Fempower Health | A Women's Health Podcast

Dr. Peter Whorwell, author of Take Control of your IBS , directs the South Manchester Functional Bowel Service and has had a particular interest in the functional gastrointestinal disorders. His unit undertakes research into the clinical, epidemiological and pathophysiological aspects of functional gastrointestinal disorders as well as caring for large numbers of these patients from all over the U...

Why is it important to know when you are ovulating? In this episode, Dr. Jerilynn Prior and Dr. Lara Briden return to the podcast to discuss why ovulation, rather than the period, is the main event of the menstrual cycle. They share how the ovulation phase is crucial to your overall health (not just fertility), and how to address hormonal imbalance. Listen to this interesting discussion where they...

Non Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) provides insight into the risk of a fetal genetic abnormality, and can help inform pregnancy management before and after birth. However, the value of genetic screening is dependent on whether results are interpreted correctly, appropriate medical follow-up, and access to relevant resources.  Genetic counselors help to ensure that NIPT is translated into better...

Body Dysmorphic Disorder affects about 1 in 50 people. This means that more than 5 million people to nearly 10 million people in the United States alone have BDD. The body dysmorphia advocacy group, BDD , connected me to Dr. Amita Jassi and Rachel Koutnik, LCSW. In this episode, we cover the following body dysmorphia questions and answers: Body Dysmorphia Definition, including how similar or dissi...

PCOS impacts 1 in 10 women yet it is still underdiagnosed and misdiagnosed. Dr. Jerilynn Prior, of the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research (CeMCOR) , is a Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of British Columbia, with 40 years experience in women’s health. She brings an interesting perspective to what might happen if we considered PCOS to primarily be a hormone...

Dr. Nicole E. Williams is a board certified Obstetrician and Gynecologist. With the philosophy of marrying both alternative and traditional medicine, Dr. Williams opened The Gynecology Institute of Chicago in July 2013 and recently published This is How You Vagina .In this episode, we cover the following: Tour of female body parts and misconceptions about the female body Vaginal odor: what is norm...

Shawn Tassone, MD Ph. D. is a double-boarded physician in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Integrative Medicine. Dr. Tassone believes it is time for women to understand fatigue, weight gain, insomnia, irregular periods, fibroids, decreased libido, and burnout are not permanent situations. In this episode, our conversation focuses on understanding our hormones. We discuss: Determining you hormonal arc...

Autoimmune diseases affect more than 24 million people in America alone. Exhausting to experience and difficult to diagnose, autoimmunity is an issue that’s gaining more research in modern medicine. Doctors, immunologists, and patients all want answers. Dr. Nicole Bundy, a licensed, board-certified internist and rheumatologist, and Dr. Millie Lytle, a licensed naturopathic doctor, epidemiologist a...

Dr. Tamer Seckin is a world-renowned endometriosis surgeon and founder of the Endometriosis Foundation of America. He is the author of The Doctor Will See you Now: Recognizing and Treating Endometriosis . In this powerful interview (a shortened version from Season 1), he describes his journey into this calling and the realities he encounters about how women with endometriosis suffer. . . and what...

Dr. Dan Martin is the Scientific and Medical Director for EndoFound . Forty-five peer-reviewed publications on endometriosis are included in his more than 414 publications focused on pelvic surgery for endometriosis and fertility. The prevalence of dysmenorrhea varies between 16% and 91% in women of reproductive age, with severe pain in 2%-29% of the women studied. We discuss: Endometriosis vs. Ad...

Two guests join Fempower Health this week to speak about “movement as medicine.”  Rachel Katzman is the Co-Founder of P.volve, which started in 2017 after experiencing her own personal evolution through movement influenced by her scoliosis.  Dr. Amy Hoover is a member of the P.volve Clinical Advisory Board and owns and operates APHysio LLC, a wellness practice where she specializes in hands-on man...

Dr. Lyndsey Harper is a Board Certified Ob/Gyn, Associate Professor of Ob/Gyn for Texas A&M COM, a Fellow of The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and a Fellow of the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health. Dr. Harper is the founder and CEO of Rosy , a women’s health technology company that connects women who have sexual health concerns with hope, comm...

Joyce Reinecke champions fertility preservation for cancer patients as Executive Director at the Alliance for Fertility Preservation. Episode SummaryJoyce Reinecke is the Executive Director of the Alliance for Fertility Preservation , a national nonprofit organization focused on all aspects of fertility preservation for cancer patients. Joyce is a long-term survivor of leiomyosarcoma who opted for...

Dr. Kristin E. Rojas, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a fellowship-trained breast cancer surgeon with a passion for comprehensive wellness in women’s cancer care. She is a national leader in the development of opioid-sparing initiatives in breast cancer surgery and her research focuses on addressing the sexual side effects of cancer treatment and identifying disparities in patient-reported outcomes among Hispan...

The World Health Organization estimates that over 750 million people suffer from some sort of thyroid condition yet about 60% go undiagnosed. Rachel Hill is a highly ranked and multi award winning thyroid patient advocate, writer, speaker and author behind The Invisible Hypothyroidism. She speaks about the following: Her story, including why and how she became such an influential advocate What she...

Welcome to Season 3 of the Fempower Health Podcast, empowering women to be the CEO of their health. My women’s health expert guests and I have a lot in store this season. Example topics include: A Unique View on Optimizing Hormone Balance Why the Vagine Does What it Does Exercise as a Prescription Managing your Thyroid Disease from an Advocate Like No Other How Cancer Can Impact your Sexual Health...

It's Thyroid Awareness Month. Whether you know you have a thyroid condition or have symptoms you can't seem to find the right answers to resolve them, this episode is for you. Denise Roguz is the co-founder, owner, and operator of ThyroidChange . It is a collaborative network, health information website, and social media campaign. It unites an international community of medical professionals and p...

Until recently, it was thought a normal cycle for women was 28 days. While data now shows this is not the case, innovative tools continue to be developed to better understand what is "normal" for a given woman. Dr Amy Divaraniya, the CEO and co-founder of OOVA speaks with Fempower Health. In this episode, Amy covers: Myths about women's menstrual cycles Surprising information OOVA is uncovering ab...

The New Year is around the corner and many may consider various diets, so I thought it a perfect time to bring back one of my top most downloaded episodes. Dr. Mindy Pelz, D.C speaks about how women should incorporate intermittent fasting based on where they are in their cycle and over their lifespan of reproductive years, perimenopause, and menopause.  Dr. Mindy is a best selling author, keynote...

Painful sex is not something women should have to suffer though. Yet women struggle to find answers and/or grin and bear it for a variety of reasons. Dr. Jill Krapf, a board-certified Obstetrician Gynecologist, specializes in female sexual pain disorders at The Center for Vulvovaginal Disorders . Her deep knowledge on the topic and passion for helping women certainly comes through in this episode....

Have you ever wondered how guidelines are set for the care that you should receive by your doctor during your pregnancy at childbirth, and then after you deliver your child? The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists , otherwise known as ACOG, do set those guidelines, and they recently updated the information on their seventh edition book that you can find on Amazon, Your Pregnancy an...

Dr. Lora Shahine , a reproductive endocrinologist practices out of Pacific NW Fertility and authored Not Broken: An Approachable Guide to Miscarriage and Recurrent Pregnancy Loss  In honor of Infant and Pregnancy Awareness Loss Month, Dr Shahine addresses: Basic information about miscarriage including: How do you know if you are having a miscarriage? How does a miscarriage happen? How common are m...

Season 2 of the Fempower Health podcast covered topics ranging from thyroid disease, celiac disease, cancer, menopause, sex, pregnancy, pelvic floor, and more. Thank you to my guests and listeners. Enjoy these fun bloopers.

With the success of the recent episode on orgasm with Dr Rachel Rubin, I wanted to bring back another important topic - men's sexual health. This episode is an interview with Dr. Paul Gittens, a leading specialist in sexual function for men and women. He discusses the challenges men face to even get to a doctor, much less receive treatment. The cultural norms of men just "toughing it out" or not c...

Corey Hazama, a pelvic floor physical therapist and co-owner of Beyond Basics in New York City. She is a natural teacher and expert on the pelvic floor. With our previous episode together being in the top 5 most downloaded, we are lucky to have her back! In this episode, Corey covers: What a prolapse is and potential causes & risk factors Who needs to be proactive and how to do that How to tes...