Healthful Woman Podcast

Dr. Alicia Ferriere joins the podcast to discuss physical and pelvic therapy during and after pregnancy. She explains how pelvic physical therapy can focus on helping patients return to sports or exercises that they love as well as some common issues she sees in patients. Connect with Alicia online at fortifypt.com or on Instagram, @fortify_pt.

In part two of this episode, Dr. Kelly Zafman and Dr. Fox continue their discussion of antepartum testing. Dr. Zafman explains nonstress tests, which compares a baby’s heart rate with contractions. She also reviews the biophysical profile, or BPP, as well as a modified biophysical profile.

Dr. Kelly Zafman joins Dr. Fox to discuss her research on antepartum fetal testing. In part one, they discuss how antepartum testing helps determine the risk of stillbirth and kick counts, or tracking a baby’s movement to gauge the health of the pregnancy.

Dr. Fox and guest Dr. Shari Gelber discuss vaccines in pregnancy. Covid-19 brought vaccines to the forefront of conversations, but Dr. Fox and Dr. Gelber agree that vaccines of all sorts have long been studied and proven to be safe during pregnancy. They discuss considerations including clinical trials, different forms of vaccine technology, and more.

Dr. Simi Gupta and Dr. Fox discuss high blood pressure in pregnancy, including chronic hypertension and pre-existing hypertension. Dr. Gupta reviews risks like high body weight and advanced maternal age, how hypertension is diagnosed, complications it may cause, and treatment options

Chanie Fingerer from the Happy Birthway podcast returns to discuss baby-friendly hospitals. She explains what baby-friendly hospital accreditation requires as well as some pros and cons that patients might find. She and Dr. Fox also discuss the couplet model of nursing, how baby-friendly hospitals can increase success in breastfeeding, and more.

Dr. Barbara Luke, an MPH, reproductive epidemiologist, nurse, nutritionist, and author of a book on expecting twins, joins Dr. Fox to discuss prenatal nutrition in twin pregnancies. Dr. Luke says that she finds prenatal nutrition to be “the most positive and preventative medicine you could possibly do, building healthy babies.” In this episode, she explains her research into the subject and what e...

Dr. Susan Lobel, a reproductive endocrinologist and fertility specialist, returns to the podcast to talk more about fertility treatments. In this episode, she reviews when patients should seek fertility treatment, including some reasons why patients might need to seek treatments sooner than others. She also explains the treatments she recommends for various patients.

On this rare solo episode of Healthful Woman, Dr. Fox responds to an article in the New York Times about prenatal screening and testing. Dr. Fox offers a rebuttal to this article’s claims that prenatal screening results are “usually wrong,” explaining that the appropriate interpretation by both doctors and patients is key. He then explains why these tests are given, what positive results actually...

On this episode of Healthful Woman, genetic counselor Estie Rose joins Dr. Fox. Estie works for JScreen, a not-for-profit organization that works with the Ashkenazi Jewish community, which is at a higher genetic risk for several conditions. She describes the process for genetic counseling in both reproductive and cancer genetics.

Dr. Tracey Agnese joins Dr. Fox to discuss the importance of planning to take care of a newborn as well as the mother’s needs through the fourth trimester, not just making a birth plan during pregnancy. She explains what considerations should go into a postpartum plan and what parents should expect for the first three or so months after their baby is born.

Casey Seiden, a registered dietitian, joins the podcast to talk about dieting. She explains why fad diets fail and how to create healthy lifestyle habits instead.

Dr. Samantha Do returns to discuss intrahepatic cholestasis or pregnancy, more commonly called ICP or cholestasis. She describes this as a “pregnancy specific” condition in which the liver produces excess bile. Dr. Do explains why this causes uncomfortable symptoms like intense itching as well as an increased risk for stillbirth.

Dr. Miwa Geiger, associate professor of pediatrics and cardiology and director of the Fetal Heart Program at Mount Sinai, joins the podcast. In this episode, she explains reasons for a fetal or infant echocardiogram, what this test can detect, different types of heart defects that may affect infants, and more.

Dr. Caroline Friedman returns to Healthful Woman to discuss pregnancy of unknown location, or an early pregnancy in which the implantation location can’t yet be seen. This is a concern if the patient is having symptoms like pain or bleeding, has an IUD, etc. Dr. Friedman explains options doctors have to determine whether a pregnancy is healthily in the uterus, nonviable, or ectopic.

In part two of this episode, Dr. Emily Miller discusses common treatment options for postpartum and perinatal depression and anxiety as well as the difficulty accessing mental health care that so many patients face. She also explains screening patients, common symptoms, and more.

In part one of this episode, Dr. Emily Miller explains how she first became passionate about treating and researching postpartum and perinatal depression. She and Dr. Fox also discuss some of the common issues with treating these conditions and improvements in the field. Dr. Miller is an assistant professor of OB-GYN, maternal fetal medicine, and psychiatry at Northwestern University.

Dr. Tamar Goldwaser joins Dr. Fox to discuss confined placental mosaicism, a condition in which the DNA makeup of the baby does not match the DNA makeup of the placenta. They cover what this means for DNA testing results, how it could affect the baby, and more.

Prof. Emily Oster returns to Healthful Woman to discuss the COVID-19 vaccine in pregnancy and the COVID booster shots. In this episode, Emily Oster and Dr. Fox bust myths like the idea that the vaccine would cause miscarriages or infertility. They also discuss the decision to get a booster shot and the future of the COVID-19 vaccine.

In this episode, Dr. Melka and Dr. Fox talk about delivering twins. It has become somewhat unusual in the U.S. for twins to be delivered vaginally. Dr. Melka and Dr. Fox talk about training obstetricians for this scenario, whether planned C-Sections are always best, and more.

Dr. Nahla Khalek is an OB-GYN from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who works in a specialized surgical center for fetal diagnosis and treatment. In this episode, she explains twin-twin transfusion syndrome, a unique diagnosis in which two fetuses share a placenta in such a way that one baby receives “a tremendous amount of blood volume” while the other receives insufficient blood volume. D...

Dr. Nahla Khalek is an OB-GYN from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who works in a specialized surgical center for fetal diagnosis and treatment. In this episode, she explains twin-twin transfusion syndrome, a unique diagnosis in which two fetuses share a placenta in such a way that one baby receives “a tremendous amount of blood volume” while the other receives insufficient blood volume. D...

In part two of this episode, Dr. Rebarber continues the discussion on prenatal care for twins. He covers common complications including preterm birth and fetal growth restriction and how OB/GYNs can prevent or treat these issues.

Dr. Andrei Rebarber joins Dr. Fox to discuss prenatal care for twin pregnancies. In this episode, they cover specialist care for twin pregnancies, vanishing twins, genetic screening, and more.

Dr. Lam-Rachlin returns to Healthful Woman to explain different types of twins. She and Dr. Fox review the factors that doctors are concerned about with twins, how they can tell what type of twins are present, and more.