Phthalates – you may have heard this word floating around in environmental or health circuits. Nicholas Kristoff referenced them in a recent New York Times articles (here you go). When you’ve run across it, you may have ignored it, or maybe hesitated to learn more because it just looks confusing and scientific, or maybe you […]

I’ve seen a barrage of patients lately using CBD, or cannabidiol, for anxiety symptoms or as a sleep aid. Let me add here that these are NOT pregnant patients, and skip to the bottom if you want to see why you shouldn’t be using CBD while pregnant or breastfeeding. Simultaneously I started seeing CBD in […]

Vaginal seeding and the microbiome – bloom or bust? My kids’ pediatrician meets with prospective new patient families during their pregnancy. A few weeks ago a woman asked: “what do you think about me wiping my vagina with a cloth and spreading it all over my baby’s mouth”. He knew she was talking about vaginal […]

Almost 9 out of 10 pregnant women suffer from nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, yet it’s one of the most under treated diagnoses out there. Women chalk it up to “normal changes”, “to be expected”, a “sign that the pregnancy is normal”. There is some truth to these statements … but still. No one should […]

Topic of the day: queefing. Almost sheepishly a patient asked: “how do I stop from queefing during yoga?” Surprising few patients ask me about queefing. Maybe women don’t know what to ask, or who to ask, or perhaps there’s some embarrassment involved (but give me a break! I hear lots of weird stuff. Don’t be […]

Patient question of the day: how much cranberry juice do I have to drink to prevent a UTI? Notice the question is NOT: will drinking cranberry juice prevent a UTI? It is assumed that it will, and that I have the secret formula to give. Let’s see if I do …

How to tell your ovaries are working! If I had an office visit FAQ, this would be at the top. Women – all ages, all sorts of relationships, all phases of their reproductive lives – want to know how their ovaries are doing. They want hormone tests. They want ultrasounds. They want it all. Should […]

I was taken aback by this stoplight the other day. Fallen over, still functioning, and confusing everyone who saw it. You have to pay attention – green does not always mean go. Green does not mean go for pregnant women either, in a different way. Ohhhhh yes, we’re going to talk about that green. We […]

My husband and I trekked up to Sun Valley last week to visit the Theodore Payne Foundation nursery. Theodore Payne was a dude obsessed with California’s natural flora and fauna. He loved its native plants. After his death, a foundation continued to honor his commitment to wild flowers and native plants. They have a quaint […]

Getting your omega-3s during pregnancy may have a bundle of benefits. Research suggests: reduced risk of preterm labor. We think unexplained preterm labor may be associated with inflammation in general. Omega-3s decrease inflammation so may also decrease preterm labor associated with inflammation. smaller incidence of low birthweight infants. I’m not exactly sure why, but omega-3s […]