tenth season with a critical look at several new studies. Topics include:• Estrogen-soaked vaginal packing after surgery lacks evidence for benefits while carrying unnecessary costs• Recent studies on vaginal birth after cesarean deserve careful interpretation beyond aggregate outcomes• Hospital uterine rupture rate is 0.2-0.4%, with only 8% resulting in catastrophic outcomes when properly managed• Warnings against infant co-sleeping date back to ancient times, predating modern pediatric recommendations• Vaginal hysterectomy continues to decline despite shorter OR times, lower costs, and similar complication rates• Swedish study shows only 25% of ideal candidates receive vaginal hysterectomies, with projections showing disastrous decline in rates of appropriate surgeriesStay tuned for our next episode featuring Scott Guthrie discussing neonatal resuscitation and other neonatal concepts important for OB-GYNs to understand.00:00:00 Season 10 Introduction00:01:13 No Evidence for Estrogen Packs After Surgery00:10:35 VBAC Studies: Interpreting Maternal Risks00:19:12 Catastrophic Uterine Rupture: Hospital vs Home00:28:53 King Solomon and Infant Co-Sleeping Dangers00:39:50 Vaginal Hysterectomy: Declining Despite Evidence00:54:09 Cost and Time Analysis of Hysterectomy Routes01:06:24 Closing Thoughts on Season 10Follow us on Instagram @thinkingaboutobgyn.

Guest: Sudheer JayaprabhuOrganization: American Association of Pro-Life OB/GYNsTopic: to correlated with the 3rd anniversary of the Dobbs decision, analysis of misinformation being circulated regarding the sanctity of lifeAAPLOG Website: aaplog.org

Guest: Sudheer JayaprabhuOrganization: American Association of Pro-Life OB/GYNsTopic: to correlated with the 3rd anniversary of the Dobbs decision, analysis of misinformation being circulated regarding the sanctity of lifeAAPLOG Website: aaplog.org

You're listening to Burnt Toast! Today, my guest is Cole Kazdin.Cole is an Emmy Award-winning television journalist and author of What's Eating Us: Women, Food, and the Epidemic of Body Anxiety. Cole came on Burnt Toast about two years ago to talk about What's Eating Us when it first came out—and the way the eating disorder industrial complex leaves so many folks struggling to find durable recovery.Today, Cole is joining us again as an eating disorder expert, but also as a fellow woman in perimenopause… who is reeling right now from all the diet culture nonsense coming for us in this stage of life.Our goal today is to call out the anti-fatness, ageism and diet culture running rampant in peri/menopause-adjacent media. I know a lot of you have more specific questions about menopause (like how much protein DO we need?). Part 2 of the Burnt Toast Menopause Conversation will be coming in a few weeks with Mara Gordon, MD joining us to tackle those topics. So drop your questions in the comments for Dr. Mara! This episode is free but if you value this conversation, please consider supporting our work with a paid subscription. Burnt Toast is 100% reader- and listener-supported. We literally can't do this without you.PS. You can always listen to this pod right here in your email, where you'll also receive full transcripts (edited and condensed for clarity). But please also follow us in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and/or Pocket Casts! And if you enjoy today's conversation, please tap the heart on this post — likes are one of the biggest drivers of traffic from Substack's Notes, so that's a super easy, free way to support the show!Episode 199VirginiaSo, Cole, you are back because you emailed me to say: Is all of menopause a diet? What are we doing? By which I mean menopause and perimenopause—we're going to kind of lump them together everyone. They are distinct life stages. But in terms of the cultural discourse, they're very much hooked together.You emailed and said:Look, I'm not a menopause expert, but I am an eating disorder expert and I'm seeing a lot of stuff that I don't like. How do we take a skeptical but informed eye about the messaging we get as we age? How do we get through this without developing an eating disorder as we are in the full witch phase of our lives?So, let's just start by getting a lay of the land. What are our first impressions as women newly arriving in perimenopause?ColeThere's something that is so exciting about all the books that are out and the research that's emerging, from actual OB/GYNs to the existence of the Menopause Society to Naomi Watts wrote a book about menopause. I think we're the first real generation to have menopause information and conversations.When I asked my mom about her perimenopause and menopause she doesn't really remember it. So I think I really want to preface this by saying how valuable this is. When I sat down to start looking at the available information and read these books, I was stunned by some of the symptoms that I've never heard of—tinnitus, joint pain, right? Things that aren't just hot flashes, which I think are the standard menopause symptoms that we tend to hear about.VirginiaThere are a lot. It's like, everything that could be happening to your body.ColeAnd then very quickly… there's a sharp left turn to intermittent fasting. VirginiaYes. It's like, wait, what? I want to know about my joint pain? What are we doing?ColeAnd it felt to me, like some sort of betrayal. Because you get on the train of “we're going to learn about something that's happening to our bodies that no one's ever really talked about or paid attention to before.” And, then it's oh wait, I have to track my protein. What just happened? I'm having so much trouble with that clash of gratitude and absolute hunger—pun intended, sorry, there's no other word—for the information and research. And then being told, “But no hunger!”VirginiaI mean, this is always the story with women's health, right? Women's health is so ignored and forgotten by the mainstream—the media, the medical system—so we are left to put it together on our own.And of course, we have a proud tradition of centuries of midwives teaching women about our bodies. It's the Our Bodies, Ourselves legacy. There's all this wisdom that women figure out about how our bodies work, what we need to know to take care of ourselves. But because it's being ignored by scientific research, it's being ignored by the mainstream, and it is this sort of an underground thing—that also opens up a really clear market for diet culture.So it's really easy to find an influencer—and they may even be a doctor or have some other credentials attached to their name—who you feel like, “Oh, she's voicing something that I am feeling. I'm being ignored by my regular doctor and here's this person on Tiktok who really seems to get it,” …and then also wants to sell me a supplement line. It's so quick to go to this place of it's just another Goop, basically.ColeAnd what if it didn't go there? What does the world look like where it doesn't go there? I am really hyper conscious of my own vulnerabilities—even though I feel very, very, very, very solid in my eating disorder recovery. I don't go there anymore. I know there are vulnerabilities there, because I struggled on and off with eating disorders for decades. But, I really feel solid in my recovery. And then I wonder if I should start tracking my protein? I was shocked to even hear that in my own head, and then to hear my very sophisticated turn of “well, you're not looking at calories, you're not trying to get smaller, you're done with that for real for real. But you should probably start looking at how much protein you're getting!” Wait a minute, stop!VirginiaWhere's that coming from?ColeI'm fortunate enough that because of my background and because I wrote a book on this, I can reach out to top eating disorder researchers in the country, and just ask a question. Isn't this kind of funny that I did this? Isn't that interesting? What do you think? And to be met with: Do not go near tracking apps! That is not safe for you. DO NOT track your protein. It's not funny. I did that last night. I just reached out to one of the top eating disorder experts in the country, because this is something we don't talk about. But I think with something like intermittent fasting, which we hear about in all aspects of wellness diet culture, we have to remember that intermittent fasting is extreme food restriction. Our bodies panic when we fast. But these can set us on roads towards very disordered relationships with food in our bodies. And the worst case is developing an eating disorder.VirginiaRight, or living with a subclinical eating disorder that makes you miserable, even if no one ever says, yes, you have a diagnosis.ColeAbsolutely. Thinking about protein every day is stressful and just being consumed with this idea of what we're eating and how much we're eating and what we need to be doing. And the fear of the consequences, right? If I don't track my protein, I'm going to break a hip, right? I mean, I'm condensing the messaging. But if you follow the steps, that's kind of where it goes.VirginiaWell, and I don't think it's even just “I'm going to break a hip.” I think it's “I'm going to become old and vulnerable and undesirable.” The hip is symbolic of this cultural narrative about older women's bodies, which is that you are going to become disposable and irrelevant. And the fear that's stoking us, that's making us hungry for the information—which is valid, it is a mysterious phase of life that we don't know enough about. But there's this fear of of irrelevancy and and not being attractive, and all of that. You can't tease that out from “I'm worried about my bone density.” It's all layered in there.ColeAnd my own OB/GYN told me at our last visit—she offers a separate let's have a talk about perimenopause appointment, which I think is great. It's essentially about hormone replacement therapy and when and if that might be part of your journey. But she told me that most people who don't have some immediate symptom like hot flashes are coming to her in perimenopause because of weight gain or redistribution of weight, which is very normal during this phase of life. And they are asking if hormone replacement therapy could “fix” that issue.So it's the post-baby body thing all over again. As if there's a return to something, as opposed to a forward movement. But the fact that that's an entry point for a lot of these menopause physicians that write books and have a presence on social media. It's very, very connected to an audience that is looking for weight loss.VirginiaI think there is something about any mysterious health situation—whether it's perimenopause, or I see a similar narrative happen around diabetes often—where the condition gets held out as this worst case scenario that's so so bad that therefore any concerns you had about is it disordered to diet? Is it risky for me to count protein? All of that kind of goes out the window because we get laser focused and we have to solve this thing. You no longer get to have feelings about how pursuing weight loss can be damaging for you. This physical health thing trumps all the emotions.ColeIt's a medical issue now.VirginiaRight! I'm at sea in this whole new complicated medical landscape of menopause. I don't know what it is, so obviously, whatever I used to feel about needing to accept my body no longer applies. I don't get to do that anymore. I have to just like, drill in and get serious about this.I've had older women say this to me. Like, “you can be body positive in your 30s or early 40s, but get over 50, sweetheart, and you're not going to be able to do that anymore.” But why not? That should be available to us throughout our lives. So that frustrates me. Because simultaneously, we have no good information, we have no good science about what's happening to us. And yet menopause weight loss is given this gravitas. You can't argue with it, and you have to just be okay eating less for the rest of your life now.ColeMaybe this is where body liberation is in one of its most critical stages? To develop it here in this phase of life. Because I think what complicates it further, and I will give people the benefit of the doubt that it is not nefarious when the messaging is also married to we're not trying to get smaller, we're trying to get stronger. But here's also how to get rid of belly fat. And that I find genuinely confusing, I think, oh good, you're not talking about weight loss. Oh, wait, you are talking about weight loss. But is being stronger now a proxy for weight loss? You're telling people not to diet.We see this in other arenas, and I even wonder, gee, now that these weight loss drugs are so ubiquitous, is menopause, the next frontier of of health and weight being conflated? And it's such a letdown. I mean, I know that sounds so simple it's just so disappointing. It's so disappointing.VirginiaYou called it the Full Witch Phase. This should be a stage of our life that's more free than ever before, right? We're not 20-somethings trying to find a man to be a baby daddy, we're through with that pressure.ColeNo this is the taking pottery lessons, stranger sex, no pregnancy phase! Maybe, I don't know. For some people.VirginiaIt seems like it should be!ColeIt could be.VirginiaAnd yet, here is all this body stuff/weight stuff coming in.And women go through this at every stage of our life. I'm watching my my middle schooler in puberty, where weight gain is absolutely normal and what we want their bodies to be doing. Reproductive years, childbirth, weight gain—this is a part of having a body with a uterus is that you are going to go through phases where it is normal for your body to get bigger. And in every one of these stages, we're told it's terrible and you should avoid it at all costs. That said, I do feel like in some of the other arenas, like around pregnancy, there's a lot of pressure on women to get their bodies back after they have babies. But you can find a counter-narrative that's saying, no, I don't have to erase the evidence that I had a child. My body can be different now, I'm going to embrace that. There are those of us out there saying that.But I don't see that counter-narrative around menopause. I don't see women saying, “Yep, you're going to have a bigger stomach in menopause. It makes sense because of the estrogen drop off.” This is why bodies change in menopause. Let's just embrace it. Instead, it feels like this, of all the weight gains, you must fight this one the most. And I don't understand. I mean, again, I think there's a link to ageism there. But what else do you think is going on there?ColeI mean, it's ageism, it's ableism, it's beauty standards. It's all the things. It's how we're valued as women. I want to dive deeper in this to see the fat menopause doctors. I would like to find some of those. I don't know.VirginiaListeners, if you know some, drop them in the comments please. We want to talk to the fat menopuase doctors! ColeTo just see people that look different from some of these “classic doctors”e we see on Instagram and Tiktok, to just talk about what do we really have to think about during menopause? We know that the drop in estrogen affects from the brain, affects everything in our bodies, and how we don't want to lose sight of that because we're trying to get rid of belly fat either.VirginiaRight, right? I think of Jessica Slice, who I had the on the podcast recently, talking about differentiating between alleviating suffering and trying to “fix” your body. Or caring for your body instead of trying to force it into an ideal. We're not saying that this isn't a time of life where women need extra support, where our bodies need extra care. That makes sense to me. My face does this weird flushing thing now it never used to do. I just suddenly get blotchy for like, 20 minutes and feel really hot. But only in my face. It's not even a hot flash. So there are all these wild things our bodies are doing that we deserve to have information about, and we deserve to have strategies to manage them. I mean, the face blotchy thing is not really impacting my quality of life. But there are a lot that do. The night sweats are terrible. I want strategies to alleviate that suffering. And it just seems like what a disservice we do when all of the advice is filtered through weight loss instead of actually focusing on the symptoms that are causing distress.ColeYes, yes. And is it boring to talk about weight fluctuation? Because I find it interesting that weight fluctuation is so deeply correlated with so many health problems. There has been research on this for years. That's why I ask if it's boring, because we know this, and we don't talk about it nearly enough, but we know this. The research is so, so so deeply there. It's correlated with chronic illnesses. And who among us hasn't in their history had weight fluctuation? With our diets or whatever our behaviors are. And so what is weight fluctuation going to do in menopause? I doubt that's being studied.I was looking at weight fluctuation and fertility when I was researching my book, and there aren't those studies, because fertility studies are much shorter term, and weight fluctuation studies are longer term. So never do they meet.But could weight fluctuation impact negatively our menopause experience? It would make perfect sense if that if that were the case.VirginiaYes. This maybe isn't a stage of life wher you want to be weight cycling and going up and down, and deliberately pursuing going down, because there might be cost to it. I mean, we do know that higher body weight is really protective against osteoporosis, for example. If you're concerned about breaking a hip, pursuing weight loss, I would argue, is counter to that goal for a lot of us. Researchers call this the obesity paradox, which is an extremely anti-fat, terrible term. But we know that folks in bigger bodies have lower mortality rates, that they survive things like cancer treatments and heart surgery with better outcomes.So as we're thinking of our aging years, where we're all going to be dealing with some type of chronic condition or other, some type of cancer, heart stuff, like this is what's going to happen right. Then pursuing thinness at any cost is not actually going to be the prescription for that. There's a good reason to hold onto your body fat.ColeAnd I come back to the stress piece of this, which I don't think can be overstated. Stress is so detrimental to our health, and this preoccupation with food, body exercise, tracking apps, all of that really does elevate our stress. And I think we're so used to it. It's invisible in so many ways because it's bundled in with so many other stressors in our lives. Eliminating the stressor of what am I eating? Am I getting enough fiber? All of that is really, really can be a crucial piece of having a better experience in our bodies and of our health. It's that Atkins echo over and over and over again, which I thought we had decided already we were done with. But it's those two triggers, the protein, resistance training, lifting.I think it comes back to, you can control your behaviors. You can't control your weight. And if weight is ever going to be some sort of goal, you're really setting yourself up for stress, health problems, and again, at worst, an eating disorder.VirginiaAbsolutely. And we should caveat here: I personally love lifting weights. It's my favorite kind of workout. If these things bring you joy, keep doing that. We're not saying nobody should lift weights or nobody should eat protein. I just feel like I have to slip that in because people get frustrated.ColeNo, I think that's important, and I am the same as you. I love lifting weights, and for me, it has actually been an antidote to a lot of the compulsive cardio I did when I had an eating disorder. There's something about lifting weights that is so grounding. Every month or so, I go to this this guy—he does training in his garage—and we lift weights. And I told him before our first session, look, I'm recovering anorexic, I'm perimenopausal. I'm not here to have language like “tone up” and all of that. I do not want to do it. I want to lift something heavy and put it down. That's what I'm here for. I was a little aggressive.VirginiaI mean, you have to put the boundary, though, you really do.ColeBut to his credit, he has respected that. And we lift heavy shit and put it down, and it is so so good for me. In repairing my relationship with exercise, which for me was one of the biggest challenges in recovery. So when someone says, lift weights, I'm here for that, because I really enjoy that. But I agree with you. I think it's so important that we go with our ability and something we enjoy.VirginiaThe main reason I lift weights is because I do a lot of gardening, and I have to be able to lift a heavy bag of soil or a pot or dig big holes and do these things.We need to remember that these things, eating protein, lifting weight, it's supposed to support you living the life you want to live. It's not a gold star you need to get every day to be valuable as a person. I can tell weightlifting all winter is really helping me garden this year. That's what I did it for. So you can recognize the value that these things have in your life—I'm less cranky if I eat protein at breakfast. I make it through my work morning better. And not be measuring our success by whether or not we're doing those things and like, how we're doing them and counting how much we're doing them every day.ColeWell, that is key. I mean, first of all, I will say there are a few things more gratifying than hauling a 40 pound bag of cat litter up the stairs to my second floor apartment. I feel like I need some sort of like, are people watching me? Am I getting a medal for this? Even if no one is.VirginiaI totally agree.ColeIt is exciting, me, alone with myself, walking up the stairs with that, and it's not that hard. I get excited. I lift weights so I can carry this bag of cat litter. I mean, it's more complex than that, but that is a very significant percentage of why I lift weights.VirginiaBecause that impacts your daily functioning and happiness.ColeAnd I think with eating, I find I'm in a better mood when I'm carbing it out. You know what I mean? I'm sure protein is great. And I have some. I do all the things, whatever. And everyone's body is different. Everyone responds differently. But some people will say, oh, when I have salmon, I just feel fantastic or something. I don't know. VirginiaHave they tried pasta? Do they not know about pasta?ColeFor me, I feel better when I eat—it almost doesn't matter what it is. And if I don't eat, then I have low energy and brain fog and don't feel good. VirginiaAnd again, it's because of the fear mongering around the stage of life. It's because of this you're now in this murky waters where everything could go wrong with your body at any moment type of thing. I mean, this is what diet culture teaches us. Control what you can control. Okay, well, probably I can't control what's happening to my hip bones, but we think we should be able to control how we how we exercise and losing weight. The fact is, your day to day context is going to change. Having arbitrary standards you have to hold yourself to because of vague future health threat stuff is unhelpful when you may have a week where you don't have time to make all the salmon and you have to just be okay with eating takeout. There's no grace for just being a person with a lot else going on. And every woman in perimenopause and menopause is a person with a lot going on.All right, we are going chat a little bit about one of the folks that we see on the socials talking about menopause relentlessly —Dr. Mary Claire Haver.ColeShe wrote the book The New Menopause, which is a really great, significant book in many ways in terms of providing information that has never been provided before. VirginiaOh yes, this is @drmaryclaire.ColeWhen I bought her book, I saw that she has also written The Galveston Diet, and I said to myself, hmm. And then bought the book anyway. And you know now it all makes sense. Because The Galveston Diet is is very geared towards the perimenopausal, menopausal lose belly fat, but also have more energy help your menopause symptoms, right? How can you knock that? Come on.And so it's very sort of interwoven with all the diet stuff. So it's not surprising that she would bring so much of that up in her menopause book and a lot on her Instagram. She wears a weighted vest all the time. I thought, “Should I get a weighted vest?” And I again, I wasn't sure if I was doing it for menopause diet culture reasons, or I just love to lift heavy things reasons. I thought, “That could be cool. Maybe that'll be fun. I'll just wear a weighted vest around the house, like this woman, who's the menopause authority.”I guess what's coming across in this interview is how vulnerable I am to any advertising!VirginiaNo, it's relatable. We all are vulnerable! I mean, I'm looking at her Instagram right now and I'm simultaneously exhausted at the prospect of wearing a weighted vest around my house and, like…well…ColeWouldn't that be convenient? But let me save you a minute here, because when you go to whatever your favorite website is to buy weighted vests, and you look at the reviews, it's split between people saying, “This is the best weighted vest [insert weighted vest brand here],” and other people saying, “Gee, the petroleum smell hasn't gone away after two months.”VirginiaOkay. I can't be walking around my house smelling petroleum. No, thank you.ColeBecause they're filled with sand that comes from who knows where, and the petroleum smell doesn't go away. And according to some reviews I read—because I did go down the rabbit hole with this—it actually increases if you sweat. So I thought, You know what, I can do this in other ways.VirginiaI'm sure there are folks for whom the weighted vest is a revelation. And, it's a very diet culture thing to need to be alway optimizing an activity. You can't just go for a walk. You need to be walking with a weighted vest or with weighted ankles. Why do we need to add this added layer of doing the most to everything?And I'm looking at a reel now where she talks about the supplements she's taking. Dr. Mary Claire is taking a lot of supplements.ColeSo many supplements! VirginiaVitamin D, K, omega threes, fiber, creatine, collagen, probiotic… That's a lot to be taking every day. That's a really expensive way to manage your health. Supplements are not covered by insurance. There's a lot of privilege involved in who can pursue gold standard healthy menopause lifestyle habits.ColeAnd it's always great to ask the question, who's getting rich off of the thing that I'm supposed to be doing for my health? Because it's never you.VirginiaYes. She keeps referencing the same brand — Pause.Cole It's hers. It's her brand.VirginiaOh there you go. So, yeah, taking advice from someone with a supplement line, I think, is really complicated. This is why it's so difficult to find a dermatologist as well. Any medical professional who's selling their own product line has gone into a gray area between medical ethics and capitalism that is very difficult to steer through.ColeAnd even in the most, let's say, the most noblest, pure intentions, it still creates that doubt, I think, with patients.VirginiaI'm interested to see some “body positive” rhetoric coming in. There's a reel I'm looking at from May, where she's talking about, “When you were 12, you wanted to be smaller…” The message is, as you get older, you're constantly realizing that the body you once had was the perfect body.And so she's arguing that we shouldn't this pursuit of thinness can leave us more fragile, more frail and less resilient as we age. Instead of chasing someone else's standard, celebrate the strength, power and uniqueness of you. “Because your body's worth isn't measured in dress sizes. It's measured in the life it lets you live.” Which is kind of what we've been saying. And this is from a woman who sells a diet plan, so I don't know how to square that.ColeThat's what I'm struggling with, with this whole menopause thing! Because when someone starts selling me supplements, or talking about weight loss, talking about tracking your protein, I no longer trust them. And yet, it's not so black or white, because there's a lot good information too. She's helping a lot of people, myself included, with the information about menopause symptoms and the history of research or lack thereof, on this. It's really valuable, and it is hard to square that with the other part.VirginiaIt says to me that these people are choosing profit. I mean, maybe this isn't the piece she believes the most. Maybe she cares more about getting the information about menopause out there, and cares more about correcting those imbalances—but she's also comfortable profiting off this piece. And that's something that you just have to hold together. And I mean, listeners have been asking me to do a menopause episode for like, months and months. And the reason I keep not doing it, and the reason, when you emailed, I was like, Oh, good, there's finally a way to do this, is I can't find an expert who is a menopause and perimenopause expert who is not pushing weight loss in a way that I am uncomfortable with. There certainly isn't a social media influencer person doing it. I mean, my own midwife is great and extremely weight neutral. I hope people are finding, individually, providers who are really helpful. But the discourse really is centering around “you're in this terrifying stage of life you have to fight looking older at every turn,” and that includes pursuing thinness now more than ever.ColeAnd: Don't worry, we'll fix this belly fat thing.It's so difficult to find providers who can talk about menopause, period. I have friends who went through menopause early and they were given every test in the world except a conversation about menopause, and found out after thousands of dollars and spinal taps and and really big procedures, that it was early menopause. So it's so difficult to find a provider who is educated in menopause and can talk with you about it in a constructive way. So that's the first step.Then to be so audacious as to hope for a provider who will then be weight inclusive. Maybe we're not there yet.VirginiaWe're really reaching for the stars.I hate to end on a depressing note, but I do think that's where we are. I think it is hopefully helpful that we're just voicing that and voicing this tension, that we're seeing this disconnect, that we're seeing in this conversation, that there needs to be better better information. That we need menopause voices who are not selling us things and pushing weight loss.But yeah, this is, this is where we are. So I appreciate you talking with me.ColeMe too, and the answer to menopause is not weight loss.VirginiaIt really does not seem like it should ever have to be. It really is never the answer.ColeIsn't the whole point caftans??VirginiaCan we please get to the caftan stage? I've been training my whole life to be in my caftan era. It's all I want.ButterVirginia Well, speaking of caftans and things that make us delighted, Cole, do you have any Butter for us this week?ColeI do. My Butter is very specific. It's my friend Catherine's swimming pool. A good friend of mine from New York is now here in Los Angeles, where I live, helping to take care of her mother. And they have a lovely house with a heated swimming pool in the midst of a garden. I've never had the opportunity to be a garden person because of where I have lived. I would love the chance one day.VirginiaIn your Full Witch era!ColeIn my Full Witch era. Lavender and roses around the swimming pool. It's kind of like a three or four hour vacation. I went there the other day. I brought my son. He was absolutely delighted to be out of our two bedroom apartment. So my Butter is my goal. My summer goals is more of my friend Catherine's pool. And whatever that is for anyone else, I wish that for them, too.VirginiaYes, I love this Butter. I am going to double your Butter, because we have a small pool that I love. It's not a full-size swimming pool. It's called a plunge pool, but it's big enough for a couple of us, to get in. And it's in my garden, which is a magical combination. And the thing about being having pool privilege—which I own. I have a pool, so I have pool privilege—the thing about pool privilege is your kids will then disgust you, because they will stop caring that the pool is there.It's just like everyone gets a backyard swing set. It becomes window dressing. They don't see it. They're like, “I don't need to go in the pool. I don't want to go in the pool.” And you're just like, do you not know how privileged you are? Do you not know how lucky you are that we have a pool? But I realized last night the trick to it. We were having dinner on the back patio, and I wanted them to go swimming after dinner, because I'm trying to wear out my kids. And they didn't want to go in. And then I was like, “Well, what if you went in with your clothes on?” And they were like, oh my god, this is the best ever. I just let them jump right in. And then I went and put a swimsuit on, because that is not my journey.Then we hung out in the pool, and once I get them in there, we have the best conversations. Pools, being in any water, is such a nice way to bond with your kids, because you can't really be on your phone. Something about the water, it just puts everyone in a good mood.But yeah, for anyone else with pool privilege and annoying children, just let them go in with their clothes on. It's fine. You're going to be dealing with wet clothes anyway afterwards.ColeThat is such a constructive menopause tip.VirginiaTrue. The reason I wanted to go in the pool is because I was freaking hot. And I could have gone in without them, but I was trying to be a fun mom, you know? Trying to have a magical moment, damn it.Well, Cole, this was wonderful. Tell folks where we can follow you, how we can support your work, where we send our vents about our menopause symptoms.ColeI'm on Instagram and have been kind of quiet on Instagram lately, but I'll get loud if we talk about menopause.VirginiaAll right, all right. I'm here for it. Thank you so much for doing this. This was really delightful.ColeThank you so much. So good to talk.The Burnt Toast Podcast is produced and hosted by Virginia Sole-Smith (follow me on Instagram) and Corinne Fay, who runs @SellTradePlus, and Big Undies.The Burnt Toast logo is by Deanna Lowe.Our theme music is by Farideh.Tommy Harron is our audio engineer.Thanks for listening and for supporting anti-diet, body liberation journalism! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit virginiasolesmith.substack.com/subscribe

In episode 78 of Venture Everywhere, Alessandra Henderson, co-founder and former CEO of Elektra Health and LP of Everywhere Ventures, chats with Fifi Kara, co-founder and CEO of Aster — an AI-powered operating system for women's health clinics working outside traditional hospital systems. Fifi shares Aster's origins, sparked by a family medical crisis, and its evolution into a mission-driven platform designed to equip midwives and OB-GYNs with smarter, more supportive tools. Fifi also discusses how Aster is replacing outdated legacy software with a unified platform that streamlines workflows, enhances clinical decision-making, and expands access to patient-centered women's healthcare across the U.S.In this episode, you will hear:Delivering care in rural areas affected by labor unit closures and private equity buyoutsCo-designing with midwives and OB-GYNs to match real clinical workflowsExpanding access to care by supporting out-of-hospital women's health providersLeveraging Aster's data to build inclusive, AI-powered clinical support toolsBalancing using existing language models vs. building proprietary solutionsLearn more about Fifi Kara | AsterLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fifikara Website: https://www.astercare.com Learn more about Alessandra Henderson | Everywhere Ventures | Elektra HealthLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessandrahendersonWebsite: https://everywhere.vc/ Website: https://www.elektrahealth.com

Episode Summary: Breast Cancer Prevention Just Took Two Big Steps ForwardIn this short but powerful episode, Georgie breaks down two groundbreaking developments in breast cancer prevention that could reshape how we think about screening, menopause care, and early intervention:1️⃣ An FDA-authorized AI tool—Clairity Breast—that predicts a woman's five-year breast cancer risk from a standard mammogram, even when it appears normal.2️⃣ A menopause drug, Duavee, that may help prevent invasive breast cancer in women with a history of high-risk lesions like DCIS.These tools aren't just high-tech—they're practical, accessible, and represent a smarter, more equitable approach to women's health.Whether you're a clinician, policymaker, or woman navigating your own care, this episode breaks down what you need to know.

In this powerful, long-form interview, Kristina Bauer returns to the Tick Boot Camp Podcast to share her in-depth story of surviving decades of misdiagnosed Lyme disease — from childhood illness and misdiagnoses to motherhood, advocacy, and remission. Diagnosed at age 40 after 32 years of medical dismissal, Kristina discusses her experience with congenital Lyme disease in her four children, postpartum Lyme flares, and her commitment to raising awareness through the Texas Lyme Alliance, Center for Lyme Action, and International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) Ambassadorship. Her testimony covers essential ground: pediatric Lyme, maternal Lyme, psychiatric symptoms like Lyme rage, postpartum depression misdiagnosis, sexual transmission, and the need for insurance and diagnostic reform. This episode is a masterclass in Lyme disease education and empowerment, especially for women, mothers, and families navigating complex Lyme journeys. Key Topics Discussed Early Lyme Exposure: Tick bites at age 8 in Illinois and decades of misdiagnosis (juvenile arthritis, Crohn's, ulcers) Chronic Symptoms: Sinus infections, Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), fibromyalgia, neurological and psychiatric symptoms Postpartum Lyme Flares: Crushing fatigue, misdiagnosed postpartum depression, and suicidal ideation risk Congenital Lyme Disease: How all four of her children were born with Lyme and are now in remission Mental Health Awareness: Lyme rage, mood swings, panic attacks, and the importance of therapy Tick-Borne Disease Advocacy: Legislative work in Texas, ILADS, educating OB-GYNs, and pushing for proper diagnostic protocols Medical System Failures: Inadequate Lyme testing, gaslighting, high insurance costs for chronic illness Lyme & Pregnancy Research Study: An open call for pregnant individuals diagnosed with Lyme disease during their current pregnancy, OR with post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) in the past 5 years. Learn More / Apply Kristina's Healing Protocols IV and Oral Antibiotics (33 pills/day for 4 years) Ozone Sauna Therapy Dual Infrared Sauna IV Glutathione and Vitamin C Autologous Stem Cell Therapy Advocacy Calls to Action Get tested with qualified Lyme-literate doctors (LLMDs) Pre-conception testing for both partners Consider cord blood testing for newborns (e.g., IGeneX) Push back against “one-dose doxycycline” treatment myths Advocate for maternal and congenital Lyme research funding Check out Kristina's Integrative Nutrition Health Coaching Memorable Quotes “Infection turned into action is the mindset I pass forward.” “A mom with Lyme can't be left alone with crushing fatigue and a newborn — it's not just postpartum, it's pathology.” “Doxy is not a one-stop shop. One tick bite can carry 19 pathogens with 100 strains.”

Vikram Bhaskran, CEO and Co-Founder, and Dr. Rohan Ramakrishna, Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder of Roon, have taken on the mission to provide trustworthy and personalized medical information to patients and caregivers. Leveraging technology and the expertise of medical professionals, Roon has created a comprehensive resource for navigating medical challenges. They emphasize the importance of addressing misinformation and providing accurate, science-based information. The platform is not intended to replace doctors, but to supplement relevant information and enable better communication with healthcare providers and improve patient outcomes. Vikram explains, "Our mission is to be the best place online for anyone navigating any health condition. I started the company really through my own journey as a caregiver to my dad, who had ALS. And in that journey, I had two insights. One is that the biggest tech companies fail us. And in this moment of crisis, most people navigating any health condition will turn to "Doctor Google" and Facebook groups, which can be an overwhelming experience. And so I felt we could do better as someone coming from the tech world. I was at Pinterest before this, and my second insight was that there's a finite number of doctors. And so the experience of health today for really anyone is that you spend a ton of time in waiting rooms. You spend a ton of time waiting for someone to answer your health questions. And so Roon was born out of those two insights. And our goal is to be the best online platform to scale the world's best medical experts and their knowledge." Rohan elaborates, "The doctors are from more than 70 different academic medical institutions, and the number is growing. They represent all the experts who have expertise to share alongside the health journeys we've launched. So as of today, we've launched brain cancer, ALS, dementia, Fertility and Family Building, PCOS, endometriosis, menopause, and we are soon to launch several other conditions related to women's health, including gynecological health. Our experts span the doctors you would expect, such as oncologists, neurologists, and OBGYNs, among others, but also social workers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and legal and financial counselors - really anyone who has real expertise that they can lend to the experience of a journey. So much of dementia care, for example, is not driven by your neurologist, but by the experience of caring for someone who needs help, whether it's at a memory care facility or a skilled nursing facility, dealing with issues that doctors typically don't have a great answer for."  #Roon #HealthcareInformation #MedAI #HealthcareOutcomes #DigitalHealth roon.com Download the transcript here

Vikram Bhaskran, CEO and Co-Founder, and Dr. Rohan Ramakrishna, Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder of Roon, have taken on the mission to provide trustworthy and personalized medical information to patients and caregivers. Leveraging technology and the expertise of medical professionals, Roon has created a comprehensive resource for navigating medical challenges. They emphasize the importance of addressing misinformation and providing accurate, science-based information. The platform is not intended to replace doctors, but to supplement relevant information and enable better communication with healthcare providers and improve patient outcomes. Vikram explains, "Our mission is to be the best place online for anyone navigating any health condition. I started the company really through my own journey as a caregiver to my dad, who had ALS. And in that journey, I had two insights. One is that the biggest tech companies fail us. And in this moment of crisis, most people navigating any health condition will turn to "Doctor Google" and Facebook groups, which can be an overwhelming experience. And so I felt we could do better as someone coming from the tech world. I was at Pinterest before this, and my second insight was that there's a finite number of doctors. And so the experience of health today for really anyone is that you spend a ton of time in waiting rooms. You spend a ton of time waiting for someone to answer your health questions. And so Roon was born out of those two insights. And our goal is to be the best online platform to scale the world's best medical experts and their knowledge." Rohan elaborates, "The doctors are from more than 70 different academic medical institutions, and the number is growing. They represent all the experts who have expertise to share alongside the health journeys we've launched. So as of today, we've launched brain cancer, ALS, dementia, Fertility and Family Building, PCOS, endometriosis, menopause, and we are soon to launch several other conditions related to women's health, including gynecological health. Our experts span the doctors you would expect, such as oncologists, neurologists, and OBGYNs, among others, but also social workers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and legal and financial counselors - really anyone who has real expertise that they can lend to the experience of a journey. So much of dementia care, for example, is not driven by your neurologist, but by the experience of caring for someone who needs help, whether it's at a memory care facility or a skilled nursing facility, dealing with issues that doctors typically don't have a great answer for."  #Roon #HealthcareInformation #MedAI #HealthcareOutcomes #DigitalHealth roon.com Listen to the podcast here

In this episode, we explore the transformative power of medical missions through the experiences of Dr. Benjamin DeLisa and Dr. Scott Ellis, both board-certified OB/GYNs and OB hospitalists. Having participated in multiple international medical mission trips, Dr. DeLisa and Dr. Ellis share how these experiences reignited their passion for medicine, deepened their sense of purpose, and alleviated the feeling of burnout.

Today, I am thrilled to reconnect with my friend and colleague, Jackie Piasta. Jackie is a Vanderbilt-trained nurse practitioner. She is board-certified in women's and gender health, and has been practicing since 2010. She serves on medical advisory committees for several foundations and co-hosts the justASK Podcast.  In our discussion today, we dive into the challenges menopausal women face with hormone replacement therapy due to the lack of provider education on the effects of oral estrogen, the importance of bio-individuality, and how nuanced messaging can make all the difference for women. Jackie unpacks the latest guidelines from the American Urological Society, which address vulvovaginal, urinary, and sexual health symptoms, and explains the importance of addressing those issues proactively. We also explore fertility tracking in perimenopause, especially for women using long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs), and the latest trends in hormone testing. You will not want to miss this insightful conversation where Jackie sheds light and offers practical guidance on the often-missed details of women's health. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN: Why bio-individuality is essential in menopause treatments The challenges OB-GYNs and other clinicians face in staying updated on menopause treatments. Why healthcare providers must become more educated about hormone therapy Jackie explains the historical context surrounding the vilification of oral estrogen. How the new American Urological Society guidelines are now addressing symptoms of perimenopause and menopause Why vaginal laser therapy might be harmful for some individuals Why diagnosing menopause in women using long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) is so challenging Why hormone level labs are needed to guide clinical decision-making on menopause treatments Jackie highlights the need for more research to understand the hormone levels that protect bone health. Connect with Cynthia Thurlow   Follow on Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Check out Cynthia's website Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com Connect with Jaclyn Piasta Monarch Health  Jackie on all social media: Jackiep_gynnp The justASK Podcast

Fibroids are incredibly common. Anywhere from 40% to 80% of people with a uterus will develop this growth, which is benign but can bring severe symptoms like pain, heavy bleeding, and reproductive issues. These symptoms can be not only physically debilitating but also cause emotional and social issues. During a trip to her home country of Jamaica in September 2024, host Sandra Lindsay, RN, interviewed three women whose lives have been deeply impacted by uterine fibroids for years. With the country facing a large backlog in this type of surgery, these women, like so many more, were unable to get surgery, which is why Sandra organized a team of OB/GYNs to travel with her to Jamaica to treat these women at no cost. In this episode, you'll hear their stories and learn more about Northwell's collaborative efforts to provide pro bono fibroid surgeries in Jamaica. This is episode two in a four-part series documenting Northwell's partnership with Jamaica's Ministry of Health to improve women's health on the island. Listen to Episode 1 and Episode 2, available in our feed now.  About Northwell Health Northwell Health is New York State's largest healthcare provider and private employer, with 21 hospitals, 850 outpatient facilities and more than 16,600 affiliated physicians. We're making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. We're training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu and follow us @NorthwellHealth on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn. Get the latest news and insights from our experts in the Northwell Newsroom: Press releases Insights Podcasts Publications Interested in a career at Northwell Health? Visit http://bit.ly/2Z7iHFL and explore our many opportunities. Get more expert insights from leading experts in the field — Northwell Newsroom.  Watch episodes of 20-Minute Health Talk on YouTube.  For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu and follow us @NorthwellHealth on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn. Interested in a career at Northwell Health? Visit http://bit.ly/2Z7iHFL and explore our many opportunities.    

Welcome to The Habit Within! Quick life update: school's out, and we're off to summer adventures, including a unique canoe trip for my son in Northern Ontario – a true "trust fall" for us parents!  We're also planning a move to South Austin after 13 years in our current home. Before we dive in, let me know your summer plans! Today's episode is all about what's fundamentally wrong with how we approach women's health.  I'm passionate about advocating for a new, more understanding perspective. Don't forget my free 21-day series, "Feel Your Best: Holistic Practices for Energy, Vitality, and Confidence in Perimenopause and Beyond," for women 35+.  Join us!  The feedback has been incredibly positive. Here are some key points we get wrong:Women aren't just smaller men. We metabolize medications differently, yet most drug trials are done on men.  Our cyclical nature is a feature, not a flaw. Women's health is more than just vaginas and breasts. OBGYNs are primarily surgeons, often lacking training in areas like sex hormones, adrenal, or thyroid function.  Hormones affect our entire body, including the brain. Outdated exams can be traumatic. The speculum exam is archaic and often performed without consent.  Trauma-informed care is essential.  Notably, obese women face significant barriers to exams due to bias.  You can even perform some self-exams! Labs are just snapshots. They provide data but don't tell the whole story, as hormones fluctuate constantly.  Trust your intuition and look for patterns, not just numbers. Pain isn't "all in your head." Unexplained chronic pain in women is often dismissed but can be linked to stored trauma.  Your body is giving you information. Don't ignore your intuition. The female brain is wired for interconnectivity, blending emotion and logic.  Trust your inner voice for clarity and vitality. There's a lack of midlife education. Hormonal shifts are a normal transition, not a "broken state."  We need to honor our body's wisdom, including our menstrual cycles. Please share this podcast if it resonated with you and leave a review!  I'd love to hear from you! If you're tired of feeling exhausted, irritable, moody, and just not like yourself, schedule a free 30-minute consultation so I can help you feel like YOU again Fill out this brief application to schedule a free 30-minute call. Love the show? Leave a 5-star review, and let me know what hit home for you. Find me on Instagram @camille_kinzler and leave me a DM!

OB/GYNs are entering the IVF space—but what role should they play?This debate is heating up in fertility medicine, and Dr. Stephanie Kuku, a former OB/GYN surgeon in the NHS and now Chief Knowledge Officer at Conceivable Life Sciences, offers her global, tech-forward perspectiveIn this episode, she talks through:What REIs and OB/GYNs really need from each otherWhere the line is on fertility care qualificationsWhat REI oversight could look like in different countriesHow new tech may expand REI roles (not replace them)How Conceivable is building collaborative care models (including their current 100-patient IRB study)The field is changing. How will REIs lead the way forward?

On this episode of The Cajun Knight Live we catch up on the conflict in India and Pakistan. We then take a drastic shift and discuss a biblical/toranic quote about potential jewish slavery. We discuss OBGYNs and modern birthing practices and how the older more traditional ways are becoming more prevalent in western society. RFK jr has decided to ban 35 foods, most of which will shock you! We finish by talking about the China and Russian alliance to build a new nuclear power plant... ON THE MOON!To join in the conversation next week, join us at patreon.com/CajunKnightBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/cult-of-conspiracy--5700337/support.

Microplastics – tiny plastic particles found in water, food, soil, and even dust – are an emerging health concern. These particles, along with the chemical additives in plastics, can enter our bodies through inhalation and ingestion. Research now links microplastics not only to inflammation and hormone disruption but also to specific risks in women’s health. What can we do about this growing concern? How can we minimize the presence of microplastics in our bodies? We spoke to Jane Van Dis, MD, founding member of Physician and Scientist Network Addressing Plastics and Health and founder of OBGYNs for Sustainable Future, about where microplastics are showing up in the environment, the unique health risks they pose to women, common myths about plastics and health, and what practical steps we can take to reduce our exposure. Further reading:https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2025/05/what-are-the-health-impacts-of-plastic/https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2025/05/how-to-reduce-microplastic-exposure-and-protect-your-health/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In recognition of Maternal Mental Health Month I am re-sharing this 2023 conversation with the founders of The Motherhood Center in NYC. With Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADS) being the #1 complication associated with birth in the US and the #2 cause of maternal mortality, this remains a critical conversation.It's not just you. You're not crazy. You're not a bad mom. You're not alone. These are words and deep beliefs that resonate through and form the backbone of today's guests, Catherine Birndorf, MD, and Paige Bellenbaum, LMSW. Catherine and Paige are dedicated to changing the perinatal mental health terrain, and they do it through The Motherhood Center, a place of radical acceptance, nurturance, and individual and group support. On today's episode, we pull back the curtain on motherhood and redefine what is considered "normal" and "typical". With PMADs (perinatal mood and anxiety disorders) being the #1 complication associated with birth and the #2 cause of maternal mortality, this is a critical conversation. On today's episode, we unpack why it's so important that we talk more about these conditions, how to do your best to prevent PMADs, and what to do if you or someone you love has symptoms. Aviva, Paige, and Catherine discuss: The definition of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADS) and the different diagnoses that fall under the PMAD umbrella What PMAD taboos still exist today, why this needs to change, and how Roe v. Wade affects these taboos Paige and Catherine's personal stories with perinatal mood disorders and what brought them to the point of specializing in PMADS and opening the motherhood center The kinds of physical and psychological feelings and symptoms associated with PMADs and signs birthing people and their providers should watch out for Why we need to move in the direction of making it mandatory for OB-GYNs, midwives, pediatricians, and any providers who come in contact with newer expecting mothers to begin educating their patients about PMADS and screening for symptoms The effects of the pandemic, social isolation, and potential cultural contributors on PMADS The role of medication and psychotherapy in treating conditions For more information or to reach out visit themotherhoodcenter.com or call (212) 335-0034. Thank you so much for taking the time to tune in to your body, yourself, and this podcast! Please share the love by sending this to someone in your life who could benefit from the kinds of things we talk about in this space. Make sure to follow your host on Instagram @dr.avivaromm and go to avivaromm.com to join the conversation.

  Today on The Kristan Hawkins Show we're unpacking:   - 13 Planned Parenthood Vendors Closed in 2025 – Illinois, Michigan, NYC, Utah, Vermont. Why are there so many closures? - Groundbreaking JAMA Study – Chemical Abortion Pill complication rate is 22× higher than FDA's, with 1 in 9 women at risk. - Surge of OB/GYNs in Pro-Life States – New JAMA analysis contradicts media panic. - Spotting Fake Dobbs Data – Don't be fooled by flawed reports on maternal outcomes and birth rates.  

The majority of people in the U.S. support abortion, yet access has been decimated around the country. That kind of disparity deserves evidence-based, practiced commentary, and we can think of no better doctors to share their experiences than Dr. Beverly Gray and Dr. Jonas Swartz, OBGYNs and co-hosts of the podcast Outlawed. They sit down to talk with us about being on the frontlines of abortion care in the U.S. at the moment and how their experience contributed to the desire to pursue their podcast. Both Dr. Gray and Dr. Swartz dispel myths on mic and in person, including that childbirth is safer than abortion (abortion is less risky than carrying a pregnancy to term), that fertility is impacted by abortion (it isn't), that abortions can be reversed (they can't), or that abortion can occur after birth (they can't). These myths can influence policy. In addition, Drs. Gray and Swartz interview incredible patients, providers, and advocates about their journeys in sexual and reproductive health. If you are interested in hearing information and stories from OBGYNs themselves, find Outlawed here.For more information check outThe Nocturnists: https://thenocturnists.org/Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.social Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

This podcast is brought to you by Outcomes Rocket, your exclusive healthcare marketing agency. Learn how to accelerate your growth by going to outcomesrocket.com Innovative solutions and heartfelt experiences are driving significant changes in mental health care. In this episode of the Expanding Access podcast, Tina Keshani, co-founder and CEO of Seven Starling, highlights the urgent need for addressing maternal mental health. 1 in 5 women experience perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, which are often underreported and untreated. Tina shares that Seven Starling's specialized care tailored specifically for women features specialized therapists, groups for shared experiences, and partnerships with OB/GYNs for seamless referrals. Tune in to explore how Seven Starling's personal experiences and innovative technology are shaping the future of maternal mental healthcare! Resources: Connect with and follow Tina Keshani on LinkedIn. Follow Seven Starling on LinkedIn and explore their website.   Visit Behavioral Health Tech on LinkedIn and explore their website.  Fast Track Your Business Growth:Outcomes Rocket is a full-service marketing agency focused on helping healthcare organizations like yours maximize your impact and accelerate growth. Learn more at outcomesrocket.com

In this Heartline Echo Episode, I revisit a powerful conversation with Drs. Maryanna Barrett and Maria Paasch, two innovative OB-GYNs who have transformed their practice by integrating functional medicine. Their journey from traditional obstetrics and gynecology to a more holistic approach offers valuable insights for healthcare professionals seeking to enhance patient care and rediscover their passion for medicine. Our discussion explores the essence of functional medicine, challenging the conventional "collection of body parts" approach to healthcare. We delve into how this integrative method looks at the body as an interconnected system, seeking root causes rather than merely treating symptoms. Key insights from our conversation include: The definition and principles of functional medicine How functional medicine complements conventional approaches The importance of addressing the mind-body connection in patient care Strategies for incorporating functional medicine into traditional medical practices Discover how to: Recognize and respond to signs of professional burnout Align your medical practice with your personal values Navigate career transitions in healthcare Cultivate a unique contribution to medicine that reflects your passions and strengths This episode offers a candid look at the challenges and rewards of charting a new course in medicine. Drs. Barrett and Paasch share their experiences of overcoming fears, redefining success, and finding greater fulfillment in their work. "Recognize that that feeling isn't because your schedule's too full, you've worked too many days in a row. That feeling is probably telling you that what you're doing is in conflict with your value." This conversation provides inspiration and practical advice for healthcare professionals who feel constrained by conventional systems or are searching for ways to better serve their patients. It's a call to action for physicians to reclaim their role as leaders in healthcare and pursue innovative approaches that align with their values. Join us for this thought-provoking discussion that challenges the status quo in medicine and offers a vision for a more integrated, patient-centered approach to healthcare. Whether you're a seasoned practitioner or just starting your medical journey, this episode will inspire you to listen to your heart and pursue a path that truly resonates with your calling in medicine. Connect with Drs. Barrett and Paasch: MyManaWellness.com and Hormone Harmony Facebook Group

In this episode, I welcome pelvic health pioneer Ingrid Harm-Ernandes, PT, DPT, author and international speaker, to discuss her four-decade journey in physical therapy and nearly 30 years specializing in pelvic health. Ingrid shares how the field has evolved—from obscurity in the U.S. to structured residency programs—while underscoring the critical need for early education, interdisciplinary teamwork, and advocacy. She reveals the inspiration behind her book A Musculoskeletal Mystery: How to Solve Your Pelvic Floor Symptoms, outlines practical strategies for mentorship and collaboration across healthcare disciplines, and calls listeners to champion pelvic health as a public health priority throughout women's lifespan.Guest BioIngrid Harm-Ernandes, PT, DPTBackground:40 years as a physical therapist; 28+ years in pelvic healthCo-Director & Mentor, Women's Health PT Residency Program, Duke UniversityCourse Development Director, International Women's Health CoursesAuthor of A Musculoskeletal Mystery: How to Solve Your Pelvic Floor SymptomsInternational speaker, educator, and illustratorAreas of Expertise: Pelvic floor rehabilitation, orthopedic integration, interdisciplinary care, women's health through life stagesKey Topics & Timestamps00:00 – 05:00 | Origins of Pelvic Health PT Ingrid recounts the early 1990s landscape—scarce training in the U.S., skepticism from physicians, and her orthopedic foundation that shaped today's best practices.05:00 – 12:00 | Building Residency & Education How Duke launched one of the first pelvic PT residencies, the slow but steady growth of programs, and the power of “book clubs” and clinical mentoring to integrate pelvic health into standard curricula.12:00 – 20:00 | Mentorship Beyond the Discipline Strategies for new grads: start generalist, shadow diverse providers (OB-GYN, urogynecology, cardiopulmonary PT, even acupuncturists and sex therapists) to build confidence and referrals.20:00 – 30:00 | Writing A Musculoskeletal Mystery The pandemic-sparked book project: filling the education gap for patients and practitioners, demystifying pelvic floor anatomy, evaluations, treatments, and including a self-help toolkit.30:00 – 40:00 | The Continuum of Life & Menopause Care Reframing women's health as a lifelong continuum—pregnancy, perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause—and the alarming statistics: 50% of life spent in menopause transition, rising cardiovascular risks, and the need for strength training over cardio.40:00 – 50:00 | Interdisciplinary Teamwork & Advocacy “Teamwork, teamwork, teamwork”: integrating PTs with physicians, nurses, nutritionists, mental health professionals, and corporate stakeholders. How education fuels advocacy—from clinic in-services to writing senators for research funding.Major TakeawaysEducation Is Foundation: Early exposure in PT, medical, and nursing curricula prevents decades of untreated symptoms.Mentorship Matters: Seek out and sustain relationships with both pelvic PT and cross-specialty mentors to refine skills and referrals.Interdisciplinary Care: Pelvic health thrives when PTs collaborate with OB-GYNs, urogynecologists, acupuncturists, PAs, and beyond—breaking silos boosts patient outcomes.Lifelong Lens: Women spend a large portion of life in menopause transition—with implications for bone, cardiovascular, and pelvic health; prevention through strength training and pelvic floor awareness is key.Advocacy Amplifies Impact: Armed with education, practitioners and patients can lobby for research funding, insurance coverage, and workplace policies that support pelvic health.Resources & Guest LinksIngrid Harm-Ernandes on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ingrid-harm-ernandes-5057773b/Book: A Musculoskeletal Mystery: How to Solve Your Pelvic Floor SymptomsDuke University Women's Health PT Residency Program (search DukePT.edu for details)

I love my home state of TEXAS. I am definitely full of Texas pride. We have Texas barbecue, Texas, hospitality, and of course, the Texas music scene! Our state definitely has some issues to improve on, mainly access to maternity care. We have a HUGE state and 50% of our counties are maternity care deserts. It's a vast vast Land to cover! Texas has also received a lot of criticism regarding its heartbeat law originally named SB8, which was passed in 2021. Commentaries since then have stated that OBGYNs are leaving the state by the droves! Is that accurate? A new publication from JAMA network open (April 21, 2025) seems to contradict these commentaries. Listen in for detail details.

Women have long feared an episiotomy over Surgical Birth aka Surgery.In experience, women felt numb, scarred and pain at the site of episiotomy. Yet , this procedure has been routine in vaginal births, Why?Can women birth without it? Listen to the episode to learn more aboutHistory of Episiotomy?How did it become a routine practice?Evidence in favor and against?Can women birth without it?How were women birthing before it was introduced?This episode is a fun run down the history talking about significant OBGYNs who made significant changes in medicine which are now being reapproached as 'harmful'!Support the showSign up for Childbirth Preparation Programs! visit www.birthagni.com/birthclasses This episode is supported and made possible by podcast recording and hosting tool Zencastr, it is impeccably made! Use my link : https://zen.ai/vxmuJUgYKKGTF3JuTuFQ0g to sign up and record flawless remote podcast , USE my code : BIRTHAGNI Support the show:Donations (India) - https://birthagni.com/birthagnipodcast#podcast-listDonations (world) - buymeacoffee.com/birthagni If you like what you hear, leave us a rating on Spotify app and answer the question at each episode! a review on Apple podcasts. Share on Whatsapp/Insta/FB Share on Instagram and tag us @divyakapoorvox Support the production by making a donation at ...

In this podcast conversation, Donna White, a leading expert in hormone health and Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT), discusses the widespread misdiagnosis and inadequate treatment of hormonal imbalances in women. She highlights that 75% of menopausal women remain untreated and that many OB-GYNs feel unprepared to address menopause-related issues. Donna explains the benefits of bioidentical hormones, which mimic natural human hormones and have been shown to reduce breast cancer risk, improve cardiovascular health, and enhance cognitive function. She emphasizes the importance of comprehensive hormone testing, personalized treatment, and lifestyle changes - including proper nutrition, stress management, and Self-Care habits like meditation and breathwork. Donna also advises women to seek out well-trained practitioners who understand the complexities of hormone balancing. Throughout the conversation, she shares her personal journey with hormonal imbalances and her mission to educate both medical professionals and women on achieving optimal hormone health.In this informative conversation we discussed:✅ Donna's Journey & BHRT Training Academy✅ Effectiveness and Safety of Bioidentical Hormones✅ Testing and Evaluation for Hormone Imbalances✅ Common and Less-Known Symptoms of Hormonal Imbalances✅ Lifestyle Strategies for Hormone Balance✅ Advice for Women Seeking Hormone Treatment✅ The Role of Faith and Trust in Healing✅ And so much more. 

In this special edition of Quality Matters, we explore what three powerful conversations have taught us about one of health care's most pressing and perplexing questions: What do we know about the economics of care in America, and how can we make substantial, sustainable improvements? We look back at previous episodes of Quality Matters to reflect. We begin with health economist Sanjula Jain, who challenges conventional thinking around value-based care and urges a shift toward a more intuitive concept: “value for money.” With real-world examples (think hotels and Costco), she explains why the US health economy needs stability, and what it would take to rebuild trust and deliver real value to patients.Next, Brittany Cunningham, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, shares how My Health Bundles help employers rein in costs while improving patient experience and provider satisfaction. Her team's approach flips the traditional payment model on its head—designing care first and payment second.And obstetrician Tiffany Inglis, of Elevance Health, takes us inside a groundbreaking program that pairs OB/GYNs with dedicated practice consultants. The result? Dramatic improvement in maternal health outcomes that could affect a staggering 12% of the nation's births.Each voice in this episode offers fresh, actionable insight. Together, they offer a roadmap toward a more sustainable—and humane—health care economy. Key Quote:“ Value for money is the ultimate consumer of the service is going to determine that value based off what they are paying. Value-based payment, it's different because value-based payment is ultimately a reimbursement scheme that doesn't change the total cost of care. Value-based payment is really a policy scheme focused on the provider level, which doesn't even affect the patient or consumer. It's one pool of dollars that is being reallocated. Providers are just reallocating those dollars and actually reducing the total cost of care. Who is benefiting doesn't actually translate down to the patient or the consumer.”Sanjula JainTime Stamps: (00:25) The Macroeconomics of Health Care(8:40) Value-Based Care in Action With Health Bundles14:30) The Economics of Prenatal Care

We were joined by Dr. Kimberly McLaughlin, OBGYN with Mercy Medical Group and American Heart Association Volunteer who shared critical insights on maternal heart health prevention strategies.Dr. McLaughlin offered a comprehensive approach topreventing heart disease in mothers by addressing health at every stage of pregnancy—preconception, prenatal, and postpartum. She emphasized the importance of prevention strategies, early detection, and empowering women totake control of their heart health throughout the entire reproductive journey.  Dignity Health, via Methodist Hospital is proud to offer24/7 maternal care through their specialized OB Emergency Department (OB ED). This dedicated unit, one of only three in the Greater Sacramento region, provides immediate access to board-certified or board-eligible OB-GYNs which iscritical for moms to get the care they need immediately.This is a must-hear episode for mothers, families, andanyone committed to improving Black maternal health outcomes. Listen, share the episode with your community, and follow the show to stay connected to more conversations that matter.

Send us a textShattering taboos and exposing medical blind spots, this deeply personal exploration of perimenopause and menopause reveals truths that will validate the experiences of countless women struggling in silence.Amita Sharma, founder of Nourish Doc, shares a shocking revelation from her research interviewing thousands of experts worldwide: OB-GYNs receive virtually no education about perimenopause in medical school, with just eight hours devoted to menopause during fifteen years of studying female physiology. No wonder so many women find themselves misdiagnosed with depression or anxiety when their hormones begin shifting.The conversation delves into the profound physical transformations that receive little attention in mainstream discussions. "Your gut microbiome changes, your brain changes," Sharma explains. "You are fundamentally a different person." These changes extend far beyond hot flashes, affecting everything from cognitive function to weight distribution, yet most women navigate this territory without maps or guides.Most powerfully, Sharma courageously shares her personal awakening during perimenopause – how decades of emotional suppression and people-pleasing suddenly demanded expression. "I was angry at myself for not allowing myself to express, for trying to please other people and not myself," she reveals. This emotional reckoning, while challenging, ultimately led to greater authenticity and self-compassion.The discussion illuminates how these transitions often spark relationship difficulties, with data suggesting 60% of women experience partnership challenges during this time. Difficult but necessary conversations about changing libido, emotional needs, and personal boundaries emerge as women reconnect with their authentic voices.Ready to understand your body's transitions with greater clarity and compassion? Visit nourishdoc.com to explore expert-driven resources designed specifically for women navigating perimenopause, menopause, and beyond. Your journey deserves validation, support, and the wisdom of others who truly understand.Support the showRemember, the strongest thing you can do for yourself is to ask for help.Please help us grow by subscribing to and sharing the Lift OneSelf podcast with others.The podcast intends to dissolve the stigmas around Mental Health and create healing spaces.I appreciate you, the listener, for tuning in and my guest for sharing.Our websiteLiftOneself.comemail: liftoneself@gmail.comFind more conversations on our Social Media pageswww.facebook.com/liftoneselfwww.instagram.com/liftoneselfWant to be a guest on the Lift OneSelf podcast message here on Podmatch:https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/liftoneselfMusic by: Opening music Prazkhanal Opening music SoulProdMusicMeditation music Saavane

You're going to be inspired by this episode of The Mile High Podcast featuring a very special guest Dr. Courtney Gowin.   Dr. Courtney is the founder of Free to Be Chiropractic, The Nest Wellness Village, and WanderLearn Retreats. She has dedicated her career to supporting mothers through every stage of life with vitalistic chiropractic care.   A former Division I basketball player, Dr. Courtney was led to chiropractic after a major injury. She originally planned a sports-focused career—until mentorship opened her eyes to prenatal and pediatric care. Now she leads one of the most impactful maternal wellness movements in chiropractic.   She's also launched WanderLearn, a global retreat platform providing CE credits in breathtaking locations like Egypt, Japan, and Switzerland—bringing healing and adventure to chiropractors worldwide.   Dr. Courtney is also completing one of the most comprehensive books on natural pregnancy and birth, inspired by global healing traditions and modern clinical insights.  

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog Menopausal Symptoms I waited to announce the emerging research regarding the safety of post-menopausal hormone replacement therapy for breast cancer patients suffering from severe menopausal symptoms until the research finally supported my belief that women have the right to receive the treatment that they need if they accept the risks of that treatment. The past year of research (2024-2025) has produced a significant amount of research demonstrating the health risks associated from not taking hormone replacement therapy, as well as the safety of using testosterone after breast cancer and the limited risks of hormone replacement therapy following breast cancer. I have practiced women's medicine for over 40 years, and I believe that female patients should have the right to receive post-menopausal hormone therapy if they understand and accept the associated risks and benefits, as long as it is administered safely. Let me pause here to discuss how doctors ethically make decisions about treatment. First, the aim of medical treatment is to improve health and longevity while alleviating symptoms. It is a doctor's responsibility to evaluate, treat, and advise patients on the best course of therapy based on their medical training, practical experience, and the latest research. However, the third factor is often overlooked when advising patients about hormone replacement therapy after breast cancer. Doctors determine the best course of treatment by using this information and weighing the benefits of a treatment against its risks. We are trained to provide this information to patients to facilitate informed decision-making with the patient, not for the patient. This process requires time that doctors no longer have. Ah, and therein lies the problem. Doctors are trained to follow research related to the diseases and conditions they treat and to integrate that research into their practice. The basic decision-making process involves weighing the benefits of treatment (or no treatment) against the associated risks. When the benefits of a treatment outweigh its risks, it is recommended to the patient. “Recommended” means the doctor, based on current knowledge, believes it to be safer and more effective for the patient's health to pursue a specific treatment. However, this does not imply that the patient must follow the doctor's advice. A patient is autonomous and can assess the risks and benefits once informed, allowing them to refuse a treatment or request one that falls outside current medical guidelines. Doctors do not have to embark on a treatment they do not believe is beneficial or safe. Doctors have autonomy as well! Doctors in mainstream medicine adhere to “medical guidelines” established by our specialties, which represent the minimum level of care expected from a physician. However, these guidelines are often decades behind current research, meaning that the risks and benefits communicated to a patient may be outdated. A legal requirement known as informed consent mandates that a doctor inform the patient or include this information in a consent form that the patient reads and signs, detailing the procedure or treatment. If the treatment is newer than the guidelines, it is categorized as “off-label.” It is essential for the doctor to inform the patient that the treatment does not conform to current guidelines, and the patient must acknowledge the known risks associated with the treatment. At BioBalance Health®, we often find ourselves ahead of the guidelines, and my experience indicates it may take up to 20 years for the guidelines to catch up with us. Much of our treatment is considered off-label because it is current and ahead of the guidelines. It is superior to other treatments and remains safe, but risks are inherent in every treatment! Now, let's return to breast cancer and the roles of estradiol, testosterone, and progesterone replacement. Here are the facts about breast cancer: Most breast cancer patients are post-menopausal, and have symptoms of menopause Not all types of breast cancer are stimulated by estradiol or progesterone, and therefore for these cancers hormone replacement therapy is safe. Breast Cancer patients with negative nodes who have had a bilateral mastectomy are candidates for hormone replacement therapy after their treatment. The risks of estrogen replacement for ER+ breast cancer patients may promote the growth of cancer cells, while testosterone replacement lowers the risk of recurrence and alleviates certain menopausal symptoms. When testosterone is combined with estradiol, the risk of developing breast cancer in all women is reduced. Testosterone enhances the quantity and activity of cancer-fighting T-killer and T-helper white blood cells. All breast cancer patients can manage menopause symptoms using testosterone pellet therapy and vaginal estrogen without an increased risk of recurrence. Do you remember when I mentioned that the risks of treatment should be balanced with the benefits of that same treatment? Recently, numerous research articles have outlined the benefits of estradiol treatment, which I included in my 2017 book, “The Secret Female Hormone: How Testosterone Replacement Can Change Your Life.” In early 2025, the safety of taking estradiol for menopausal women confirmed the less publicized research that had come before. The Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism reported that women who underwent estradiol replacement after the age of 60 live 20% longer than those who do not take hormone replacement therapy. This challenges the guideline that advises OB-GYNs to discontinue hormone replacement therapy before the age of 60. The Benefits of Estrogen replacement after menopause, based on multiple research studies over the last 20 years is as follows: ERT alleviates symptoms such as dry vagina, painful intercourse, insomnia, hot flashes, and night sweats. Estrogen replacement prevents and treats osteoporosis in women. Testosterone replacement in women with osteoporosis can reverse the process of bone loss, bringing bone back to normal strength and decreasing fracture risk. Non-oral Testosterone and Estradiol can prevent arteriosclerotic heart disease. ERT and HRT decreases the risk of diabetes with aging. Estradiol replacement during the first decade after menopause can delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease and dementia by ten years. If you are genetically predisposed to developing Alzheimer's or dementia by age 80, E2 replacement may postpone this onset until you turn 90. Testosterone replacement in the first 10 years after menopause postpones the onset of Alzheimer's disease and dementia for an additional ten years. Testosterone boosts immune function in both sexes and diminishes the onset and severity of infectious diseases. Aging causes cognitive decline, marked by challenges in memory and thinking, and menopause speeds up this process. Testosterone and estradiol replacement therapies may aid in reversing this decline. Muscle mass decreases after menopause due to a decline in testosterone but replacing testosterone with bio-identical pellets restores muscle mass to premenopausal levels.   The latest medical article that inspired me to create this podcast was published in the journal Menopause, which discussed the challenges many women face after breast cancer treatment without hormone replacement for their severe menopausal symptoms. Here are the quotes I think you should hear: (MHT = Menopause Hormone Therapy) “Among 226 breast cancer survivors.. the menopause symptom burden was high and women's experience of menopause-related breast cancer after-care was poor. Few women felt actively involved in menopause treatment decisions.  The NICE breast cancer guideline (NG101) states that women with a history of breast cancer can be offered MHT in “exceptional” circumstances if other treatments have failed (off-label use). However, NICE does not define what “exceptional” circumstances are or who gets to decide. Up to 50% of breast cancer survivors, especially those with debilitating menopausal symptoms, may choose to accept a small increase in risk in exchange for an improved quality of life and/or to mitigate future health risks associated with chronic estrogen deficiency.  “Allowing”. women to have MHT only in “exceptional” circumstance undermines patient autonomy and limits a clinician's ability to integrate clinical knowledge and judgment with the best currently available evidence (which is decades behind clinical guidelines). Clinicians have a legal and ethical responsibility to patients to make informed treatment choices. If you have had breast cancer and are experiencing symptoms you no longer want to endure, my advice is to find a doctor with whom you can make an informed decision based on the latest research. It's important to understand and accept the risks and to sign a High-Risk Consent for HRT.  If you aren't that brave, then seek a physician who will prescribe testosterone pellets along with vaginal estradiol to alleviate some of your post-menopausal symptoms. Life is too short to follow guidelines that are 20 years out of date when you are suffering.

Send us a textPostpartum care in the U.S. is broken—period. Women are left struggling with depletion, hormone imbalances, and autoimmune conditions with little to no real support. What if postpartum care wasn't just about surviving but actually thriving?Today I'm chatting with Jane Baecher, co-founder and CEO of Anya, a revolutionary postpartum wellness brand changing the game for new moms. Jane shares her journey, why she felt called to disrupt the space, and how Anya is helping moms heal at the root—through nutrition, holistic care, and real, evidence-based solutions. We're talking why postpartum recovery is more than just the first six weeks, how the U.S. is failing mothers compared to other countries, and what it will take to truly shift the narrative around postpartum health. Click HERE to check out this episode on the blog. Key Time Stamps:  04:50 What is Anya and how is it transforming postpartum care? 07:28 Why postpartum recovery is more than just six weeks 10:00 The U.S. vs. global postpartum care: What we're missing 13:49 How postpartum providers & brands can work together for better care 16:52 Why postpartum needs a whole-body approach—not just OB care 20:58 The challenges of bridging medical and holistic postpartum support 25:50 The dream of a postpartum specialist model 29:38 Why nutrition & functional medicine are the missing pieces in postpartum care 33:46 How we can push for better postpartum support in our communitiesConnect with Jane:  Jane Baecher, co-founder and CEO of Anya, is a Cornell University graduate who began her career in fashion. Inspired by her own postpartum journey, Jane founded Anya to fill a critical gap in postpartum care. Combining traditional recipes, nutritional science, and food-based healing, Jane began creating products to support mothers through their first year of recovery and beyond. Anya offers a products and educational resources developed with OB/GYNs, pediatricians, nutritionists, herbalists, and doulas, providing holistic support for new moms.Website | IG  Get 20% off your first order with Anya!NEXT STEPS:

Send us a textYour body is sending you signals, but do you know how to interpret them? That overwhelming fatigue, unexplained weight gain, brain fog, and emotional rollercoaster might not be a midlife crisis or mental health issue—it's likely your hormones running the show.This eye-opening episode dives deep into the world of women's hormonal health, particularly perimenopause. What makes this conversation so crucial is the shocking lack of medical education around women's hormones: 60% of OBGYNs receive little to no formal training on menopause during medical school. No wonder so many women feel dismissed, misdiagnosed, or told to simply "welcome to the club" of aging.From the science of estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and cortisol to the comprehensive list of symptoms affecting everything from your sleep to your sense of self, this episode serves as both validation and education. You're not going crazy—your body is undergoing profound biological changes that deserve proper attention and care. Learn practical strategies for hormone balance, including nutrition adjustments, appropriate exercise (strength training trumps cardio during perimenopause), stress management, and when to consider bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.Most importantly, discover how to become your own health advocate. With proper knowledge and the right specialists, you can navigate this transition without suffering through symptoms that impact your quality of life. Whether you're experiencing these changes yourself or know someone who is, this conversation provides the foundation for understanding what's happening beneath the surface and taking back control of your wellbeing. Share this episode with someone who needs to hear they're not alone—it might just change their life.Connect with Leslie: Follow on IG: @yourjoyfulorderstyle Website: https://www.yourjoyfulorder.com/Email: lmartinez@yourjoyfulorder.com to schedule- Speaking Events, Interviews or Life Coaching SessionsShop my SOAP the Gospels Journal on Shopify: https://shopjoyfulorder.com/Watch this Episode on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsXoAYIM2mfclNtYiaOzIUw Shop my Journal (Gratitude, Goals & Prayer Journal) on Amazon:https://a.co/d/09Djvaw Book a FREE 30 Minute Discovery Coaching Call: https://tidycal.com/joyfulordermedia/30-minute-meeting

Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi, aka Dr. A, joins Real Pod for an absolute masterclass in women's health! You may have seen her on Keeping Up with the Kardashians (yes, she delivered Khloe's baby!), but today she's here to drop life-changing knowledge on fertility, PCOS, endometriosis, and what you need to be asking your OBGYN. Dr. A shares her incredible journey from growing up in Iran during the revolution to becoming one of the most sought-after OBGYNs in Los Angeles. She opens up about how her past fueled her passion for advocating for women's health, why so many conditions go undiagnosed, and the exact tests and questions every woman should be bringing to her doctor. From understanding your egg count to debunking birth control myths and tackling the link between PCOS and eating disorders, this episode is packed with crucial info that could change the way you approach your health. Get ready to take notes - Dr. A is giving us the ultimate roadmap to self-advocacy, and you do not want to miss it!SHE MD PodcastBreast Cancer Risk CalculatorOvii PCOS QuizVic's Appearance on SHE MDReal Pod InstagramWatch Real Pod on YouTube// SPONSORS // Better Help: Visit betterhelp.com/realpod today to get 10% off your first month. Just Thrive: Visit justthrivehealth.com and use code REALPOD for 20% off your first 90 day bottle. That's like getting a month for free! LMNT: LMNT is offering a free sample pack with any purchase, that's 8 single serving packets FREE with any LMNT order. This is a great way to try all 8 flavors or share LMNT with a friend. Get yours at DrinkLMNT.com/realpod.The Knot: Let The Knot be your partner in all things wedding planning. Get started at theknot.com/audio. Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode. Produced by Dear Media. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ronit Menashe and Vida Delrahim, co-founders of WeNatal, share how their pregnancy losses led to uncovering the overlooked role of male fertility in conception and healthy pregnancies. We unpack how WeNatal's science-backed, functional supplements support both partners and why the preconception window is the most powerful time to biohack your fertility.  Whether you're trying to conceive, pregnant, postpartum, or planning ahead—this conversation is a must-listen. WE TALK ABOUT:  06:00 - The surprising science behind sperm health and longevity 09:00 - How male fertility influences pregnancy loss and placenta health 12:00 - Ronit and Vida's personal miscarriage stories  17:00 - The male biological clock: fact vs fiction 22:00 - Why most OBGYNs still aren't educating men properly 26:00 - Brittany's fertility coaching program and six daily habits for preconception health 30:00 - The truth about AMH levels and egg quality optimization 35:00 - IVF industry pitfalls and how to advocate for your body 42:00 - Daily fertility habits Brittany and her husband used to triple sperm count 46:00 - Why you must continue prenatals into postpartum  50:00 - The future of fertility: prevention, personalization, and male empowerment SPONSORS: Protect your reproductive health with Leela Quantum Tech's EMF-blocking underwear. Use code: BIOHACKINGBRITTANY for an extra 10% discount on all of their products! Feel your best with NOVOS—the only supplement targeting all 12 causes of aging. Use code BIOHACKINGBRITTANY for 10% off your first month! RESOURCES: Optimize your preconception health by joining my Baby Steps Course today! Optimize your preconception health and fertility through my free hormone balancing, fertility boosting chocolate recipe! Download it now! My Amazon storefront WeNatal's website and Instagram The WeNatal Fertility Masterclass LET'S CONNECT: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook Shop my favorite health products Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music

Maria Shepherd is the founder and CEO of Medi-Vantage, which helps companies develop disruptive medical devices and marketing strategies. Every strategy is designed to decrease risk, disrupt existing markets, and drive market share while improving patient outcomes. With clients from Japan, Australia, several EU countries, and the United States, Medi-Vantage has developed a comprehensive approach to global market entry, with services encompassing everything from developing engineering marketing specifications to conducting clinical due diligence for acquisitions.  As a guest on The Global Marketing Show, a Rapport International podcast, Maria shares her best advice from over 16 years of medical device strategy research, covering the commercialization continuum from marketing specifications through reimbursement, pricing strategy, and go-to-market planning. She also provides a roadmap for bringing medical devices to global markets: careful research and strategic pricing built upon a deep understanding of local healthcare systems.  The Complexities of Global Medical Device Pricing  Maria reports that thanks to increased transparency in the digital age, the days of setting different prices for different regions are essentially over. When a medical device is sold at a significantly lower cost in India, for instance, in the US, Germany, France, or Japan, economic buyers can easily access that information.  Transparency has forced companies to develop more sophisticated approaches to market entry in different regions. Some strategies include providing complementary capital equipment with the purchase of disposables or the implementation of subscription models. These approaches must be carefully considered, however, as some markets (like US hospitals) are known to resist certain pricing models. The key is finding a balance across different healthcare systems while maintaining profitability and market access.  Medi-Vantage develops budget impact models to help companies determine pricing and demonstrate value. Maria describes a recent project involving a device to help OB-GYNs make more informed decisions about C-sections. The model factored in:  Current C-section rates (36% in the US versus 24% globally)  Hospital costs associated with C-sections  Potential complications and ICU stays  Impact on mothers and babies  NICU costs  Associated litigation risks  Long-term implications like cerebral palsy  A comprehensive analysis quantifies immediate and long-term cost savings, making it easier for healthcare providers to justify the investment. Such models are particularly valuable when introducing disruptive technologies that require changes to established medical practices, Maria says, adding that:  We quantified all of those and put them into the budgetary impact model because, oftentimes, nobody really sees an alternative to C-section. They don't sit down and figure out, what if we didn't have to do this C-section? Then there are the costs to the mother, of complications, death, extreme impairment, or long hospitalization.  Clinical Due Diligence in Global M&A  Medi-Vantage also conducts clinical due diligence for medical technology companies considering acquisitions. Maria says it's not unusual for a surface-level appeal to fall short of reality, describing a rare instance in which she resisted an acquisition. A new technology promised to reduce a procedure requiring two in-hospital procedures to one hospital procedure plus one office visit, a clear win for efficiency and cost reduction.  During the due diligence process, however, the Medi-Vantage team uncovered significant resistance from both physicians and hospital administrators. The physicians were concerned about losing control of the second procedure to another specialist; hospital administrators worried about lost revenue. The feedback proved invaluable to their client's decision-making process, highlighting the importance of understanding local healthcare dynamics and stakeholder interests.  Advice for Global Market Entry  Medical device companies seeking global expansion face a complex web of challenges that extend far beyond basic market research. Standing out in a competitive market requires working with consultants who have deep expertise in specific medical specialties, she says, and a network of partners who understand both the clinical and business aspects of the device industry.  “It's important to seek out the people who can do the best for you, who understand the medical device specialty,” be it interventional cardiology or gastroenterology, regulatory requirements, translation, or another aspect. This targeted approach helps to prioritize the steps toward market acceptance based on unique workflows and decision-making processes.  The complexity extends beyond clinical knowledge. Market entry strategies must also account for local healthcare systems, reimbursement structures, and regulatory frameworks. “It's not easy,” Maria acknowledges. “You take into account what the reimbursement rates are, what types of insurance plans are available. There are many different factors, but what you want to be sure of is that you've got guardrails in place.”  Communication presents another critical challenge. Even with her own French language skills, Maria insists on working with specialized medical translators for international research. “I would never interview somebody in French and rely on my own French speaking skills,” she says. “I want to be sure that I get every single little nugget.” This attention to detail is particularly important in medical device marketing, where misunderstandings about product specifications or usage could have serious consequences.  While AI translation tools can be helpful for basic understanding, Maria stresses the importance of human expertise in medical translation, particularly for critical communications and research. High-quality translation from subject matter experts should be used for anything affecting revenue, liability, or the company's bottom line. For translation, interpreting, and research, for example, Maria looks for linguists who understand medical terminology in both source and target languages.  Maria's experience in North Africa crystallized for her the importance of understanding local market conditions. Learning the Arabic word “makesh” (meaning “there isn't any”) taught her that assumptions about product availability and market needs don't translate across borders. “In the United States, you can get almost anything, but that's not true in the rest of the world,” she observes. “Makesh is almost the standard.” This insight underscores why thorough market research conducted by experts who understand both the medical specialty and local healthcare environment is essential for successful global expansion.  For companies planning international expansion, Maria recommends a methodical approach:  Find consultants with relevant medical specialty expertise  Ensure all research and communication is handled by qualified professionals with appropriate language and clinical knowledge  Develop market entry strategies that account for local healthcare systems and cultural nuances  While COVID-19 accelerated many changes, Maria notes that these shifts were already underway. Industry leaders like Medtronic and Boston Scientific have evolved beyond traditional multinational models to become truly global organizations with unified branding, marketing, and communication strategies. The path forward is both challenging and clear, she says, adding that success will require moving beyond surface-level market research toward a deep and nuanced understanding of local healthcare dynamics, especially when “makesh is the standard.”  Links: Website: https://www.medi-vantage.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariashepherd/ 

Send us a textHow do we ensure kindness and justice in a prison system not designed with women in mind? Join us for a compelling episode where we welcome Colleen Bell, chair of the Ostara Initiative's board of directors, as she reveals the stark realities and urgent needs of incarcerated mothers. Discover the transformative work Ostara is doing to challenge inhumane practices like shackling during labor and high rates of C-sections, setting new standards for maternal and child health within prisons. Colleen shares inspiring stories of change from Minnesota to Alabama's Tutwiler Prison, highlighting advancements in lactation support that not only benefit mothers and babies but also offer financial advantages for states willing to embrace such reforms.In a thought-provoking discussion, we illuminate the vital role of doulas who provide crucial emotional and physical support to pregnant women in prison, empowering them amidst systemic failures. Distinguishing the essential contributions of doulas from midwives and OBGYNs, we confront misconceptions about the adequacy of prison healthcare and spotlight the unique challenges faced by women in a system primarily designed for men. We also tackle broader issues such as societal neglect of the root causes of women's incarceration, from trauma to survival crimes, asking tough questions about the humanity and effectiveness of our current penal system. Don't miss this episode as we advocate for transformative change in pursuit of kindness and justice. If you're interested in more information on women in the judicial system you may want to check out loads of charts, brief reports and a great search function at the Prison Policy Initiative. #justice #women #incarceration This podcast is a proud member of the Mayday Media Network. If you have an idea for a podcast and need some production assistance or have a podcast and are looking for a supportive network to join, check out maydaymedianetwork.com. Like what you hear on the podcast? Follow our social media for more uplifting, inspirational and feel-good content.FacebookInstagramLinkedInTikTok Support the showDid you find this episode uplifting, inspiring or motivating? Would you like to support more content like this? Check out our Support The Show Page here.

Tina Keshani, co-founder and CEO of Seven Starling, joins Kellogg MBA student Kaiya Adam to discuss how Seven Starling is transforming mental healthcare for women, starting with maternal mental healthcare.  LinkedIn(4:57) Exploring Tina's journey cofounding Seven Starling while in business school (10:07) Assessing the current state of maternal mental health in the U.S. (15:15) Understanding Seven Starling's specialized care model, including individual therapy, group therapy, and medication management (19:57) Integrating data to help patients get better faster  (24:39) Partnering with OB/GYNs to enable access to care  (27:08) Contracting with major health plans to support affordability  (34:32) Scaling after the Series A funding round  

In this episode of the You Are Not Broken podcast, Dr. Kelly Casperson interviews Dr. Jocelyn Fitzgerald, a urogynecologist specializing in pelvic floor disorders. They discuss the importance of open conversations about women's health, particularly regarding prolapse and the misconceptions surrounding childbirth. Dr. Fitzgerald shares her journey into social media advocacy, the challenges women face in understanding their health, and the need for better education and separate specialties in women's health. The conversation highlights the systemic issues in healthcare that affect women's treatment and the importance of empowering women with knowledge about their bodies. In this conversation, Dr. Jocelyn Fitzgerald and Dr. Kelly Casperson discuss the complexities of women's health, particularly focusing on menopause, the role of healthcare providers, and the challenges faced in the healthcare system. They emphasize the need for a multidisciplinary approach to women's health, the importance of vaginal health, and the radical nature of urogynecology as a feminist act. The discussion also touches on the future of OB-GYN, reproductive rights, and the necessity for women to take action in advocating for their health. Takeaways Prolapse is often misunderstood and not openly discussed. Education can reduce anxiety about childbirth and its consequences. Women often feel ashamed or broken due to health issues post-childbirth. IUD placement pain is often inadequately addressed in women's health. Obstetrics and gynecology should be separate specialties for better care. The healthcare system often undervalues women's health procedures. Women need to be informed about the risks associated with childbirth. Empowering women with knowledge can lead to better health outcomes. Ob-Gyns often lack knowledge about menopause-related issues. A multidisciplinary approach is essential for women's health. The healthcare system can be toxic and burdensome for providers. Urogynecology plays a crucial role in women's health post-childbirth. Vaginal estrogen is vital for maintaining vaginal health. Incontinence is a leading cause of nursing home admissions. Reproductive rights are under threat and require advocacy. Reliable male birth control could change societal dynamics. https://www.instagram.com/jjfitzgeraldmd/ Sedona in October: https://www.ascendretreats.com/menopause-and-sexual-health-2025 Order my book "You Are Not Broken: Stop "Should-ing" All Over You Sex Life" Listen to my Tedx Talk: Why we need adult sex ed Take my Adult Sex Ed Master Class: My Website Interested in my sexual health and hormone clinic? Starts 2025. Thanks to our sponsor Midi Women's Health. Designed by midlife experts, delivered by experienced clinicians, covered by insurance. Midi is the first virtual care clinic made exclusively for women 40+. Evidence-based treatments. Personalized midlife care. https://www.joinmidi.com Thanks to our sponsor Sprout Pharmaceuticals. To find out if Addyi is right for you, go to addyi.com/notbroken and use code NOTBROKEN for a $10 telemedicine appointment. See Full Prescribing Information and Medication Guide, including Boxed Warning for severe low blood pressure and fainting in certain settings at addyi.com/pi To learn more about Via vaginal moisturizer from Solv Wellness, visit via4her.com for 30% off your first purchase of any product, automatically applied at checkout. For an additional $5 off, use coupon code DRKELLY5. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello Wonderful Readers,Last week, I interviewed Camilla Sievers, founder of Qi Health. Qi is a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) company that creates personalized blends of natural herbs to solve various problems in women's health.Camilla was inspired to create her company from her journey using TCM to relieve her persistent period cramps and other symptoms. Now, her team has built a seamless digital experience to help people access one of the oldest medical systems in the world.I hope you enjoy our conversation! Feel free to reach out to Camilla on Instagram or LinkedIn to share your healing stories.Check out her interview in Entrepreneur!I hope you have a shamelessly sexy weekend

What skills and disciplines can a surgeon take from their training to succeed in a new leadership / hospital administration role? In this episode of BackTable OBGYN, Dr. Mark Hoffman discusses his transition from a minimally invasive gynecologic surgeon to the Chief Medical Officer at his hospital with co-host Dr. Amy Park. --- SYNPOSIS The doctors cover the importance of high-functioning teams, the unexpected challenges of hospital administration, and the impact of clinical experience on decision-making. Additionally, they explore the broader responsibilities and skill sets required for effective leadership in a hospital setting, and offer advice for others considering a similar career shift. Dr. Hoffman emphasizes the value of servant leadership, the benefits of focusing on strengths, and the necessity of building strong, resilient teams. --- TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Introduction 05:16 - Transitioning to Hospital Administration 07:17 - Balancing Workload 10:33 - Teamwork and Leaning into Strengths 13:30 - Decision Making in Administration 26:20 - Unique Challenges for OBGYNs in Hospital Administration 31:48 - Engagement in Leadership 35:03 - Focusing on People to Improve Patient Care 44:18 - Building Effective Leadership Teams 45:25 - Transitioning to Hospital Administration 52:07 - Finding Joy in Leadership and Mentorship

Board-Certified Nurse Midwife Kristin Mallon joins Lesley Logan to illuminate how to bridge the gap between “normal” lab results and genuine wellness by harnessing hormone insights, gut health strategies, longevity medicine, and integrative care. From understanding the nuanced roles of midwives and doulas to exploring advanced testing for a deeper picture of health, Kristin reveals how following your intuition and seeking daily excitement can fuel a truly fulfilling life at any age.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:The difference between midwives, doulas, and OB GYNs.Turning to personal intuition when seeking healthcare solutions.Why standard labs often miss suboptimal hormone levels.How deeper gut testing supports lasting energy and vitality.Using advanced integrative approaches for longevity medicine.Episode References/Links:FemGevity - https://beitpod.com/femgevityFemGevity on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/FemGevity/FemGevity on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/femgevity/FemGevity on Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@femgevityFemGevity on X - https://x.com/FemGevityFemGevity on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/femgevityhealth/FemGevity on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@femgevityGuest Bio:Kristin Mallon is a health tech entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in the industry. As the co-founder and CEO of FemGevity, she is passionate about improving women's health through innovative solutions. Under her leadership, FemGevity has grown into a successful company that provides essential support to women who need it most.Prior to founding FemGevity, Kristin launched Vibrant Beginning, a high-end supplement line of prenatal vitamins. She is committed to making a significant impact in the healthcare industry and enhancing the lives of women around the world. Kristin advocates for transforming the healthcare narrative from solely providing "sickcare" to developing and offering platforms that support optimal health planning. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox Be in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Kristin Mallon 0:00  There's this huge gap between optimal health and chronic care and crisis care and sick care that needs to be filled. You know, which is like what we're doing, and there's so much to be done. There's so much and then obviously it gets into the whole prevention of chronic care and crisis care in the long term. Lesley Logan 0:19  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 1:03  All right, Be It babe, I have a great human for you to hear from today. So I have been on a mission to help educate women on how to be it till they see it and part of that is you feeling like you have the health and the body and the strength and the stamina and the hormones that take you to where you want to go. And so today's guest is Kristin Mallon. She is part of the FemGevity team. You definitely have to listen to Michele Wispelwey's episode from last year, if you haven't, because the two combined are just absolutely wonderful. I have never had so much hope about women's health since I met them, and now I just feel educated, informed, supported. And so the first part of this episode is gonna feel medical-heavy, ladies, you gotta listen. Those of you, no matter where you are, what's going on, it's really good information. You can share it with a friend. And then, we have a really great, she blew my mind. I'm not kidding. What I expected her to answer and what she answered, wouldn't have guessed it in a multiple choice. And now that I know her, I would always, her tips and some of these things that she does for her life, have me wanting to reevaluate what I want to do in my year and what I want to call in more of. So this is just a chock-full episode. Thank you, Kristin Mallon from FemGevity for being here. And y'all make sure you let us know how this episode helped you. Share this with a friend. Here's the thing, we all have to educate each other and ourselves and support each other and to the few good men listening. Thank you so much. You should know this about women's health. Send it to your friend, your sister or your cousin, because this is how we all get stronger together. Lesley Logan 2:36  All right, Be It babe, this is going to be just so much fun. I have been sharing the reels that this woman has been putting out on Instagram multiple times. I'm like, I'm gonna share this one. I'm gonna share this one. We have Kristin Mallon in the house. She's a co-founder of FemGevity, and I love her. Love Michele. If you listened to the podcast I had with Michele Wispelwey, you know what they are. If you follow me at all, you know I'm obsessed with them and all that they're doing. So Kristin, can you tell everyone who you tell everyone who you are and what you rock at? Kristin Mallon 3:04  Yeah, I'm Kristin Mallon. I'm a certified nurse midwife, and I've been doing women's health for over 20 years, and really focusing on, obviously, being a midwife, the blend of medicine, but also ancient wisdom. Lesley Logan 3:17  Okay, I have a couple of things I wanna just chat with. Is like, first of all, I think midwives feel like, to me, they're becoming more and more popular and more and more accessible. Is that true? And then for the people who don't know what a midwife is, can you kind of break that down? Kristin Mallon 3:30  So, yes and no. I think there's pockets of the country where they're becoming popular and pockets of the country where they're becoming unpopular. There's a big, I think, problem in general, with the, you know, or challenge, I don't always like to say problem with, a big challenge with reimbursements across the board for all people that practice any type of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and so we're not really educating and training enough midwives. I think the desire is there and the demand is there, but then the burnout is high, and there's the business aspect, because most midwives are really altruistic, and they really kind of go into this type of work, because it's their passion. So that needs a little bit more support and needs a little bit more, you know, kind of hand-holding. Midwives are confusing, because people think midwives are doulas, people think midwives are doctors, and then kind of everything in between. So I am a board certified nurse midwife. So that's kind of like the highest level of midwifery training and education that you can get. I have a nursing degree. I have a master's degree in nursing and then I took a board certification that I maintain. You know, every year, there's a certain level of requirement that I have to attain. I deliver all of my births in a hospital, and I do assist on surgeries, and I do minor gynecological surgeries, and I really do everything that an obstetrician does, not really a gynecologist. So someone who's delivering babies working with babies, that's what I do. There's other types of midwives, so there's certified midwives who are midwives that are not nurses. There's lay midwives, which are midwives that are trained in a variety of different ways, usually kind of more culturally-trained. And then there's professional midwives, and their certification is a little bit different. And then all states have different governing boards about how they allow them to practice and not practice. But pretty much, if you're going to have a home birth, you're having a midwife. I know like one OB GYN in my whole career, and I know thousands of people in the birth space that he is a physician that does home births, but 96-ish, 95% of midwives are doing their births in a hospital setting so it's kind of confusing. They really are a nurse and an OB GYN had a baby and that's a midwife.Lesley Logan 5:41  Okay, I love that. Thank you for explaining it, because I think I definitely was one of the oh, it's like a doula. And I have a friend who's a doula, so I know clearly my friend is now finding out I didn't know what she did. Okay.Kristin Mallon 5:53  Well, and doulas are really, I always like to make this distinction and like the opportunity to educate people, because doulas have no medical training, no medical background, no medical certification, no licensing, they have to maintain and they can't perform any medical procedures. Whereas a midwife can do pretty much everything an obstetrician can do, except they can't be a primary surgeon on a surgical case.Lesley Logan 6:13  Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Okay, so then you have been, so my other thing with what you've been rocking at is that you've been in, like, women's health medical field for 20 years, and I wonder, what have you seen change for the better, and what still needs changing that we can, you know, make sure we're aware of. I'm 42. This is coming out when I'm 42. I love that people are like, wow, you don't look 42. That's great. I would love to stay looking young as long as possible. That's wonderful. But I don't want to feel, I would like to feel young, too. So I'm just really excited about what you do and what you know about women's health.Kristin Mallon 6:49  Yeah, so we've come so far. So in the last 20 years, I think we've made remarkable strides in miscarriage care, in contraception and fertility care, in reproductive care, in breast health, just kind of an awareness, a lot of mental health awareness, a lot of cancer awareness, cardiovascular awareness. I think the areas where we need to improve on is definitely access. Not all women have access to the types of care they want. There's just not enough OB GYNs. And, unfortunately, there's not enough OB GYNs, there's not enough midwives. We're not graduating enough to replace the ones that are leaving the workforce on a year-to-year basis. It's kind of a big problem. And then, of course, which is what FemGevity is all about, is I know everybody can relate so well to this. You go to the doctor, you don't feel right, and they tell you, your labs are normal, but something's still wrong. And that's really where FemGevity was born, or birthed, so to speak, is from that sensation, because I dealt with that for 20 years. I was like, something's still, like, labs are normal, something's still wrong. Okay, let me look, let me dig, let me keep going. Let me pull from functional medicine. Let me pull from integrative medicine. Let me pull from longevity medicine. And let's figure that out. And a lot of that has to do with how women change decade to decade. So men kind of have this big change at puberty, and then they kind of peak, and then they kind of slowly evolve and change really gradually. And women are so different decade to decade. And once I kind of really started to unravel that and pull that back, it was easy to apply that to all the different things, including menopause care and endometriosis care, PCOS care, fertility care, reproductive care, women's health in general, from head to toe. And you know, a big thing that we do at FemGevity is a lot of gut health, like the gut is such a big overlooked thing. People think oh, I'm tired. I need to check for anemia, I need to check my thyroid. But we're like, no, you need to check your gut. We need to check micronutrient levels. We need to look deeper. So that's where I think we still have a long way to go and a long way to come, and that's what we're doing at FemGevity.Lesley Logan 8:50  Yeah, I think every woman listening is nodding their head when you're like, I went to the doctor and like, everything is normal. I actually had a female doctor in the, I forget what department it was, but it was like in these extreme diseases. And the woman, I got sent to her and she's like, do you feel supported by your doctor? And I'm, no, why am I here? This is the scariest place I could be. I am now very scared. Do I have AIDS? What is going on? And she's like, okay, I think we need to find, it was like a gut doctor who sent me there and because he couldn't figure what's going on, because I kept insisting, I'm not right, something's not right, and so I just got passed off. And, you know, a lot of people have, like, experienced a lot of family or in the holidays or birthdays, and you hear someone going, oh, it's what I ate yesterday. It's what I ate yesterday. I'm like, is it though, or is it something from a week ago? Or is it something? Because the gut is such a complicated, to me, it's complicated, place like it's not necessarily what you ate in the last meal. It could be from another meal that you don't remember.Kristin Mallon 8:51  Yeah, absolutely. And I think what you're talking about is it's really not doctors' faults, because the way that the healthcare system is set up, at least in the United States, is it's really crisis care, sick care, catastrophic care, cancer care, you know, the big C's of care. And if you don't have a chronic condition, you're really going to your doctor and you're saying do I have a chronic condition? And your doctor is telling you truthfully, no, you don't have something like diabetes or high blood pressure or cardiac disease, liver disease, kidney disease, etc. And so there's this huge gap between optimal health and chronic care and crisis care and sick care that needs to be filled, which is like what we're doing, and there's so much to be done. There's so much and then obviously it gets into the whole prevention of chronic care and crisis care in the long term. That's where my passion lies. That's what I'm really just I want for myself, I want for my family, I want for my friends. And I'm just like, so excited to let other women know, and men too, that there's an option. There's someone that can help you. There is a medically trained, licensed professional that can help navigate you through that. Well, everything's fine here, but you still don't feel right.Lesley Logan 10:58  Yeah, thank you for explaining that, because it is true that if you're not one of those big C's, you kind of feel like you're in this abyss. And it is amazing that FemGevity's kind of hope is like trying to fill that gap, which is really great. But I think I wonder, I obviously worry, if you don't get someone like you, eventually you end up in a few C's. The thing that's been bothering you that they haven't figured out, because it's not glaringly obvious, it's going to lead you that way. So let's just say most of the women here are over 40. What are some of the things that they need to make sure that they're checking as they're planning their annuals for this year and things like that, I guess, preventative wise, and then also just so that they're aware and they could be watching things as their body changes.Kristin Mallon 11:34  Well, one of the things that I really noticed working with women for so long is that women are really intuitive, and they tend, you know, some women are born and blessed with this great sense of intuition at the age of six, but most women grow and evolve into their intuition. And so there's so many different things women can focus on in their 40s. And I think a lot of times they know, they know, like, should I be focusing on hormone health? Should I be focusing on gut health? Should I be focusing on exercise, diet, nutrition, sleep? You know, the list goes on. And so what I like to do is, I like to, whenever I meet with a woman, is I kind of like to tease that out of her and try to get a sense from what she's already thinking herself, and really encourage her to go along that path and that trajectory like, you know, well, I've been thinking I should work on my sleep. And I've been thinking I should get a sleep tracker. And I'm like, yes, let's do that. What are your symptoms? Okay, I encourage her and say, I can see how that could be related to sleep, or I can see how that could be related to gut, or that could be related to diet. So I think in your 40s, it's really like you already know, and it's just kind of giving yourself the confidence to be like, okay, I know I need to find someone that's an expert in X that can help me unravel what could this possibly be, and then heading down that path. Lesley Logan 12:49  That's really beautiful. How nice Kristin, we could just listen to the intuition instead of like, sometimes people are trying to get you not to listen to it. It's like, focus on this over here. Focus on this over here. I think that's really wonderful and supportive. Kristin Mallon 13:03  Yeah, I mean, I think if you don't know where to start, sometimes, I think women can also have periods of less intuition, which I think is sometimes, like a leveling up, sometimes a stock will go down before it shoots up. And so maybe if you're caught in that place where you're like, you know, I don't know where to start, my mom says this. My sister says this. My friend said this. Usually it's hormones and gut just start with hormones. Get those checked by someone like myself, who's a hormone expert, who can read between the lines of what a normal lab, because a normal lab is saying, okay, you don't have Addison's disease, you don't have Cushing's disease, you don't have diabetes, you don't have hypothyroidism, but yeah, do you have subclinical fatigue related, a low T3? Do you have not enough conversion of the hormone T3 to T4 which any normal endocrinologist is going to be like, that doesn't matter. You don't have Hashimoto's, you don't have autoimmune disease, but you do have something that's affecting you. So hormones is a really good place to start. And then gut health. I mean, we do so many gut tests every day, and we rarely find someone that has like, a perfectly optimal, normal functioning gut. You know, I would say like, 99% of the time there's room for improvement in the gut.Lesley Logan 14:06  That is so funny. As we are recording this, I'm awaiting like, an update on a gut test, because y'all found a parasite the first time. And I was like, oh, well, that.Kristin Mallon 14:15  Oh, fun. Lesley Logan 14:16  I know. I was like, well, that's, you know, and people are like, oh, which country do you think you got it? I'm like you can get it from sushi, guys. It's not like I have to leave the country for this. Who knows? So I'm excited to see if it's gone. And also I had some dysbiosis, and I am excited, because I can tell when my gut health is strong. I have so much more energy. I feel like a more confident person. I feel more unstoppable. My sleep is absolutely amazing. It's not a surprise to me that, like, I had a little gut situation while I was traveling, and my sleep is off. I'm like, something's maybe something's going on there. So I really love that. If they're not working with you at FemGevity, what are they asking for? Because I know when I try to ask my female general practitioner for a hormone test, she specifically said, oh, you can't test those. They change all the time. And I was just like, I'm paying for this. I don't really know what you're worried about. So what should they be asking for or looking at when it comes to getting those things tested?Kristin Mallon 15:10  Yeah, so hormone health. So really, you kind of just want to get all your sex steroid hormones, which include sex hormone binding globulin, estradiol. If you really want to go deeper, you can get your estrone level done and your estriol level done, which you know maybe might not necessarily be necessary, progesterone, testosterone, free and total thyroid, insulin, cortisol. We do a lot of also functional medicine testing within that so usually, like hemoglobin A1C, homocysteine, CBC, looking at lipid panels, chemistry, liver function, kidney function. That's the general census of like, where you kind of want to go down. Prolactin levels are there too. I can even give you a list, because I'm rattling these off the top of my head, if you want to include it in your show notes, of the hormones I recommend getting. Lesley Logan 15:58  Yeah, we love that. Also, we'll transcribe this guys, so you can just go to the show notes and just take a screenshot. Kristin says.Kristin Mallon 16:05  Yeah, and I want to make sure I didn't forget any there too. Lesley Logan 16:07  Yeah, yeah, we'll love that. Kristin Mallon 16:08  For gut health, so there's really two companies that do, I think, so, you know, my business partner, Michele Wispelwey, her whole background was in the diagnostic lab space, so she is like a lab guru and knows everything. And also myself, like working with women and working with labs gone through so many renditions of labs over time, and labs that closed, and labs that were new and startup labs and labs that merged. And so I think there's a pretty standard gut test called a GI-MAP test, and there's another standard gut test called GI Effects. So GI-MAP is by Diagnostic Solutions, and GI Effects is by Genova Diagnostics. And so you can ask for a GI-MAP that's pretty, most really with it, longevity, functional medicine, integrative medicine, doctors are going to know what a GI-MAP test is, and that's kind of your standard gut test. I always caution women about, this is, like, a really classic thing that I saw with the advent so we do a lot of genomics, and we do a lot of genetic testing too. And so 23andMe came on the scene, and everybody was getting this direct to consumer test, and they were giving it to me, and I'm like, oh my gosh, this is so basic compared to what you can get from a licensed physician. And the same thing is true with like, over the counter gut tests. You can get an over the counter gut test that's probably going to cost you a similar amount of money when you go to a licensed medical provider, and it's just not going to tell you anywhere near as much like GI-MAP does, like 88 different pathogens and microbes. You're looking at yeast, parasites, you're looking for H. pylori, you're looking for dysbiosis, commensal bacteria. So good gut bacteria, bad gut bacteria, so many different things. You're getting virulence levels. So you're getting the actual amount. They're what are called PCR tests, which is like the kind of highest standard of care. So this was, like a big thing in COVID, was your COVID test, RNA, or DNA or PCR testing, and the PCR tests were the best tests. So you're just getting so much more when you go with those two companies. Lesley Logan 18:01  Yeah. So how often should we be doing this? We're getting our hormone test every year. Should we be doing a gut test annually? Is this something you have to do more often? How much is too much?Kristin Mallon 18:12  So I think once a year is probably the minimum, because you will be able to track yourself over time and be able to have data on yourself to look back at and say, okay, when I was 36 or when I was 46 or 56 my hormone levels were this and I felt this way. Some people check them every day. There's a, I just said don't do over the counter. But there is an over the counter test called Miracare, which is kind of like a fertility tracking device, where you can pee on a stick, and it will tell you what your daily progesterone and estrogen levels are. It tells you LH and FSH too, but that's not as important to the overall daily hormone picture. So you can do kind of anything but, once a year. The other thing about hormone testing is that it's important to know, like women get so much confusing information, do I need hormone testing? Do I not need hormone testing? Someone's giving me birth control without hormones or giving HRT without having my hormones tested. Like, why do I need it? Or why do I not need it? And so the gold standard hasn't been set yet. We haven't really come to a consensus as a medical community about how often should this be done. You know, we know in diabetes testing that someone should get a hemoglobin A1C like, every three to six months. We know in when someone's being put on a thyroid medication for the first time, we should check their thyroid every four to six weeks until it's managed and at a normal level. So this hasn't been set, which is why you have so many different clinicians with so many different conflicting views, including you don't need it or you do need it. The way we really use labs at FemGevity is once you've been looking at labs like I have for 20 years, you start to notice patterns. And even though these patterns aren't written down in a protocol by the American College of Obstetrician and Gynecologists, I'm just observationally matching it up with women have been telling me x and here's what the lab data is showing me. And so I'm using my clinical judgment. To kind of make those decisions. Also, it is true that your hormones can change so much, so when we look at an estrogen level, let's say you could be 33 in one blood draw and then in another blood draw with just a couple months apart, you could be like 133 but the main thing is is you're not zero, or you're not almost close to zero, and you're not 400 so you're kind of looking at it like a range versus an exact number. We do a lot of hormone balancing, and we do prescribe HRT and hormone replacement therapy. And so women will start on a hormone and their levels will actually go down. And so they're really confused. Well, I'm taking this extra hormone, but my levels are going down. And so it could just be exactly to what you said, like where we caught them in their cycle when we tested the first time, and then where we're catching them in their cycle and we test the second time. And if they don't have a menstrual cycle and are having a period anymore, they're still having ebbs and flows. Hormones are pulsatile. They pulse even like any hormone, like thyroid or insulin, insulin is a hormone, too. You can think about it, it just pulses into the bloodstream. And so are you catching it up on a trop or on a bow? And that's why we need to know. You know, let's say we give someone testosterone, for example, are you coming back with a male level in your bloodstream? Okay, that's too high. We need to cut down. So we're not waiting for symptoms to come up, symptoms of too much testosterone. We're checking the labs to make sure that we're in a ballpark. It's not so specific, and I think that can help women to interpret their labs and also to understand the big discrepancy. Well, this practitioner says this, and this practitioner says this, and neither of them are probably wrong.Lesley Logan 21:34  Yeah, first of all, I love that you have so much experience. As a Pilates instructor, right, when I was a new teacher, I'm like, okay, I don't know what that is. And then, as I've been teaching for almost 20 years, it's okay most people, when I see that, they have a hard time with this. So let's do this exercise over here, because you start to understand the patterns that are happening, and it makes an art to the science, I think. And also I appreciate you explaining that there isn't a gold standard yet, and that's unfortunate, because they just haven't been testing enough. There just hasn't been we lost a lot of time back when they thought HRT was the worst thing that could happen. I feel like we've we're trying to catch up with I feel like they're in the maybe it's just because now I'm 42 and that's what my algorithm shows. But I do feel like there's a lot more people researching this and coming up and testing things out, so we can have more people explore, and then we can learn more things. So that makes me happy. Okay, you and Michele started this amazing company together. Obviously, you're an incredible doctor. You know so much. What has been the funnest thing about starting a business, and what is the hardest thing that you're that you're like you are trying to because here's why I'm coming at this. I feel like I'm looking at, oh, my God, she is a doctor. She probably has her sleep under control, her hormones under control, all these things. Has it been easy to keep a balance in your own life doing this business and what's been the funnest part about what you guys do?Kristin Mallon 23:00  Yeah, so I would say that the funnest part is really getting to work together. Like, we really like each other, and we really get along, and we really have a lot of fun together. And so when we get to work together, it's like you get to work with your best friend. Like every day. It's really a really fun thing. I think, from the challenge perspective, I personally am a really big believer in like vibration attracts like vibration. And so as long as I'm kind of keeping my vibration in check and keeping my self clean, and I'm looking to reflect that reality outside of me, then everything kind of usually everything works out for me, and everything kind of falls into place. It's just kind of been my experience in life. So the challenge is, is that when things get off track, I usually have to remember to look in the mirror and be like, okay, what is it about me that is like, what thoughts or what influences am I allowing to come into my sphere and my energetic field that aren't in alignment with me, because that's being reflected in my outside world. So that's probably the big challenge, I would say. Lesley Logan 24:08  I so understand that, I really do, because it's not at the plate, and ladies, it's not, oh, everything is our fault. It's the, hold on, what did I bring to this energy that is causing this? Because, you know, there are people who just have force of natures, but I find that if I'm feeling a little nervous, if I'm feeling a little frenetic, if I'm feeling like I don't have control over things, and then I go into the business, the way that I ask for something comes from frenetic, non-controlled, not necessarily a specific place, and then it's a domino effect of the communication is off, and it's hold on, you know? So we do have to kind of take a step back and ask ourselves that, and that's the hardest thing to do in the moment. It's so hard in the moment to go. Hold on. Let me take a pause. How's my vibration? What am I bringing to this? Kristin Mallon 24:52  Yeah, it's hard if you say it's hard (inaudible). I always use a quote that I drilled into my mind, which is, like circumstances don't matter. Only state of being matters. And it's the state of being that makes your circumstances. It's not what happens, it's what I do with what happens. And I can usually, almost always have anything that happens be to my benefit and be to my good. It's kind of like going with the flow and being in the river versus trying to, like, paddle in a specific pattern. You don't know where all the rocks are, and you don't know where all the bumps are, and so if you kind of let the river take you, you usually can, you know, it doesn't look straight, and it always you're like, Hmm, I don't know if I would like go all the way over to the right, but then you realize that, oh, there was dead current in the middle of the river, and you needed to get to the side to get to the fast current. So I kind of try to think of that as much as possible. You know, it's not, I don't always win, but I'm winning most of the time, I hope. Lesley Logan 25:48  Kristin, that is so cool. That is amazing. We're clipping that and I'm gonna put that on my wall, because it is, I, especially, most of the women listening to this, they are caring for young children. They have older parents or family members in their life. They have. Kristin Mallon 26:08  Yeah, they're the in betweens. Lesley Logan 26:09  Yes, they have and they have jobs that they have to do. And then it can feel like the circumstances around you are just hard. And so what you just gave us, is such an amazing gift. Is like the state of being, like, how can I focus on that? So do you have tools? Or is it like a mantra that you say, is it that just that the mantra helps or like?Kristin Mallon 26:30  Oh my favorite mantra, I can give you my favorite mantra that works so well. Two words. So what? So what? Whatever it is like, so what? I mean, it works for 99.9% of things. If you're like this, that I'm going to be late, I didn't put the sandwich in the lunch bag, and I didn't do the permission slip, and I forgot to put these slides in a presentation. So what, you know? And I think that's something that's always really helped me to kind of see the forest through the trees. Lesley Logan 27:03  Yeah, I can see that because I am someone who's like, we're going to be late. And unless it's the plane, probably going to be most things are fine, (inaudible) catches the flight (inaudible).Kristin Mallon 27:16  Even if it is the plane being late might have your benefit, might be to your highest good, because maybe you met someone that now you're sitting on a different flight, or you ended up being able to not miss a phone call that was coming through. So, as long as I allow that type of vibration into my field, I usually end up having those results. The other thing that I think is super helpful, that I also kind of like encourage people to do, is, if you just do it a little bit, it kind of becomes second nature, which is to watch your definitions, watch how you define things. Because even like saying, oh, it's hard to do X, yeah, if you say, I'm working on doing X, or I'm getting better at doing X, or I'm improving my X, it's a much different definition than it's hard. And it's so fun for me. Like, when I first started doing this practice a couple years ago, it was so fun to change the definitions of things and just be like, oh, this happened. Well, that happened because it was so funny. My bra was showing or, I don't know, something happened where I didn't get the job I wanted to get, or I didn't get the client I wanted to get. And instead of it being like a failure, it was a learning experience, or instead of it being a mess up, it was an opportunity for growth or development or internal reflection, or for me to get this thing that I'm talking to you about right now, which is that I can choose how I define things. Lesley Logan 28:38  I really like that, because I do think it's fun. I'm going to keep working on catching myself. But one of the ones that sticks with me, because I was raised in a household that doesn't have a lot of money, and so they'd always say we don't have any money. There's no money for that. No you can't have it. There's no money for that. Kristin Mallon 28:50  I was, too.Lesley Logan 28:51  And I was, so was my husband, and we have been really conscious. I can always tell when one of us is in a bad state, because the words we'll say we can't afford that, which is like a not, like a non-sentence in this house, because the better phrase is, we are choosing not to invest in that right now. Oh, you know what? That's great. I'm not investing in that right now. Or that's actually not something we're spending money on today. So it's not that you don't have the money, it's not that you can't afford it. It's just not a priority in this moment. Kristin Mallon 29:20  That's a perfect example of the definitions. That sentiment. So, do you know the book by Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich?Lesley Logan 29:27  Yes, I love it. I listened to the old tape or whatever. I maybe I should do that again as the year starts.Kristin Mallon 29:33  Yeah. Well, that's the epitome of what you just said. That's one of the big lessons that he talks about in that book. And that book influenced The Secret. So that's (inaudible).Lesley Logan 29:42  And everyone you can go to the original source, it's still out there. Do you remember the part? Because you're, I don't know if you maybe it didn't stick with you, but he mentioned the woman who would always put her hand on her left breast and go oh, I'm gonna get cancer. I just know I'm gonna die from cancer. And she'd always say that, and then she died of breast cancer. She like, literally, she kept putting her hand on herself saying she's gonna get it. It's like not saying that anyone who gets cancer did that to themselves. That's not it at all. But it's just like we, our words, have so much power, and we really do. I love that redefining. You guys, how are you going, like, I wonder you guys have to send in to the Be It Pod and to FemGevity which words you're redefining. I think that'd be really fun for us all to see as an experiment. Kristin, what are you most excited about right now? This is out in 2025. What are you excited that's coming up, that you guys are doing? What's going on? Kristin Mallon 30:30  I'm really excited that this concept of, so I think over the years, we've kind of defined it as functional medicine, and then we defined it as integrative medicine, and now we're defining it as longevity medicine, and I'm just so excited to be a part of that ecosystem and the effects that it has. I mean, I work with women primarily, so the effects that it has on women and the aha moments they have, and that feeling that, I think, that liberation that they've been looking for for so long that they're not just like, going down, down, down, down, down, but that they're actually going up, up, up and getting better is like, so rewarding and so fun that I'm just like, so passionate and excited about sharing that with women as much as possible. Anybody who wants to hear me talk about it, I'm like, do you want to hear me talk about optimization of health? Like, I'm totally down.Lesley Logan 31:20  I also like that it's changed to longevity medicine because the other ones were a bit vague and hard for I feel like this is what people want. It's not when you're like, oh yeah, I want a functional medicine. I guess that makes sense, but it doesn't sound sexy. I want a long life where I have longevity. I don't want to just be old. I want to have be strong and energized when I'm older, you know, I want all those things. So I think that's really cool. Since you love to talk about optimal health, is there anything else about optimizing our health that we didn't talk about that we should know about, that we should check on? Kristin Mallon 31:51  I always say don't give up on yourself, because I think women, so many times have been told no, or they go to the wrong doctor, or they hit dead ends and they think there's no hope. And if you don't give up on yourself, and you hear a podcast like this, and you're like, okay, I need to find a longevity medicine doctor. I need to find a hormone balancing expert. Or they can come over to FemGevity if they're in the United States, we can usually work with them in some way. There is a path to not just feeling better, but feeling like fantastic and great and energized. And I know there's people listening that are like, yeah, this girl's crazy. There's no way I'm so chronically fatigued. My kids are little, my parents are dying or sick. There is, there really, really, really, is just keep going on yourself and don't give up until you find the right person and the right practitioner to help you. It's worth it. So worth it.Lesley Logan 32:41  Oh, I love that. Thank you for that gift. That's a good one. We're gonna take a brief break, and then we're gonna find out where people can find you, follow you, work with you and your Be It Action Items. Lesley Logan 32:51  All right, Kristin, where can people find you? I'm gonna give you the link right now. You can go to beitpod.com/femgevity, because you guys can go and get a call and see how they can help you. But where else on the internet are y'all at?Kristin Mallon 33:04  So our website, femgevityhealth.com and all social media channels @femgevity. So we're on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn.Lesley Logan 33:15  It's probably really fun to be doctors and researchers that have to then learn social media and all the hacks. And I also love that I've got my captions to actually spell FemGevity out correctly. They can't spell my name, they can't spell my dog's name, but they can spell FemGevity. So that's the way to go, ladies. Yeah, okay, you've given us a lot of great stuff already, but for our action takers who are listening, bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted, steps people can take to be it till they see it. What do you have for us?Kristin Mallon 33:48  So my best advice is, whenever in doubt, follow your highest excitement in any given situation. It's a breadcrumb trail that kind of leads you to your biggest and best self. So follow your highest excitement to the best of your ability with no insistence or assumption on the outcome, and it always leads you to the best location, place, time for you.Lesley Logan 34:09  Oh my gosh, you're so cool. Kristin Mallon 34:14  Yeah, you too.Lesley Logan 34:15  Well, thank you, but, yeah, like, what a great tip. That's so fun, because most people say, like, follow your gut. And I've got these people going my gut's off something's wrong. But highest excitement, oh. Kristin Mallon 34:28  It's easy to do, because even if you think about it, you're like, and as soon as we get off this call, right, there's going to be a whole bunch of things you could do. You could check your email, you could take your dog for a walk, you could stretch, you could do Pilates. But if you just tune into like, which one is most exciting, more than any of the others. It'll lead you down a really thrilling and rewarding path.Lesley Logan 34:47  Oh yes, yes, it will, oh yeah, the doctor has ordered that I have to follow my highest excitement. I'm going to do that as soon as I hang up. Y'all please, if you, if this at all has you intrigued, contact FemGevity. It's really nice to have doctors who actually want to look at things and look at patterns, and, you know, don't want to just tell you, it's all good, yep, that problem. I don't know. It's really nice if someone listened to you, and I will just shout out, I was traveling for almost a month, and I got an email from your team going okay, you have to do your call. And I'm like, oh, my God, a doctor that wants me to come for my appointment. They not that other doctors don't. I'm sure I have doctors listening, but you can wait in the waiting room for 45 minutes. You guys make sure. Made sure I made my call, and I'm so glad I did, because I needed that call, and it's just really nice to have someone to look out for my optimal health. So thank you so much for all you do at FemGevity. Lesley Logan 35:40  You guys, how are you going to use these tips in your life? Make sure you tag FemGevity. Tag the Be It Pod. And share this with a girlfriend who, like is frustrated with their health and they're feeling stuck and feeling going in circles. You know, it's kind of nice to be reminded to not give up on yourself. So thank you, Kristin, for that. And until next time everyone, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 35:59  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 36:41  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 36:46  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 36:51  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 36:58  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 37:01  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Brielle Brasil is a mama's coach, breathwork facilitator, and somatic trauma resolution therapist. She shares her two birth stories as a foreigner living in the Dominican Republic. Brielle's first birth was an unexpected, traumatic C-section. After putting in the work to heal, Brielle felt ready to explore birth options that she thought were unattainable. She was creative and intuitive throughout the entire process.Julie and Brielle also dive deeper into how trauma is stored in the body, how somatic trauma resolution can help, and why it's important not to try to heal trauma on your own.How to VBAC: The Ultimate Prep Course for ParentsFull Transcript under Episode Details Julie: All right, Women of Strength. You are listening to The VBAC Link Podcast. This is Julie and I am here with a very special guest today, Brielle. I am really excited to hear her stories. She gave birth in the Dominican Republic twice, both her C-section and her VBAC. We were just talking about that because my previous guest who I just recorded with in episode 370 also lived in the Dominican Republic. She had her babies back in the States. She flew back to the States. It was just such a coincidence. I am mind-blown. What are the chances?Brielle: So wild. Julie: I know. Brielle had both of her babies there. I'm so excited to hear about her stories and her experience, but before we do that, I am going to read a Review of the Week that Meagan texted me this morning if I can find it in all of our text messages. Okay, here it is. This review is on Apple Podcasts from janaerachelle. She says, “I am so happy I found this incredible podcast. After having two prior C-sections, I was convinced I would have to have another C-section for my birth this November. I feel empowered, educated, and hopeful I can do this. Thank you for all of the true facts in a safe space where we can all talk about our birth trauma in a space where we don't sound ‘crazy' for doing something that God created our bodies to do.” I love that so much. I think that the birth world is so interesting in lots of different ways and lots of different things. It can be incredibly wild to desire something that can be considered outside of the box. I'm glad that VBAC is becoming more and more common and that we are talking about it more. Sometimes, when I'm so deep in this VBAC world, it can be easy to forget that some people think it is the wildest thing ever. Brielle: Yeah. Absolutely. People in the Dominican Republic for sure fall into that box of, “What? You can actually have a baby vaginally after having a C-section?” People didn't know that was an option.Julie: Yeah. People just don't know. All right, let's get to it. I am so excited to hear your stories. I am really on the edge of my seat right now. Before I have you get into those, I'm just going to introduce you a little bit. This is Brielle. She is a Mama's Coach, breathwork facilitator, and somatic trauma resolution therapist. She helps postpartum and pregnant women heal from their previous birth trauma, forgive themslves, their bodies, their babies, and their previous team so they can go into their next birth confident, free, and in tune with their motherly intuition fully trusting themselves, their bodies, their babies, and birth.I have lots to say about this, but I'm going to wait until the end because I don't want to start going off on too many tangents too soon. But I'm excited. I want to hear more. We will definitely talk about that after the birth stories, and I'm super excited. She lives in Virginia, and we are both commiserating about how things are shifting to the chilly side of the weather today, but I am going to sit here cozy in my blanket while I am listening to Brielle's stories giving birth in the Dominican Republic. Go ahead, Brielle. Take it away, and I am excited to hear. Brielle: Awesome. Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me on here. It's such an honor, and it feels really surreal because I listened to this podcast a ton during my second pregnancy. Yes. I am not Dominican. I am American, and I was a foreigner having both of my babies in a foreign country. As you mentioned about the woman you recorded with earlier, most foreigners who are in the Dominican Republic don't have their babies in the Dominican Republic. I was part of an international community, and my husband was an international teacher. It was just assumed that if you are not Dominican, you are going to go back to wherever your home country was to give birth. Right after that, the fact that I was deciding both pregnancies to give birth there because the most important person for me to have at my birth was my husband and the only way to have him at my birth, because it wasn't a summer baby and he was a teacher. It was an April baby, and then a May baby the next time. The only way to have him there was to have our babies i the Dominican Republic. I'll just start off with the first birth. I went into it very fearful having a baby abroad where the language spoken is not my first language. Spanish is not my first language. It was fearful solely for the fact that I was doing it in a foreign country not even really realizing the fears that I had around birth itself until later. I found a doula, and I really liked her. I didn't know much about the OB/GYNs there. She had recommended a couple of them to me and the one that she had used for her births which were all Cesareans, but she said he was a great doctor and he spoke English fluently. I went to him. I stuck with him. Right away, I didn't feel anything initially wrong. He was very knowledgeable. He was up to date on what seemed like a lot of research. But then as things would progress, he would start to question me asking questions to him which was odd, but at the same time, I was like, “Well, he's fluent in English. I feel comfortable in that regard. My doula recommended him.” It was my first time doing this, I was just going to stick with him. Then at about 37-38 weeks pregnant, I started to get the real red flags. Red flags as in him starting to talk about induction already and I'm only 37-38 weeks pregnant. At that point, I just felt like, “Well, okay.” It was clear to me that these were red flags, but I also felt like I didn't have another option. I felt like at that point I was too far along. It was too late in the game. I had seen him my whole pregnancy. I just needed to stay with him. I had prodromal labor for about a week. During that week, this was weeks 39-40. During that week, I went into that office every other day. It was a lot. We were just a little bit obsessive over the time and the clock and everything. I went in several times. I got three membrane sweeps which were all pretty painful. We were trying to “get things to start naturally” and as natural as possible. I know membrane sweeps aren't really, but we were trying to help things along because I was having that prodromal labor. I would have contractions for hours, and they would stop for hours. Also, my husband and I were trying to have things happen naturally as well, so we were having a lot of sex that last week around the clock. Somewhere, I think, from probably the amount of sex we were having and making sure to go to the bathroom right after, I ended up getting a UTI. I think it was the day before my due date when I started to get sick. I started to get a fever. I started to get a high fever. My husband was like, “We need to go into the doctor.” I didn't want to because I was fearful of knowing what he was going to say. At that point, I didn't feel like I trusted him because of the red flags that were coming up. I begged my husband, “Let's not go. Let's see if it goes away.” We waited 24 hours, and it didn't. He was like, “I don't feel comfortable.” I was like, “I get it. Okay, we'll go.” We went in. Of course, they checked the baby's heart rate which was a little bit high. I just felt pretty much like shit. The fever kept coming and going. Because I had the contractions going on and off, he was like, “We need to get labor underway.” They didn't know yet it was a UTI. They were like, “We need to test and see why you're sick and run labs.” He was like, “I recommend that you go to the hospital and get induced. We will run all of the tests.”He was afraid I had COVID actually, but it wasn't that. He was like, “We just need to run the tests, get you induced, and get this thing going on because that shouldn't be happening.” I didn't know anything about prodromal labor or any of that. I was scared. I was in a foreign country. I just wanted my baby to be healthy. I was like, “Okay, yeah. Let's go.” We all went. I got induced that morning. Looking back on it and having done the healing work I did, I can see that I just wasn't ready. My body wasn't fully ready yet. My baby wasn't ready yet. It was just a rushed timing scenario because I got induced that morning. They did the test. They found that I had a UTI, so they were treating me with antibiotics while pumping me with Pitocin. On and off all day long, my fever would go away, then it would come back, then it would go away, and then it would come back. I would pick up contractions and be in labor. That was hard to deal with when I was sick. I felt zero energy hardly at that point being sick. That was at 9:00 in the morning. I got induced. It went on and off all day. The contractions were doing the same thing all day. They would pick up for a few hours, then they would stop for a long while. What was interesting, I noticed, is that every time my doctor would come into the room to check me, my contractions would completely stop around him. Looking back, I can tell I didn't feel safe with him. I just had past trauma with males. I shouldn't have ever had a male provider personally. I could tell those things in hindsight, but it was just all happening. By the end of the day in the evening, he was like, “You haven't made any progression dilation-wise. The baby's heart rate's really high, so I suggest we go into a C-section.” My husband and I were just like, “Yeah.” Like I said, we wanted our baby to be healthy. We were fearful. We went into C-section, and we had him. I was just numb through the whole experience because I had really desired everything of my first birth to be natural. I actually wanted a home birth my first go around, but I thought it was illegal in the DR because I didn't know there were any midwives. There were no birthing centers in the DR. Nobody I had ever talked to had ever had a home birth in the DR, and I was actually told, and my doula actually thought home birth was illegal because it was so, so, so, so rare in the DR. I was just under the impression that it was illegal, so I didn't plan a home birth. But I tried to plan a hospital birth that would hopefully be as natural as possible. Instead, I got the opposite. I had a lot of the cascade of interventions that I didn't want to have at all. I wanted things to happen spontaneously and to have minimal time in the hospital. I wanted that skin-to-skin right after, and my baby was taken away from me right after he was born which was very traumatic. I had to work really hard to heal all of that. But nonetheless, he was born. He had pooped himself inside of my womb, so there was meconium there. They told me that his cord was wrapped in a way that he couldn't progress, and that's why I wasn't dilating and he wasn't descending. It's like they tried to give me some reasons why that was the right way. It's not that I don't believe that, but in hindsight and after a lot of the healing work I did, I can see why everything went down the path it did because I felt rushed at the end of the day. I felt like that word “induction” was being thrown around so much and I didn't want that. I had to take matters into my own hands and try to do all of the “natural” inductions. Also, at the end of the day, my son was born the week before Semana Fante in the Dominican Republic which is Holy Week which is a huge, huge holiday week, so I did also find out that some of the members of the birth team had plans for Easter week and travel plans, so I knew that there was a bit of a rush from that end which made me feel rushed and just made the whole process one that I needed to heal from in big, big ways. So after I had my son, postpartum was really, really hard. Breastfeeding was hard. Everything was hard. I realize everything was so hard not only because I was a new mom and didn't have the support I needed, but because my birth was incredibly traumatic– and I didn't think of it that way at first because I was like, “My son is born. He is healthy.” But then 6 months after I had my son, I was still having physical pain at my scar site. I got it checked out. Nothing medically or physically was wrong with it, but what I know being in the line of trauma work that I do is that our body holds trauma, and everything is connected physically and emotionally within our bodies and within ourselves. About 6 months after I had him, I was still having that pain. I decided to work on my birth trauma. I worked on it from all different levels. I worked on it from the physical level. I started seeing an osteopath who I worked with for the next several months. Within a matter of weeks, a lot of the pain was gone. I also started working on it with a traumatic somatic trauma coach who is also a birth attendant. I found her because she was in the same trauma certification group that I went through. I worked with her for 6 months to heal everything from that birth and all of the trauma that it caused to forgive myself, to forgive my baby, to forgive my team, to feel safe again in my body, to feel at peace, to feel at home in my body, to connect back to my body, to connect to my baby, and just a number of things that we did together somatically and through breathwork to really peel back all of the layers of my birth, and not just my birth, but all of the births that came before me in my lineage to heal and heal deeply. It was a big, big work that we did together. It was not a small undertaking, but I will say that I feel. I feel that the work that I did to heal my first birth spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically was the best catalyst I could have had on my side for my next pregnancy and my next birth. So I got pregnant in August of 2022, or sorry, 2023. It's interesting because I had thought about home birth the first time, and because of the timing, we were again going to have our baby in the DR. Is home birth a thing there? Sure enough, you put it out in the universe, and I started to meet people who were having home birth, mostly foreigners who were having home births in the DR. I think three, which was huge because before, I had not even heard of it. I was like, “​​Wow, okay. This is happening here. This is allowed here. This is legal here. What are you guys doing? What are you guys going through?” I started getting the right contacts of the right people and found out that there is a midwife in Fountaindomingo, one. I met with her. I was so excited because I was like, “​​This is great. She gets to be my midwife.” Then she told me that her dad was sick at the time, and she was going to be helping him. She told me, “I'm not going to be working during the time of your due date.” I was like, “​​Okay, so we just need to look at other options.” Right off the bat, everything I did for my second pregnancy was a 360 from my first one. With my first one, I was like, “Okay, it's this one guy. It has to be.” I was very narrow because I was scared.With the second one, I was like, “​​Okay, it's not her. I'm going to keep my options open. I'm going to keep my mind open. We'll find someone.” My husband just did a Google search of traveling midwives in the US. We had a call with my midwife, Brittany, who is from Texas. Right after the Zoom call, I looked at my husband. I was crying because I felt such a connection with her. I was like, “​​She's it. She's the person who has to be at my birth. I feel so safe with her. I feel so seen and supported. She's everything I would look for in someone to deliver my baby. She's both nurturing and has a calming presence, but she's also direct and not going to sugarcoat things. I need a beautiful blend of both.” I was really excited. We ended up signing a contract with her, and in the meantime, I got my prenatal care from an OB/GYN office throughout my pregnancy, and of course, to have a backup option in place. I switched OB/GYNs three times this pregnancy, and the last time I switched, I think, was as late as 32 weeks pregnant. I had been with the second gal. The first two OB/GYNs I was with– they were all women– were from recommendations from the midwife who wouldn't be working during my birth. She had recommended the first two. The first one, I loved, but she wasn't fluent in English, so neither one of us felt comfortable in terms of communication and being able to fully communicate when it comes to birth. I was bummed, but that one didn't work out. I went to the second one she recommended. This one was a lot more fluent in English. I could communicate with her fine, and she was direct, but her bedside manner was so direct that she didn't have that calming and nurturing confidence. She was confident, but she didn't have the calming, nurturing side that I also wanted. She said a couple of things that didn't vibe very well with me. It was so direct that it was hurtful. At 32 weeks, I was like, “​​You know what, babe? I love my first choice for my team, but if something happens, I don't love my second choice.” I was determined. I just kept looking, and through one of the girls who had a home birth, she had heard of the woman that I went to as my third option. She had recommended, “If you decide to have it in the hospital, here are a couple of people I have heard good things about through friends.” I went to this woman, Lini Capalon, from 32 weeks. I didn't tell her I was planning a home birth. I decided not to tell her. I told the second lady. She had gotten a little iffy about it because it's not illegal there, but again, it's so uncommon there that it's hard for them to wrap their head around it basically. I'll put it that way.With the third woman, I didn't tell her, but she knew I wanted to have a VBAC. She had done a number of VBACs herself, and she had told me before I even started talking to her, she was like, “​​Look. We want this birth to be as natural as possible for your highest chance at VBAC.” She was like, “​​You need to go into labor spontaneously. We don't want to interfere at all. I don't want to interfere with you. I don't want to give any interventions.” She was like, “​​You can go until you're 42 weeks and 3 days before we'll then talk about induction.”I was floored because I didn't think this existed in an OB/GYN in the DR. First of all, that they're doing VBAC, and secondly, that they're for it. We were talking about this, Julie, a little bit before we hopped on that the C-section rate in the Dominican Republic is 90%. 9-0 in private hospitals, and public hospitals are really, really not great. If you have the choice, you wouldn't want to birth in a public hospital. You are already going into a private hospital with a 90% chance of a C-section.Julie: That is so wild. It is so wild. Brielle: Yeah. Yep. Yeah. I learned that through the midwife who was in Santo Domingo. Julie: Well, and I almost wonder if the 10% who are not Cesareans are the ones who go so fast or are on accident. Do you know what I mean? Brielle: Yeah. Yeah. Or just everything progresses, I don't want to say normally, but quickly.Julie: Quickly, yeah.Brielle: Quickly. You're not “late” at all. I did have a friend who actually had a vaginal birth in the DR about a month after me. That was very hard for me as well and very triggering because she also had the same doctor as me the first go-around.Julie: Oh no. That's hard.Brielle: That was a big part of my healing journey too. But yeah, her water broke. She went into labor. She progressed quickly and had the baby. There was not anything out of the “norm”. Anyway, that's how it needs to happen if you're going to have a chance. The fact that I had found her, then she was pro-VBAC and had VBAC experience was really rare because I was also saying that VBACs are unheard of in the DR. After I had my second baby, people were like, “​​What? You had your baby vaginally? Didn't you have a C-section before?” They didn't know that was possible.I went with her for my backup option. Then, here we go. I was 38 weeks and 5 days pregnant. My midwife is scheduled to come. She has her flight booked for the day before my due date. I'm still 10 days out before she's supposed to come. I lose my mucus plug, and I have my bloody show. Of course, I message her. She's like, “​​Well, here's the thing. You could go into labor anytime now. It could be tomorrow, and it could be 2 weeks from now. We just don't have any way to predict that.” I was like, “Okay, cool. Great.” But another thing that I had worked largely on this pregnancy and a big reason why I kept changing OB/GYNs and a big reason why I said no to a lot of things during my pregnancy and started speaking my voice is because I found my intuition or re-found it, and really listened to it every step of the way. Any time anything felt the slightest bit off, I was like, “​​Nope. We're not doing that.” It took an incredible amount of tuning everything out, tuning out all of the noise and opinions and everything that's out there and really just listening within. After that happened, I lost my mucus plug. She wasn't supposed to come for 10 days. She tells me, “It could be tomorrow. It could be 2 weeks.” I slept on it, and then the next day, I was like, “​​Brittany, I think you need to get here sooner. When's the soonest you can come?” This was Friday. She was like, “I can come this Sunday in two days.” I was like, “​​Great. Can you change your flight?” She was like, “​​Yeah. Can you pay the difference?” I'm like, “​​Yeah, that's fine.” She changes her flight to Sunday. Her Airbnb was on the street that I live on. She gets to her AirBnB at 3:00 PM on Sunday. That night, I had about three or four days of prodromal labor before that. That night, at 7-8:00 PM is when I finally started having regular contractions, and my water broke that night at about 11:00 PM the day that she got there. Julie: Your baby was waiting. They just knew. Brielle: They knew. I knew. I was like, “​​You've got to get here sooner.” Baby Alana was waiting. Everything was happening in perfect timing. I told her that my water broke. She came over. Labor started. My contractions were regular. I let my husband sleep because I also didn't know how long it was going to be because I had prodromal with this one too. I had it for a week before. I'm like, “​​I don't really know for sure if it's the real thing. I'm going to let him sleep for now. He supposedly has to work tomorrow, but we'll see.” Things were regular, active, and intense all night long. He ended up waking up at 4:00 AM and coming up and setting up the birthing tub at that point. I didn't know if I wanted a water birth or not, but I knew I wanted to have it as a comfort option and I wanted the option should I want to birth in there when the time came. So he set up the tub, and my doula came over. I had pretty intense contractions until Monday morning. Our nanny came over because my son, my 2.5-year-old was just 2 at the time, he woke up and he had school. She was getting him ready for school. He woke up, and even though the nanny was with him, that slowed my contractions down a little bit because it's hard when your son's not there to be in mom mode somewhat. Things slowed down a little bit while he was getting ready for school. He went to school. I was feeling a little frustrated because things had slowed down. My husband was like, “​​Let's go outside. Let's go for a walk.” We left the apartment. We went for a walk. My husband had me doing squats which I wish in hindsight I had reserved that energy. I didn't know how long labor would go on. I was hunched over. Cars were stopping, “Are you okay?” as we were walking down the street and people were on their way to work because things were picking up again.I'm like, “​​Okay, I think we need to get back to the apartment.” He helped me. We get back to the apartment. We get back inside. Things got really intense again. It was Monday morning. I'm in and out of the birthtub. I'm on the birth ball listening to HypnoBirthing tracks using my breath. I'm a breathwork facilitator, so it wasn't hard for me to tune into different breath patterns that were feeling good and supporting the intensity of everything. Monday afternoon came. My son got off to school. He came home. The same thing happened. They slowed down a bit while he got lunch and got ready for his nap. He went for his nap, then things really picked up. My midwife knew I didn't want to be checked because of the whole thing before of, “You're 1 centimeter,” and a week later, “You're 1.5 centimeters. You're not progressing,” type thing. I knew I didn't want to be checked, but I think she could tell by the intensity and by the look in my eyes that I must be close to needing to push.She said, “I know you don't want to be checked, but do you mind if I check you and not tell you the number just to see where things are at?” This was Monday afternoon. I'm like, “​​Sure, that's fine.” She checked me. I was like, “​​You can tell my husband where I'm at, and he can decide if I should know.She checked me, and then a bunch more of my water gushes out, and then she blurts out, “You're fully dilated. You're ready to push.” I was like, “​​Really? That's awesome. Great. Sounds great to me.” It had been a little over 12 hours at this point. I was like, “​​Okay.” But I also told her, “Really? I don't feel the urge to push. I don't feel like I need to push.” She explained to me that VBAC patients sometimes don't feel that urge. That's possible that you might not feel the urge. I was like, “​​Okay.” I leaned on her a little bit more for what positions to try and stuff like that and the actual mode of how to push because again, it wasn't coming naturally. It wasn't coming instinctively because I didn't feel that urge. For the next, I think, 4 or 5 hours, I pushed at home. I pushed in the tub. I pushed out of the tub. I pushed on my bed. I pushed on the floor. I pushed in kneeling, hands and knees. You name the position. I feel like I probably tried it. I was absolutely exhausted because, of course, I didn't sleep the night before. Eating was hard. I wasn't getting what I needed nutritionally to keep up energetically with how long the labor was getting and how long the pushing was getting, but I also didn't want to eat. I felt like I couldn't get hydrated. I was exhausted. There were a number of times I looked at my husband, and I looked at my doula, “I can't do this anymore.” They were encouraging me, “Yes, you can.” I got on my hands and knees and prayed. I was listening to my tracks. I had my crystals that I work with, and I'm just talking to my spirit guides and all of this stuff. After 4 or 5 hours, I was beat. I was so defeated. I was beat. My midwife was like, “​​Why don't we give it a rest for a little bit?” She was intermittently checking our baby's heart rate and checking me. All of that was fine. The baby was fine. I was fine the whole time, so she kept saying, “Both of you are fine. You can stay here longer. There is no rush because both of you are fine. There is no need to go to the hospital if you don't want to. If you want to, that's an option, and it's fine.” I was like, “​​No. I'm just going to take a break from pushing, and try to rest.” Of course, I'm in active labor, so trying to rest is hard, but I just stopped with trying to push for a couple of hours, then it was getting into Monday night. My son had gone to bed for the night. It had been a few hours of this “resting”, but really intense contractions, and she asked me, “Do you want me to check you again? Do you not? Just to see what's going on. I don't know what's happened.” She checked me.She said, “I have bad news.” I was like, “​​Okay, give it to me, I guess.” She explained to me that there are two layers of the cervix, the outer and the inner. When she had checked me before I pushed for that 4 or 5 hours, she realized she could only feel one layer. The layer that she felt was fully dilated, but then when she was checking me this time Monday night, she was feeling the other layer, and it wasn't fully dilated. It was around a 7. She said that was why our baby– she had been sitting so low for this whole time. She was there, but couldn't get around that other layer which is why the pushing wasn't really doing anything to get her out. I was like, “​​Okay.” It was hard to hear, but also kind of relieving to hear in a way because I was like, “​​Well, I just did all of that work for nothing? What?” That's what it felt like, but then it also felt like, “Okay, well, at least there is a reason why I was pushing, and it wasn't happening. It just wasn't.” I trusted the timing. I was so trusting in this birth. I was so trusting of the timing. I was so trusting of my baby. I was so trusting of my body and myself. I had done so much work around that to trust myself. I was like, “​​Okay.” I rested some more. Everything was fine. I continued to labor at home until about midnight. I was in the birthing tub, and at about midnight, I started to feel absolutely terrible, just incredibly weak. I had now been up for over two days and had two nights with no sleep. The four days before that was bad sleep because it was prodromal labor. My body was really exhausted. I was emotionally exhausted and mentally exhausted in every way.It was midnight. I was going through the second night now. I was just like, “​​Guys, I don't feel well. I feel really bad.” She checked my vitals. Everything was fine. I was like, “​​I feel like my blood pressure was really low. I felt like I was going to pass out.” She was like, “​​Have you eaten any protein today?” I had eaten a lot of carbs and was staying hydrated. I was like, “​​No, I guess not.” She was like, “​​Let's try some protein.” I absolutely didn't want that, but my husband was force-feeding me a ton of chicken. My husband does acupuncture as a side thing. I was like, “​​Can you give me acupuncture to progress things or help with this terrible feeling I have to give me some energy?” He did acupuncture on me. He was force-feeding me chicken. Right after that, I got back in the birthing tub. I projectile vomited everywhere. After I threw up, I was like, “​​Oh, I feel better now.” It was so bizarre. I was going through a whirlwind at this point. I was like, “​​I feel better. I feel like I can continue now.” This was midnight now. My midwife said, “Okay, you can continue.” I continued the next four hours in and out of the tub, on the birthing ball. My husband was asleep at this point. My doula had to leave because her daughter was sick. I'm dozing off in the tub between every contraction which was only every 15 seconds because I was so tired, then the contractions would come. They'd be level 100, insane intensity. They'd be a minute and a half, then I'd get to fall asleep for 15 seconds then wake back up and do it again, and do it again on repeat for 4 or 5 hours. Then it's 4:30 AM. I know it's getting close to rush hour. There's a lot of traffic during rush hour in Santo Domingo. If we tried to go to the hospital during rush hour, it probably would have taken us 2, maybe 3 hours to get there. I told my midwife at 4:30 AM, “Can you check me?” She checked me, and that same layer was still at a 7. It was maybe a 7.5. I told her, “I'm ready to throw in the towel.” What I meant by that was, “I'm ready to surrender to this process,” which means I'm not going to do it here at home anymore. Intuitively, that felt very right to me to go. It was time to try something different. I had been home for 35 hours at labor. We had worked with everything that was there. I had all of my tools that I had, and I felt like something needed to change.Julie: You were so tired. You worked so hard for so long. An exhausted body is just exhausted and not effective at laboring.Brielle: No, not at all.My midwife and my husband packed up my bag. My midwife ended up having to stay at our house because my son was sleeping. Our nanny couldn't get there until 6:00 or 7:00 AM. My doula, her kid was sick, and she had to go home. My husband and I had to go to the hospital. The next two hours were insane. Once I decided I was going to the hospital, I basically had no breaks in my contractions. The time that they were packing my bags, and then we were going down to the car and driving to the hospital which was quick because there was no traffic at 5:00 AM. Those 15 minutes, we thought we were going to have the baby in the car. At this point, I was having zero breaks. The intensity was through the roof. We walk into the hospital. My husband has to do paperwork, so I'm all by myself. I'm just roaring like a lion at this point. I'm barreled over. This is so intense. I don't have my tub or my ball or anything at this point. I didn't have any pain relief medically, but I didn't even have the things I had at home to help me. I'm just barreled over and roaring and screaming and super primal. My doctor finally showed up. He finishes the paperwork. That whole thing was probably 2 hours of me not having any type of relief, really, just to get to the hospital. That was the toughest part, I think.Then my OB/GYN, Leni, comes in. She checks me, and she's like, “​​You're fully dilated. You're ready to push.” She didn't know I had been at home. She didn't know everything that was going on and that I was planning a home birth. I said, “I am not pushing this baby out right now.” I said, “I pushed at home for 5 hours. I've been in labor for 35 hours. I haven't slept in 3 days. I projectile vomited everything.” I'm not saying this. I was huffing and puffing through this, but I looked at her, and I'm just like, “​​Give me an epidural now. I'm not doing this anymore.” She was like, “​​Technically, we're not supposed to. You're fully dilated.” She was like, “​​Okay, all right. We'll get you the epidural.” They wheeled me up. They gave me the epidural. My husband didn't go into the room with me. I thought I was just getting the epidural in this room, but it was the birthing room. I didn't know because I hadn't done the full tour of things beforehand. I mean, I did a little bit, but I didn't put it together at the time where I was getting the epidural. I thought I was going to have a break to take a nap. I was going to get the epidural, then I was going to take a nap, then I was going to push the baby out. That's not how it went. They were like, “​​All right, whenever you feel the next contraction.” I'm like, “No, I can't. Where's my husband? My husband's not here.” They were like, “​​It's hospital policy. Nobody can be in here with you.” I was like, “​​What?”Julie: No.Brielle: Yeah. I lost my shit. I lost my shit. I am like, “​​Absolutely not. Get him in here now! I'm not doing this without him. He's been here every minute beside me for the last 35 hours, but also for the last 7 years of my life. I'm not doing this without him.” They were all looking at each other, like, “​​Look, when it gets close and when he is crowning, we will bring him in.” I was like, “​​Okay,” so I pushed when the contractions came. I was surprised I could still feel the contraction, but after the epidural, thank God. It was what my body needed at that point. I was like, “​​Thank you for modern medicine. There is a reason it exists.” But after 30 minutes of pushing, they just randomly asked me, “Do you have a doula?” I didn't say anything about my actual doula, but I said, “My husband is my doula. Get him in here.” They were like, “​​Okay, okay. We're going to bring him in now.” They brought him in. He started coaching me like a drill sergeant or a CrossFit coach or something, but he was like, “Just do it!” He knew me so well, and he knew in that moment that I wanted a VBAC so badly, and he also knew everything I had been through that previous 35 hours. He knew we needed to do this. He knew we needed to get on with it. He was coaching me and basically screaming at me. It was exactly what I needed in that moment. After he came in, 30 minutes later, I pushed her out. She was born. They brought her to my chest. Everything my OB/GYN told me, she stuck by her word. She was like, “​​You will have skin-to-skin. You will have that hour.” They asked me, “Can we take her to do x, y, and z?” I was like, “​​No, not yet. Don't take her yet.” They did the things they needed to while she was on top of me. Everything they had promised, they fulfilled. That, I feel like, was why I just felt intuitively really good about both options, my first option and my backup option. I went with that, and it was exactly the way it was supposed to be. Julie: Yeah, I love that. I think being able to trust is such an important thing in the birth space, being able to trust yourself, your care team, your partner, all of your different options, your birth location, and all of that is just so connected to how our bodies can work and trust that process, and yeah. That was great. So good. Brielle: Yeah, that was a huge part of my experience. It was learning to trust myself, the timing, my baby, and my body fully. Healing my experience and just following my intuition completely.Julie: Yeah, I love that so much. Do you want to talk a little bit more about what you did to prepare with the breathwork and the somatic trauma work? I mean, did you get into that before or after? I'm assuming before because your baby is pretty young. How old is your baby now?Brielle: My baby was 5 months the other day. In between pregnancies, and I was not pregnant. I was 6 months postpartum from the first one that I started doing it personally for myself. Do you mean as a practitioner when I got into the work? Julie: Mhmm. Brielle: As a practitioner, I got into this work 5-6 years ago. I was already facilitating breathwork and coaching people for trauma, but not birth trauma. I had gotten my trauma resolution coaching certification and my trauma-informed breathwork certification before I ever had kids. I was really excited to get to use my breathwork and all of my tools and everything for my first birth, but that ended up going a completely different way. I did still use it, but it looked a lot different than I thought it would. I got into this work. I was coaching people on their trauma through a somatic way. Basically, trauma lives in the cells of our body, and it stays in the cells of our body unless we somatically move it through our physiology. There are two major ways we can do that. One is through a type of somatic coaching that I do, and the other is through breathwork. They are both somatic practices, but one is using the breath in a very intentional and activating way to help move that trauma through our cells and out. The other one is using a very hands-on– they are both body-based, but one is more of a visualization. I take you through an experience where you are feeling where things are living in your body. Basically, you are attuning to where there are certain activations in your body as I take you through a lived, traumatic experience. We are finding where that trauma lives in your body with a somatic coaching so I'm able to use a lot of tools to help you visualize it and then move that out.Then with breathwork, it's similar, but we are using the breath. The breath is automatically going to the spaces energetically where the trauma is living to help move it out.Julie: Yeah. I love that. I love that so much. It reminds me. I've done a lot of therapy work. My therapist would ask. I've done lots of group therapy, individual sessions, and all of the things. One of my therapists who would lead our group sessions would say, “What do you feel and where are you feeling it?” We would take turns identifying what in their body needs to be addressed. You've got to describe it. What does it feel like? Does it have a sensation or a taste or a smell? Is it heavy or is it light? Does it have a color? Where in the body is it?I hated it, to be honest. It was the worst thing ever. Brielle: It's really deep.Julie: It's crunchy. Yeah. It's deep, and you have to be comfortable getting uncomfortable, and reaching and stopping and being in tune with your body. I hated it so bad for a very long time, but even now, I don't do those group sessions or anything or anymore. Every once in a while, I'll scan my body. “Okay, what do I feel and where am I doing it?” I try to get my kids to do it, and they're like, “I don't know what the freak you mean, Mom.” They're still young, but I know what you are talking about with that work. What is it? Moving it out, how to release it. That's so important. Brielle: It's so great. It transcends as I work with a client. They feel it. They see it in a certain way. It has textures, colors, and shapes, and we stay with it. We don't stay with it beyond the point that they feel they can stay with it. If that's super uncomfortable for them, we go back to our resource which I do at the beginning of the session.I'm not taking them through an experience in a way that is beyond their capacity to move through it. The body won't ever take them through something that they don't feel ready to handle. I think that's really important to specify because if you're just talking about this work and you have never heard of it, that can sound really scary.It is deep work, but at the same time, because of my trainings and with breathwork as well being trauma-informed, I never take a client to a place that their body is not actually physiologically ready to go into. Julie: Yeah, that's really important. It's such an intuitive thing. You talked a lot about intuition too. One thing I wanted to say before we close out the episode is that you mentioned earlier in the episode about learning to forgive yourself. That was something I don't think we talk about a lot or think about a lot, but it's something that I had to go through as well after my C-section. My thing was forgiving myself for not knowing what I didn't know going into my birthIt can sound kind of silly. What do I need to forgive myself for? But sometimes, we focus a lot on forgiving others in the situation and our team or our partner or whatever, but we don't often direct that inward. I think that's such an important part to give yourself grace and mercy and love and forgiveness and go through and not judge yourself too harshly or hold yourself to an unrealistic standard especially when you didn't have the information then that you have now.So I think that's an important part of the process as well.Brielle: That's a big amount of the work I do with my clients as well is that self-forgiveness piece and really forgiving their bodies because a lot of them feel like, “My body failed me or my body is broken.” That was a lot of work I had to do myself personally after my first birth to realize, “No, my body didn't fail me. My body's not broken. Nothing was wrong with me.” But if we don't do that forgiveness work for your body to yourself, that trauma is still going to be living in ourselves and still expecting. I'm not going to say it's going to give you a repeat experience, but we're still having that physiological presence where like attracts like. That's still in there. That's still the drawing factor of something that your body is expecting. It's still holding that past experience.Julie: Right. Yep. That makes a lot of sense. I encourage everybody to do the work, but also, I think's important to mention this a little bit is to find somebody trusted that you can do it with. It's important to not dig too deeply into past traumas or things like that unless you have a solid support around you like a therapist, any mental health professional, an energy worker or people like that to help guide you through it so you don't get too deep into things that you are not prepared to handle or heal.Brielle: Absolutely. That's what I do as well through the lens of breathwork and somatic coaching. Julie: So where can people find you?Brielle: Yeah, it's definitely not something I recommend doing on your own. Have somebody to hold that space for you who knows what they're doing. People can find me on Instagram. It's just my name at Brielle Brasil. Brasil is with an S. You can reach out through there, and that's where I'll be.Julie: Perfect. We'll link that information in the show notes for anybody who wants to go give her a follow as well.All right, well thank you so much for sharing your story. I really appreciate it.Brielle: Thank you so much. Julie: It's so cool to hear your story and your journey and your process. Thanks for being here. Brielle: Awesome. I appreciate you. Thank you so much. It was an honor.ClosingWould you like to be a guest on the podcast? Tell us about your experience at thevbaclink.com/share. For more information on all things VBAC including online and in-person VBAC classes, The VBAC Link blog, and Meagan's bio, head over to thevbaclink.com. Congratulations on starting your journey of learning and discovery with The VBAC Link.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vbac-link/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Did you know that 16% of women of childbearing age carry mercury levels high enough to pose a risk of neurological deficits in their children? Research shows a clear linear relationship between mercury exposure and IQ deficits. Despite this, fertility specialists and OBGYNs often assure us it's safe to freeze our eggs and plan for pregnancy, even when heavy metal toxicity is a significant concern. Today, we're diving into mercury exposure—its effects, how to get tested, and why trusting your instincts is the most important step to protecting your health.References: Jane Hightower

A weekly conversation between (mostly) women about all the different ways to be a mother (or not) with your host Daniella Rabbani. ALL ARE WELCOME.  This Week's Guest: OULA HEALTH - At Oula, we pride ourselves on delivering better maternity care, before, during, and after pregnancy. Midwife or OBGYN?
Medicated or au naturale?
It shouldn't have to be one or the other. So we've redesigned an experience that doesn't have a “right way.” We listen, respect your preferences, and make decisions with you, not for you. Our team of trusted midwives, OBGYNs and dedicated care navigators ensure you get the type of care you need in the moments that matter most. LEARN MORE HERE. And follow along @oulahealth on Instagram. Our Host: Daniella Rabbani (@daniellarabbani) is an award winning storyteller and mother of two.  Daniella has been hailed as "sympathetic and utterly alive" (New York Observer), "hilarious" (Wall Street Journal) and "will leave you twirling in the streets" (New York Times). TV credits: Amazon's The Better Sister, HBO's Scenes from a Marriage, CBS' God Friended Me, FX's The Americans, Fox's Laughs. Films: Oceans 8, Appropriate Behavior and her award winning directorial debut OMA (Available on Amazon Prime Video) and more.   Join the Conversation: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/momcurious/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Discover how maternal mental health care is evolving and why specialized support is critical for mothers with Paige Bellenbaum, LCSW, PMH-C and Rebecca Geshuri, LMFT, PMH-C.   In this episode we explore:   - What dyadic work is and how this can be especially beneficial for mothers and birthing people for developing a bond with their child.   - How Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy can support mothers in addressing their inner “mom parts” that contribute to feelings of failure and overwhelm.   - How polarized parts and perfectionism can create distress in motherhood and how embracing a “both-and” mentality can offer relief and self-compassion.   - The questions to ask when looking for a provider to ensure they're trained in maternal mental health and understand the complexities of this life stage.   - Why it's so important for pediatricians, OBGYNs, or anyone who often comes into contact with birthing parents to have even a basic understanding of this transformative experience.   Whether you're a mother seeking support, a professional working with birthing parents, or simply someone invested in breaking the stigma around mental health and motherhood, this episode is filled with practical insights you won't want to miss.     REGISTER FOR THE TRAINING ON FEB. 27: Go to upshurbren.com/IFSTraining to register for this 3-hour workshop designed to teach professionals how to integrate Internal Family Systems concepts into maternal mental health services to provide improved support for moms.   LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MOTHERHOOD CENTER: https://themotherhoodcenter.com/   LEARN MORE ABOUT REBECCA: https://www.rebeccageshurilmft.com/get-to-know-me   ADDITIONAL REFERENCES AND RESOURCES: Postpartum Support International Ghosts in the Nursery: A Psychoanalytic Approach to the Problems of Impaired Infant-Mother Relationships   LISTEN TO PAIGE & REBECCA'S PAST EPISODES:

There are internal and societal pressures in making birthing and parenting decisions that are magnified for the BIPOC community. My guest explains how incorporating ancestral practices can be supportive and shares her valuable work and the importance of doulas for people of color. Dr. Suzanne Mungalez (aka Dr. Zann) is a licensed clinical psychologist in CA certified in perinatal mental health, childbirth educator, certified lactation education specialist, and trained doula. She has worked in hospital settings and birthing centers alongside OB-GYNs, midwives, and other birth workers. She is black, Congolese-American, and queer, along with being a gender-expansive woman and mother who has given birth in the comfort of her own home. Her background and experience shape her expertise in clinical work and how she holds space for her patients. Dr. Zann describes herself as “tender with people, tough on systems, and relentlessly committed to our collective liberation.”  Show Highlights: Dr. Zann's path to the perinatal work she does today The need to equip people with knowledge Everyone needs support and community! Pressures in birthing and parenting decisions for people of color Dr. Zann's help includes guided meditation, visualizations, therapy, and education. The benefits of incorporating ancestral background into birth experiences Considerations for people of color in “mom rage” and finding safe spaces to express yourself Understanding the role and benefits of a doula Dr. Zann's unique support for people in the transition to parenthood Ways of telling your birth story that bring empowerment, healing, and community How things are changing for the better for the BIPOC community—but it's still not enough! More support is always needed! Dr. Zann's appeal to people of color Resources: Connect with Dr. Zann: Website and Instagram Call the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-TLC-MAMA or visit cdph.ca.gov Please find resources in English and Spanish at Postpartum Support International, or by phone/text at 1-800-944-4773. There are many free resources, like online support groups, peer mentors, a specialist provider directory, and perinatal mental health training for therapists, physicians, nurses, doulas, and anyone who wants to be more supportive in offering services.  You can also follow PSI on social media: Instagram, Facebook, and most other platforms Visit www.postpartum.net/professionals/certificate-trainings/ for information on the grief course.   Visit my website, www.wellmindperinatal.com, for more information, resources, and courses you can take today! If you are a California resident looking for a therapist in perinatal mental health, email me about openings for private pay clients! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy New Year, Women of Strength! Meagan and Julie share an exciting announcement about the podcast that you don't want to miss. While they chat about topics to look forward to this year, they also jump right in and share stats about cervical checks and duration between pregnancies. We can't wait to help you prepare for your VBAC this year!Needed WebsiteHow to VBAC: The Ultimate Prep Course for ParentsFull Transcript under Episode Details Julie: Ready? Meagan: Happy New– Julie: Oh, are we supposed to say it together? Oh, sorry. Okay, I'm ready. Let's go again. Meagan: No, you were just saying okay, but let's do it together. Okay, ready? Remember I did this last time? Julie: Okay, 1, 2, 3– Meagan and Julie: Happy New Year!Julie: No, it was not right. Meagan: Well, we're going to leave it. You guys, we've been trying to say Happy New Year at the same time. There is a delay, I'm sure, on both sides, but Happy New Year, you guys. Welcome to The VBAC Link. It is 2025, and we are excited for this year. Oh my goodness. Obviously, you have probably caught on that there is another voice with me today. Julie: Hello. Meagan: I have Julie. You guys, I brought Julie on today because we have a special announcement. I didn't let her get away for too long. I didn't want her to go. I couldn't. If you haven't noticed, I've been bringing her on. I'm like, “Can you do this episode with me? Do you want to do this episode with me? Do you want to do this episode with me?”And now, at least for the next little bit, she's going to be doing her own episodes. She is helping me out. Julie: Yeah. Meagan: We have been doing two episodes a week for almost a year now, and it's a lot. It's a lot. Julie: You have been such a champ. Meagan: Oh my goodness. So that's what we've been up to. I decided that Julie needed to help me. She was so gracious to say, “Yeah, I'll do it.” Get this, you guys. She was nervous the first time. Julie: I was like, “I don't know what I'm doing.”Meagan: But she totally does know what she's doing. But yeah, so you will be hearing every so often Julie's voice solo. She is going to be hosting the show solo, so you will be hearing a little bit of a new intro with her and I where we are both talking so you don't get confused, but I don't think it is very confusing. Julie has been with us since the very beginning because her and I created the company. It's been so fun to have her here, so thank you, Julie, for helping me out. Julie: You are always welcome. It's always a pleasure. Meagan: I'm trying to think. I want to talk about 2025 and some things that we have coming up as far as stories go. As a reminder, if you have not subscribed to the show, please do so. As you subscribe, it will send you the episodes weekly. Right now, like I said, we are doing two a week, so soak it all up. We have so many great stories. We have stories from OB/GYNs. They are doing Q&As. We have polyhydramnios. Julie: Polyhydramnios. Meagan: Yes. I always want to say dramnios. We are going to be talking about that because we have a lot of people who have been asking about more unique things. Poly is not necessarily unique, but it's not talked about, so we are going to talk about the high fluid, low fluid, unsupportive providers, and if you have been with us for a while, the biggest thing that we talk about is supportive providers. Julie: Mhmm.Meagan: Maybe it's not the biggest, but it's one of the biggest. We talk about finding a supportive provider all of the time. It is so important. Then we've got vaginal birth after multiple Cesarean, twin births, gestational diabetes, PROM– if you're new to that one, that is premature rupture of membranes meaning that the waters break, but labor doesn't quite kick in. Whave else do we have? We actually are going to do some re-airing. We are going to rebroadcast some of our older episodes that we just think are gems and wonderful or have connections with people like Ali Levine. She came back on recently and we want to bring back her episode. Dr. Stu– just some really great episodes from the past and thinking about how long ago that was, Julie– Julie: Oh my gosh. Meagan: As I've been going through these podcasts, holy cow. Some of these are in our 70's or there was actually one that was out 17th episode or something like that. Julie: We need to re-air the dad's episode. Do you remember that one time when we had all of those dads on? Meagan: Yes. Julie: That was so good. Meagan: That was so good. It was a lot of fun. Julie: You need to put that in a spot. It was so good. I remember, I can just be taken back to us in the studio recording and calling each of these dads. It was so cool. Meagan: It was. It was really fun to hear their take on it and their opinion of doulas, their opinion of VBAC, their opinion of birth and how they were feeling going into birth, and how they felt when their wives were like, “Hey, I want to do this.” Yeah. Do you know what? That's for sure. We will make sure that is re-aired as well because I do know that we get people saying, “Are there any episodes that can help my partner or my husband?” because they want to really learn how to get the support for them or help them understand why. Or Lynn. Guys, there are so many of these past episodes that we will be bringing back. Julie: Lynn's episode was so great. Meagan: That was so great. We're going to be having home births. Forceps– VBAC after forceps or failure to progress or failure to descend or big baby. We've got so many great things coming this year, so I'm really, really excited. I also wanted to share more about what we've going on the blog. We have had weekly blogs, so if you haven't already subscribed to our email list, go over to thevbaclink.com and subscribe. We send out weekly emails filled with tips or recent episodes. We have a lot of questions in The VBAC Link Community on Facebook. We see some repetitive questions in there, so we respond to those via email. Those are really good. We've got cervical checks. When is it good to do a cervical check? When is it not good? Julie: Umm, never? Meagan: When is it not good to do a cervical check? When are they really necessary? What do they tell us? We're going to be diving into that. We have a blog about that. Do you want to talk about that for a second, Julie? Let's talk about that. Julie: Okay. I understand that there is nuance. That's the thing about birth. There is nuance with everything. There is context with everything. It just reminds me of the recent election and things like that while we are recording. There are all of these one-liners are being thrown around on both sides. One sentence can be taken out of context in big ways when you don't have the context surrounding the sentence. For both sides, I'm not pointing fingers at anybody. I'm sorry if that's triggering for anybody. I know there are a lot of people upset right now. But the same thing with cervical checks. Isn't that true with all of life? All of life, all of birth, and all of VBAC, there is nuance and context that's important. I would say that most of the time, most of the time, cervical checks are not necessary. They only tell us where you've been. They don't tell us where you're going. They are not a predictor of anything. I've had clients get to 8 centimeters and not have a baby for 14 hours. No kidding. I've had clients push for 10 hours. I've had people hang out at 5 centimeters for weeks, then go into labor and have the baby super fast and also super slow. It doesn't tell us anything. However, there are times when it might be helpful. I use that really, really carefully because it can only give us so much information. I feel like sometimes the cervix can swell if you've been in labor for a really long time, or if the baby is in a bad position, so if labor has slowed or hasn't been progressing as much as expected– and I use that term very loosely as well. There might be a suspicion for cervical swelling. Having a cervical check can confirm that, and having a swollen cervix will change the direction of your care. I would say that maybe an important question to ask– and this is a good question for any part of your care– is, “How will this procedure, exam, intervention, etc. influence my care moving forward?” Because if it's not going to influence your care moving forward at all, then is it necessary? Meagan: Why do it?Julie: Right? So, a swollen cervix, maybe checking baby's position. You can tell if baby's low enough. You can see if their head is coming asynclitic or with a different type of presentation. Again, with a suspicion that it might be affecting labor's progress.Meagan: You can check if they are asynclitic. Julie: But, how would your care change if you find out that baby is asynclitic? What would you do if that is the result of the cervical check? If the answer is nothing, then I don't know. But also knowing that baby's position or knowing that you have a swollen cervix, there are things that you can do to help labor progress in the case of a malpositioned baby or for a swollen cervix. First of all, back off on Pitocin or take some Benadryl or things like that that can help with those things. But honestly, I think most of the time, cervical checks are another way for the system to chart and keep records, that they are doing their job, that things are happening normally (in air quotes, “normally”) so they can have their backs covered. It's really funny. There are other ways to tell baby's position. There are other ways to notice. Midwives, especially out-of-hospital midwives know all of these things. They can gather all of this data without cervical checks, without continous monitoring, and all of that stuff. But in the hospital setting, they can literally sit at a desk and watch you on the strip. That's the only way they know how to get information. They don't know how to palpate the belly. They aren't as familar with– I mean, probably nurses more so than OBs. Meagan: Patterns. Julie: Right? Labor patterns, the sounds, how mom is moving her body and things like that. Those are all things that you can use to tell where a laboring person is at in their labor without having to do cervical checks. But anyway, that was a long little tangent. Meagan: No, that's good. I love that you are pointing that out. Is it going to change your care? If you are being induced, a lot of times, they are going to want to do a cervical exam. You may want a cervical exam as well so you can determine what induction method is going to best fit your induction. Julie: Yeah, that's true. Meagan: Like starting that, but even before labor, I want to point out that when it comes to cervical exams, I see it time and time again within the community, within Instagram, within Utah here– we have birth forums here in Utah– I see it all of the time. “I am 38 weeks. I got checked to day. I am not dilated. It's not going to happen. My provider is telling me that my body probably doesn't know how to go into labor and that I should be induced or that my chances of going into labor by 40 weeks (that's a whole other conversation) is low because I'm not dilated yet at 38 weeks,” or they are the opposite and they are like, “I feel like I can't do anything because I'm walking around at 6 centimeters.”Then they don't go into labor. Julie: Baby will come right away as soon as labor starts. Meagan: Yeah, or the person who has been walking around at 38 weeks, 39 weeks, 40 weeks, 40.5 weeks at 0 centimeters has their baby before the person who has been walking around at 6 centimeters. It really doesn't tell you a whole lot other than where you are in that very minute and second that you are checked. Now, if it is something that is going to impact your care, that is something to consider. Also, if it's something that's going to impact your mental health, usually it's going to be negatively. Sometimes, it's positive, but I feel like we get these numbers in our head, and then we get them checked and– Julie: You get stuck on it, yeah. Meagan: You get stuck on it which is normal because of the way that we have been taught out in the birth world. Think about it also mentally. Is a cervical exam in this very moment to tell you where you are right now worth messing up your mental space? Maybe. Maybe not. That's a very personal opinion. But really, it's so important to know that cervical exams really just tell you where you are right now. Not where you're going to be, not where you're going to get– Julie: And not how fast you're going to get there either. I do not trust babies. I always say that. I do not trust babies. Meagan: You don't trust babies? Julie: They have a mind of their own. They are so unpredictable. Yeah, I don't trust them. I'll trust them after they are born, for sure. But before, no way dude. They trick me all of the time. I really appreciate how you brought up the induction thing because I feel like a cervical check at the beginning of an induction and after a certain amount of time that the induction is started is helpful information because it tells you where you started from. It tells you if the induction methods that they are using are working. I feel like that's helpful to know because you don't want to sit there with an induction method forever if it's not working. I feel like also, why the induction is being recommended is important too. If baby needs to come out fast because something is seriously wrong, then more frequent cervical checks or a more aggressive induction may be needed. But if it's something that you can wait a few days for, then is the induction really necessary. But that's really the context there too. Context and nuance, man. Meagan: Yep. I also think really quickly before we get off of cervical exams that if you are being induced, a cervical exam to assess if you are even in a good spot to induce, assuming that it is not an emergent situation where we have to have this baby out right now. You are like, “I want to get induced,” then you are maybe half a centimeter. Julie: The BISHOP score, yeah. You are low and closed and hard. Meagan: You're maybe 40% effaced. You're really posterior. You guys, that might be a really good indicator that it's not time to have a baby.Julie: Right. Meagan: There we go. Okay, so other things on the blog– preparing for your VBAC. We talk about that a lot. We also talk about that in our course, on the podcast, in the community, on Instagram, and on Facebook. That's a daily chat. We have blogs on that. Our favorite prenatal– you guys have heard us talk about Needed now for over a year. We love them. We truly, truly believe in their product, so we do have blogs on prenatal nutrition and prenatal care. What food, what drinks, and what prenatal you should take. Then recovering from a C-section– I think a lot of people don't realize that our community also has a whole C-section umbrella where we understand that there are a lot of different scenarios. Some may not choose a VBAC which is also a blog on how to choose between a VBAC and a Cesarean. They might not choose a VBAC or they might go for a VBAC and it ends in a repeat Cesarean, or they opt for an elective Cesarean. These are situations that lead to recovering from a Cesarean. We have blogs and a section in our course, and then we even have a VBAC– not a VBAC. Oh my gosh. I can't get Facebook and VBAC together. We have a CBAC Facebook group as well called The CBAC Link Community, so if you are somebody who is not sure or you maybe had a Cesarean or you are opting for a Cesarean, that might be a really great community for you. I believe that it's an incredible community. Let's see, the length between pregnancies is one. Do you want to talk about that?Julie: Oh my gosh. I see this so much. Meagan: Daily. Julie: People are asking, “How long should I wait? I want to have the best chances of a VBAC. How long should I wait before getting pregnant?” Or, “My doctor said I have to have 18 months between births and I will only be 17 months between births so it excludes me from VBAC.” Meagan: Well, and it gets confusing. Julie: Yes. It does get confusing. Meagan: Because is it between or is it conception? What is it? Julie: Right. Is it between births? Is it between conception? Is it from birth to conception? Birth to birth? Conception to conception? I don't think it's conception to conception, but thing is that everybody will have their thing. I hear it really commonly 18 months birth to birth. I hear 2 months birth to birth quite a bit. Meagan: 2 months? Julie: Sorry, 12 months. Meagan: I was like 2? I've never heard that one. Julie: 12 months birth to birth. Oh man. Meagan: 24 months. Julie: I need some caffeine. 2 years, not 2 months. 2 years between births. Meagan: 24 months. Julie: There are a whole bunch of recommendations. Here are the facts about it. The jury is still out about what is the most optimal time. There is one study. There are three credible studies that we link in our blog. There are three credible studies. One says that after 6 months, there's no increased risk of uterine rupture. So 6 months between– I'm sorry. 6 months from birth to conception. Meagan: Birth to conception. Julie: So that would be 15 months from birth to birth. There's another study that says 18 months from birth to birth, and there's another study that says 2 years from birth to birth. These are all credible studies. So, who knows? Somewhere between 15 months to 2 years. I know that the general recommendation for pregnancies just for your body– this is not talking about uterine rupture– to return to its– I wouldn't say pre-pregnancy state because you just don't really get back there, but for your body to be fully healed from pregnancy is a year after birth. From a year from birth to conception is the general recommendation. But we know that there is such a wide variety of stories. There is a lot of context involved. There are providers who are going to support you no matter your length. This is circling back to provider choice and why it's so important. If one provider says, “No,” and they want 2 years from birth to birth, then bye Felicia. Go find another provider because there is someone who is going to support you. There is someone who is going to do it rather than be like, “Oh, well, we will just let you try.” They are going to support you and be like, “Yeah. Here are the risks. Here is what I'm willing to do, and let's go for it.” I think that's really important as well. Meagan: Yeah, this is probably one of the most common questions. Sorry, guys. I was muted and chatting. It's one of the most common questions, and like she said, there are multiple studies out there. It's kind of a complicated answer because it could vary. Overall, the general studies out there are anywhere between 18 to 24 months. 24 months being what they are showing is probably the most ideal between birth to birth. A lot of people out there still think that it's birth to conception, so they have to wait 2 years before even trying to get pregnant. Then I mean, I got a message the other day from someone. They were like, “Hey, our hospital policy,” which I thought was interesting– not that she was saying this, but that it was a policy. “Our hospital policy is that if I conceive sooner than 9 months after a Cesarean, they will not accept me.” Julie: Boom. Go find another hospital. Meagan: I was like, okay. That's weird. Julie: I know. Meagan: And that's 9 months, so that would be 18 months from birth to birth. Julie: Right. Meagan: Then you can go to another provider, and they're different. This is my biggest takeaway with this. Look at the studies. We have them in our blog. They're there. Look at them. Tune into your intuition. What do you need for your family? What do you want for your family? What feels right for you? Julie: Yeah. Meagan: I mean, we have many people who have had VBACs before the 18th-month mark. Aren't you 15 months? Julie: No, mine was 23 months birth to birth. Meagan: Oh, birth to birth. Okay. I thought you were a little sooner. Julie: I conceived, what was that? Meagan: Mine was 22 and 23. I was a 22 and then my other one was 23, I think. It was something like that. It was right around 2 years. Tune into what it is. Yes, we say this, and someone has said, “Well, yeah. People have done it, but that's not what's recommended.” Okay, that's true. Julie: Yeah, recommended by who? Recommended by who? Because like I said, three different studies have three different recommendations. What does ACOG say? I don't think ACOG even has an official recommendation do they? Meagan: My mind says 24 months. Julie: I think they say something like a pregnancy window doesn't automatically exclude somebody from having a VBAC. Meagan: Yeah. You guys, we have that. We also have stories coming up with shorter durations. We have epidural blogs, and how to choose if you want an epidural or not, and then what happens when an epidural comes into play. Maybe I need caffeine too. I can't even speak. But when they come into play, and so many facts, stats, and stories on the blog and on the podcast. You guys, it's going to be a great year. It's 2025. I'm excited. I'm excited to have you on, Julie. It's going to be so great. I'm excited to bring some of our really old, dusty episodes back to life. Julie: Polish them up. Meagan: Yeah. I'm really excited about that. And then some of the weeks, we've been doing this since October, I think, we've got some specialty weeks where it's VBAC after multiple Cesarean week, and you'll have two back to back. We might have some weeks like that in there that have similar stories so you can binge a couple in a row that are something you are specifically looking for. Okay, as a reminder, we are always looking for a review. Before I let you go, you can go to Google at “The VBAC Link”. You can go to Apple Podcasts and Spotify. I don't know about Google Play. I actually don't know that because I don't have it. Julie: I don't think Google Play has podcasts anymore. But also, you can't rate it on Spotify. Meagan: You can rate it, but you can't review it. Julie: Oh, yeah. You can rate it, so you can give it 5 stars. That's right. Meagan: If you guys wouldn't mind, give us a review. If you can do a written review, that's great. Honestly, you can do stars then go somewhere else and do a written review. We love your reviews. They truly help. I know I've said this time and time again, but they help other Women of Strength find this podcast, find these inspiring stories, and find the faith and the empowerment and the education that they need and deserve. Thank you guys for sticking with us. Happy New Year again, and we will see you soon. Julie: Bye!ClosingWould you like to be a guest on the podcast? Tell us about your experience at thevbaclink.com/share. For more information on all things VBAC including online and in-person VBAC classes, The VBAC Link blog, and Meagan's bio, head over to thevbaclink.com. Congratulations on starting your journey of learning and discovery with The VBAC Link.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vbac-link/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Dream fans....WE ARE BACK!Season four's gonna be a little different though. We're reimagining The Dream as a weekly interview podcast with guests and segments about, I don't know.... whatever we want? Don't worry! We'll still be focused on the "American Dream" and all the assholes that make it infinitely harder to achieve. We'll just have a bit more freedom in how we present it.Also, today we're bringing you an episode of a podcast I've been producing about abortion, called "Outlawed":Join two OB-Gyns as they explain the science and stories of abortion in the US. Misinformation is unfortunately everywhere. Listening to this podcast will give you the knowledge and tools you need to help navigate these difficult conversations with family and friends at the dining room table. Throughout the season we will interview physicians, researchers, advocates and experts, as we navigate this contentious topic and make sense of the reality of abortion care in the US.And DO NOT forget to check back in a few weeks for new episodes of The Dream! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hormones influence everything from mood and energy levels to fertility and long-term health.  Yet for many, hormonal health remains shrouded in mystery. When women do seek guidance from their OBGYNs, they're often told birth control is the only option for treating hormone-related issues like PCOS and endometriosis. But that wasn't going to cut it for Alisa Vitti. On this week's episode of Well, Now Kavita and Maya tackle hormonal health with the FLO Living CEO and see what other options are available when treating hormone imbalances. Well, Now is hosted by registered dietitian nutritionist Maya Feller and Dr. Kavita Patel. Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry with editorial oversight by Alicia Montgomery. Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to wellnow@slate.com. Want to listen to Well, Now uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Well, Now and all your other favorite Slate podcasts.  Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/wellplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hormones influence everything from mood and energy levels to fertility and long-term health.  Yet for many, hormonal health remains shrouded in mystery. When women do seek guidance from their OBGYNs, they're often told birth control is the only option for treating hormone-related issues like PCOS and endometriosis. But that wasn't going to cut it for Alisa Vitti. On this week's episode of Well, Now Kavita and Maya tackle hormonal health with the FLO Living CEO and see what other options are available when treating hormone imbalances. Well, Now is hosted by registered dietitian nutritionist Maya Feller and Dr. Kavita Patel. Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry with editorial oversight by Alicia Montgomery. Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to wellnow@slate.com. Want to listen to Well, Now uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Well, Now and all your other favorite Slate podcasts.  Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/wellplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices