As a many-year-menstruator, you may have a period routine down: Start the week feeling moody, bloated, and crampy. Grab your period kit full of natural pain relievers — a heating pad, magnesium, and CBD suppositories. Then, shoot your partner a glare from across the room that says, “DON’T COME NEAR ME.”  The minute they see the period kit, your partner knows to keep their hands to themself… but what if I told you a little physical interaction might actually make your period better? In this article, we share how period sex helps relieve cramps and boost...

This article is sponsored by BetterHelp, the world’s largest professional therapy platform, done online.  Like many people, I was nervous to start therapy for the first time. When I started getting panic attacks in my early 20s, I finally signed up for therapy and realized that everything I knew about it was wrong. Instead of analyzing ink blots and the unconscious meaning behind my dreams, my therapist and I worked on developing coping mechanisms and stress management skills, so I could eventually manage my anxiety on my own.  I started feeling better within weeks, which I credit...

You might be familiar with the basic rules for eating during pregnancy — like avoiding raw meat or seafood, waiting to enjoy deli meats until after baby arrives, and making sure you cook those fried eggs all the way through.  Another essential nutrition tip is incorporating foods with omega-3 DHA, which can play a crucial role in a baby's development. We’ll explain why omega-3s are important, how to add foods rich in omega-3s to your diet and recommend some supplements to help ensure you’re getting enough. Because when you’ve got a baby in your belly, they...

Three days after my D&C from a missed miscarriage, I walked the beach with my mom.  It was a sunny May morning, the kind of day that tells you summer’s on the way — but all I could see were dark, heavy clouds looming overhead.  We were wading in the water and collecting shells when I found a dime with my birth year. I had no doubt it was a sign from someone or something much bigger than me… a reminder to have hope, even at my lowest point.  I’d been through a miscarriage before, and...

If you struggle with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), you have probably tried everything imaginable to help manage your symptoms. But what if an effective treatment for PCOS was already widely available, without any major side effects? It turns out that a decades-old diabetes medication has quietly emerged as a promising treatment for women with PCOS and other "off-label" conditions.  So, what is metformin, exactly, and is it truly a miracle treatment option for PCOS? Let’s discuss.  What is metformin? Metformin is no new kid on the block: it has been used as a first-line treatment for...

If you’ve experienced any form of pregnancy loss, the first thing to do is to give yourself grace. It’s crucial during this devastating time to embrace as many resources as you need, for both your physical and mental healing. You’re allowed to grieve, rest, and nourish your body, for as much time as it takes to feel better. Accept support from loved ones, and know that you’re not alone (about 10% to 20% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage).  But when you’re ready to try to conceive once more, it can be challenging to know when...

Trying to understand recurrent pregnancy loss is often taxing. There are a lot of questions but very few answers. You are overwhelmed with curiosity about what may happen next while also navigating the grief of the loss you’ve just experienced. It’s a lot. The load can get heavy pretty quickly if you’re one of the women who have navigated two or more miscarriages in a row.  “It is always important for couples to recognize the level of grief and anxiety that occurs with each pregnancy loss,”  explains Dr. Sandy Goodman, a board-certified OB/GYN and fertility specialist at...

If you’re like me (read: a millennial who grew up primarily in the ‘90s), you can probably relate to the confusing, overwhelming, and flat-out embarrassing experience of puberty. It was all just so hush-hush and isolating, to the point that it all felt really shameful. I would have benefitted so much from a more open culture around the realities of puberty, from the changes in the way my body began to look, to the incredibly scary experience of starting periods. There was definitely a culture of shame and stigma firmly in place when I was growing...

These days, no matter where you are in your fertility journey, trying to conceive can be stressful. Even if you’re going for it the old-fashioned way (read: sexual intercourse; no medical assistance), it feels like baby-making requires more planning than buying a home: You need to track your menstrual cycle, make sure you have sex on specific days, etc. Put it this way: You’re likely exhausted before you’ve even gotten to the jumping-into-bed part! While it’s true that women are at their most fertile only on certain days, numerous myths about the TTC process have snuck...

I’ve spent the past decade covering reproductive health, and here’s what I’ve noticed during that time: Celebrities have been a real force in the normalization and de-stigmatization of fertility issues.  Every time a star opens up about a miscarriage or tells their fertility story, it moves the mission of removing the shame from these issues forward. And that’s powerful. It’s also complicated. Because while speaking out about reproductive issues and sharing personal stories does so much for the greater good — especially when a person with a big platform does it — no one needs to...