Change The Cycle
Power pose: “fake it until you make it” Purpose posture: “know it until you show it” As a black woman in medicine, I’ve been told more times than I can count why or how I will not make it. The discouragement comes from many sources. From freshman orientation where the Biology chair announced to a …
#ioperatelikeagirl 👩🏾⚕️ That means, I greet you preoperatively with a desire and ability to explain your surgery and identify when you’re nervous. I don’t tell your loved one that you’re “going to be fine” because it sounds good, I’m saying it because I’m going to ensure that you will be. I make small incisions, and …
Soooo many people W.T.F (want the facts) when it comes to fibroids. Where do they come from? When should there be concern? What are the risks? Fibroids are literally the most common tumor found in the pelvis of women. They are noncancerous and come from the myometrium, the muscle layer, of the uterus. The prevalence …
What is a Pap Smear? A Pap smear is a screening test for cervical cancer that is generally recommended to start at age 21. It is named for Dr. George Papanicolaou, a Greek cytopathologist, who created the test in the late 1920s. A Pap requires a pelvic exam to collect cells from the cervix. These …
Mild to moderate PMS can be treated by lifestyle modifications. PMS that interferes with your daily activities is considered to be more severe and often requires medical therapy. Lifestyle modifications include: – Regular cardio or aerobic exercise (running, jogging, High Intensity interval training (HIIT), cycling, etc). All with a goal of 150 min per …
Dysmenorrhea (Diss-men-or-ree-uh) is the medical term for pain with menses or menstrual cramps. More than half of menstruators experience dysmenorrhea, & it has been reported to affect up to 90% of young women. While dysmenorrhea is most commonly a normal symptom of having a period, many women may have questions about when period pain transitions from …
I just want to drive this point home. To the extent that insurance and location will allow, pick your provider (and birth center) like your life depends on it. Ask them their stance on your maternal mortality risks and believe them if their response is unsatisfactory or dismissive. If a child has asthma …
A preconception visit is designed to reduce the risk of adverse health outcomes based on modifiable risk factors. It is used to optimize health and provide individualized education. Any patient with reproductive potential is a candidate for pre pregnancy counseling, regardless of relationship status, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Black women are at …
Former ACOG President, Dr. Haywood Brown said, “The relationship between stress and how we respond to that stress physiologically has well-documented associations with prematurity and cardiovascular disease. The “microaggressions” that black women endure throughout their lives also make them predisposed to chronic conditions that can make a pregnancy high risk, such as hypertension and diabetes. …
Black Maternal Mortality: The Background It was a 2016 article published in the Green Journal entitled “Recent Increases in the U.S. Maternal Mortality Rate” that jumpstarted the national conversation on maternal mortality. This article reported a 26.6% increase in maternal mortality from 2000 to 2014 for 48 states and Washington, DC (California and Texas were analyzed …