If you’re pregnant and find yourself endlessly scrolling through online forums, you’re not alone. Not by a long shot. With so many dos and don’ts in pregnancy, it’s understandable if you’re not totally sure what’s what. But there’s one question in particular that we’ve seen come up a lot: Can boric acid cause miscarriage? The short answer is… probably not. But that doesn’t make boric acid safe for pregnancy. Here’s what you need to know. What is boric acid? Boric acid is a white power used in hundreds of over-the-counter products, from soil fertilizers to personal...

If you sat down, spread open your legs, and pulled out a hand mirror, would you be able to name what you saw? Seems like a silly question — but there’s a common mistake most people make. “99% of the time, if someone says ‘my vagina,’ they actually mean their vulva,” says board-certified OB/GYN Dr. Staci Tanouye.  Do you think you know the difference? And why does it matter? Dr. Tanouye helps us understand. What is the vulva? “Everything you can see, touch, externally is the vulva,” says Dr. Tanouye. The vulva is the external genital...

Traditionally, pregnancy can occur when the male ejaculates semen – fluid from the seminal vesicles and prostate gland combined with sperm from the testicles – into the female’s vagina during sexual intercourse. Pregnancy is more likely during ovulation, the phase of the menstrual cycle when women are most fertile. During ovulation, the ovary releases an egg, which then travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus. In most cases, the fertility window for females is the five days leading up to ovulation, the day of ovulation, and the day after ovulation. And it’s during this time...

Vaginal infections, like all other infections, are no fun. But the last thing anyone wants to think about when dealing with a vaginal infection is whether or not their ability to conceive has been compromised.  Bacterial Vaginosis, or BV, is a common vaginal infection that, regrettably, has been linked to infertility.  But this is due to a variety of factors: Even though BV doesn’t directly cause infertility, it can increase your risk of developing fertility issues, particularly tubal infertility. Before we delve into this topic further, however, it’s important to establish what exactly BV is. What...

Maybe you had an incredibly special relationship with your mom and want to recreate that bond with a daughter on your own. Maybe you’ve always envisioned having a baby boy and can’t shake that image. Or maybe you already have multiple children of one sex and long to experience parenting the other. Of course, sex and gender aren’t the same, and you can’t truly know your child’s gender identity before or even shortly after birth. But when expectant parents envision their families, it can be really hard to accept that the image in your head won’t...

Chances are, you’ve come across several stories about intrauterine devices (IUDs) in the news lately. One of the biggest details from Britney Spears’ conservatorship battle was the pop star’s claim that she wanted to have a baby, but she wasn’t allowed to have her IUD removed. There have also been numerous viral TikToks in the past year highlighting patients’ negative experiences with IUDs.  First of all, let’s clarify what exactly an IUD is: It’s a small, T-shaped type of birth control inserted directly into the uterus by a healthcare provider, used for the purpose of long-term...

Have you ever heard of a loop electrosurgical excision procedure? If not, you’re not alone. While most of us are familiar with Pap smears and pelvic exams, loop electrosurgical excision procedure — commonly referred to as LEEP — is a women’s health procedure that doesn’t get a lot of press. Though it’s not a commonly discussed procedure, it’s a vitally important one that can save lives.  According to the American Congress of Obstetricians (ACOG), LEEP is a treatment to remove precancerous cells from the cervix, which can stop them from turning into cancer.  Because it’s rarely...

Information about hormonal birth control, what type you should switch to, horror stories with IUD placement, and personal anecdotes about the pill making patients anxious seem to come from everywhere except your doctor’s office. The hashtag #depressedonbirthcontrol on TikTok has over 46 million views, with commentary from many people who are not medical professionals.  Even on the scientific side of things, there is conflicting information about how hormonal contraception affects the brain. Some studies seem to support that taking birth control may contribute to mood changes, anxiety, or depressive symptoms, while other studies haven’t been able...

It’s been more than a year since Roe v. Wade was overturned, with 20 states in the U.S. now either restricting or banning abortion outright. With women’s reproductive rights still slowly being chipped away in this country, misinformation and scare tactics pertaining to abortion continue to run rampant, especially when it comes to how this procedure affects fertility.  What’s important to remember when discussing abortion, is that both forms – medication and surgical – are not only safe, but surgical abortions are actually one of the safest medical procedures available when performed by a qualified provider. By comparison,...

We’ve all been that person sitting in our OBGYN’s office and handed a 3-fold pamphlet that gives us endless birth control pill options to choose from — none of which have descriptions that make it any easier for us to know which one is right for our body.  Often we rely on friends, family, or Dr. Google to point us in the right direction, which can be helpful, but at the end of the day, everyone’s body and personal preferences are so different. The decision can be overwhelming, to say the least.  Aside from the birth...