Women's Healthcast

Diabetes can complicate pregnancy in some very important ways, including increased risk for high blood pressure and premature birth. And, pregnancy can complicate diabetes – whether it’s Type 1, Type 2 or gestational, treatment plans for diabetes need to change when someone is pregnant. It sounds intimidating, but safe pregnancy is possible with careful management. On this episode of the Women’s Healthcast, three guests talk about how they help people with diabetes prepare for safe and healthy pregnancies. Dr. Kara Hoppe is a maternal-fetal medicine physician in the UW Department of Ob-Gyn. April Eddy, BSN MS, is an advanced practice nurse and certified diabetes educator in the UnityPoint Health-Meriter Hospital Center for Perinatal Care. Nicolle Hovland is a childbirth educator at Meriter. They work together to offer a group prenatal care class for pregnant people with diabetes.

For many LGBT people, past discrimination or concerns about discrimination from medical professionals can deter them from seeking health care. Pride Month (and every month) is a great time to look at how we make health care settings safe and inclusive spaces. On this episode of the Women’s Healthcast, Dr. Ruth Yemane discusses reproductive and sexual healthcare for LGBT patients. She also shares her suggestions for how health systems can work harder to make sure patients in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities feel safe and comfortable throughout their healthcare experiences. Dr. Yemane is an academic specialist in general ob-gyn at UW-Madison.

Vitamin D has a lot of important jobs in the body, from promoting bone strength to supporting the immune system. And ongoing research suggests vitamin D may also play a big role in fertility and pregnancy outcomes.  Dr. Samantha Butts, reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialist at the University of Pennsylvania, sat down with the Women's Healthcast to talk about why Vitamin D is important to fertility, how she incorporates this information when working with her patients, and where the research needs to go next to show how Vitamin D and reproductive health interact.  

Cancer treatments can come with a variety of physical and emotional side effects. As awkward as it may be to talk about, that includes side effects that might change our ability to have or enjoy sex. On this episode, Joanne Rash talks about why treatments like chemotherapy and radiation can affect sexuality, some of the most common sexual health concerns she sees in her patients, and how she helps them approach intimacy in new ways. Joanne is a physician’s assistant in the UW Carbone Cancer Center. She specializes in gynecologic oncology, and co-founded the Women’s Integrative Sexual Health Clinic.

Most women - up to 75 percent, according to Dr. Julianne Zweifel - will experience some mood changes in the first couple weeks after having a baby. But for between 12 and 20 percent of those women, the symptoms will extend beyond the first few weeks of parenthood, edging into perinatal mood disorder territory. On this episode, Dr. Zweifel discusses common perinatal mood disorders like postpartum depression and anxiety, what we know about the causes of perinatal mood disorders, and the variety of available treatments. Dr. Zweifel is a health psychologist in the UW-Madison Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The well woman visit – the annual check-up with a gynecologist – is not always anticipated with excitement. But this regularly-scheduled visit is a great opportunity to check in with your healthcare provider about mental and physical health concerns and get crucial cancer screenings. On this episode of the Women's Healthcast, Dr. Cynthie Wautlet walks us through what to expect during the well woman visit and explains the different recommendations around HPV and Pap tests. Dr. Wautlet is an assistant professor in the UW-Madison Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.  

In early March, the UW Department of Ob-Gyn hosted the first-ever Wisconsin Contraceptive Care Summit, helping women’s health providers and advocates strengthen their contraceptive care skills through a reproductive justice lens. At the Summit, Lyanne Jordan sat down with the Women’s Healthcast to discuss why contraceptive care and maternal healthcare need to be grounded in the principles of reproductive justice. Lyanne is director of doula services at Maroon Calabash, a community-based doula program in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Learn more about Lyanne’s work supporting maternal health at https://www.marooncalabash.com/.

More than half the world's population menstruates. But for such a common biological process, how many of us really understand the mechanics of the menstrual cycle? Dr. Lauren Verrilli, 4th-year UW Ob-Gyn resident and soon to be reproductive endocrinology and infertility fellow at the University of Utah, joined the Women's Healthcast to explain what's happening during periods and dispel some common menstrual myths.

Endometriosis affects around one 1 in 10 women, who can experience symptoms like pelvic pain, irregular bleeding, pain during sex, and much more. In honor of Endometriosis Awareness Month, UW Ob-Gyn minimally invasive gynecologic surgeon Dr. Cara King joined the Women's Healthcast to discuss endometriosis symptoms, different paths for treatment, and what she thinks needs to change to help endometriosis patients get to a diagnosis faster.

Spring break season is nearly upon us, and a warm weather getaway sounds pretty amazing after this brutal winter. But traveling to tropical locations – and traveling in general – could present some extra challenges for people who are pregnant. Dr. Katie Antony is a maternal-fetal medicine specialist in the UW-Madison Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. On this episode, she shares her recommendations for safe travel while pregnant. Dr. Antony is also a leading researcher on Zika virus – she provided an update on Zika virus risks around the world, and why Zika is a concern for people who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant.

On the last episode of the Women’s Healthcast, Dr. Ryan McDonald joined us to talk about C-sections - if you missed it, check out Preparing for Cesarean Delivery to learn about what happens during C-section, and possible risks/complications. On this episode, Dr. McDonald is back to discuss recovering from C-section delivery, breastfeeding after the surgery, and how having a C-section could affect future pregnancies or deliveries. Dr. McDonald is an ob-gyn and assistant professor in the UW-Madison Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Cesarean deliveries, or C-sections, are among the most common surgical procedures performed in the United States. Nearly one in three babies is delivered via cesarean. But even though C-sections are incredibly common, they’re still a major abdominal surgery. In part one of a two-episode series, Dr. Ryan McDonald walks us through what happens during a cesarean delivery, potential risks or complications, and how he helps patients prepare for the possibility they might need a C-section. Dr. McDonald is an ob-gyn and assistant professor in the UW-Madison Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.  On the next episode, Dr. McDonald will be back to talk about recovering from C-section, how it can affect breastfeeding, and special considerations for future pregnancies after cesarean.

Medical innovations, from cold medicine to chemotherapy, happen with the help of clinical trials. But how do trials get started? Who pays for the research? And does who participates make a difference? Dr. Laurel Rice talks about why clinical trials are the gold standard for medical research, how researchers make trial participation as safe as possible, and why it's crucial that studies recruit diverse groups of patients.  Dr. Rice is a gynecologic oncologist and chair of the UW-Madison Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 

What matters to you when choosing a birth control? Effectiveness, ease of use, safety…what about how it affects your sex life? It’s not uncommon to remove sexuality from conversations about choosing contraceptives, even though people who feel their birth control method has a negative effect on their sexuality are more likely to discontinue the method. Jenny Higgins, PhD, professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, discussed why birth control research that doesn’t consider pleasure and sexuality is bad science, and why she thinks there’s hope for closing the pleasure deficit.

Women will spend one third to half of their lives in menopause, a life stage with a bad reputation. But Dr. Makeba Williams likes to encourage patients to think of menopause as an opportunity to reset their health. In this episode, she discusses how to recognize the beginnings of menopause – and with helpful symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats, it can be hard to miss. She talks about menopause’s impact on the whole body, including bone density, muscle tone, and changes in sexual health. Dr. Williams also provides an important update on treatment options to help manage menopause symptoms. Dr. Williams is a North American Menopause Society-certified menopause practitioner and the director of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Academic Specialists in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

In this bonus episode, UW Ob-Gyn minimally invasive gynecologic surgeon Dr. Cara King spoke with Dr. Jacob Greenberg from the UW Department of Surgery about incisional hernias, a complication that occurs in about 20 percent of patients who undergo major abdominal surgery. They discussed current best practices and specific choices they might make during a hernia repair surgery, how to help patients reduce their risk of incisional hernias, and improve their recovery after hernia repair.  If you enjoy this episode's in-depth look at surgical techniques, you might also like the Surgery Sett, a podcast produced by the University of Wisconsin Department of Surgery. 

When Dr. Heidi Brown did her first urogynecology rotation during her residency training, she was struck by how much pelvic floor disorders like incontinence affected her patients' quality of life. Since then, she has devoted her career to helping more women connect to simple, straightforward solutions that can improve or cure incontinence symptoms. In this episode, she discusses her community-based incontinence program Mind Over Matter: Healthy Bowels, Healthy Bladder -- and her plans to build an online program accessible for more women.  To see if Mind Over Matter is available near you, visit https://wihealthyaging.org/ If you're in the Madison, Wisconsin area, learn more about managing pelvic floor disorders at a free community talk on November 28! Details available at http://uwhealth.org/breakfree

Pelvic floor disorders are incredibly common. Nearly one in three women will talk to their healthcare provider about some kind of pelvic floor dysfunction, including incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse. We're kicking off Bladder Health Month a little early with a conversation with Dr. Christine Heisler about why people might seek help from a doctor like her. Dr. Heisler is a female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgeon. She discussed the causes of pelvic floor disorders and the wide variety of treatments available to patients experiencing incontinence or prolapse. If you'd like to learn more about pelvic floor disorders, join Dr. Heisler and other UW Ob-Gyn providers for two Bladder Health Month community events! Learn more about how to Break Free from Incontinence and Pelvic Floor Disorders at uwhealth.org/breakfree.

It's hard enough for adults to bring sexual and reproductive health questions to their doctors. Can you imagine trying to talk about those same concerns as a teenager? That’s why doctors like Paula Cody are so important. Dr. Cody is a pediatrician with UW Health, and a member of the UW-Madison Department of Pediatrics faculty. She specializes in adolescent medicine. In this episode of the Women’s Healthcast, we discussed how she helps set young people (and their adults) at ease while addressing their complicated sexual health questions. For more great information on adolescent health, check out Dr. Cody's Writes of Passage blog!  

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome affects between 10 and 20 percent of reproductive-aged women, and it's the most common endocrine disorder in that group. But, according to Dr. Laura Cooney, it can be hard to identify and diagnose. Dr. Cooney is a reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialist in the UW Department of Ob-Gyn. She discussed the criteria for diagnosing PCOS, how it can affect fertility, and why she’s so passionate about helping PCOS patients.