This week, I hop on the mic solo to fill you in on everything you need to know about the Pap test, HPV, and pelvic exams. I cover why we can finally say bye bye to routine annual pelvic exams (insert cheer here!) and how often a Pap test and HPV screening should be done. I also answer all of your burning questions about the HPV vaccine, overcoming testing fears, negative test results, and cervical cancer prevention. The great news, ladies—you can skip the shave and keep your britches on for your next annual physical exam. 
 
Let’s explore this further. For the accompanying article, go to https://avivaromm.com/pelvic-exams/ 

The Lowdown On Pap Tests, HPV, and Pelvic Exams

It’s not just you. You're not crazy. You're not a bad mom. You're not alone. These are words and deep beliefs that resonate through and form the backbone of today’s guests, Catherine Birndorf, MD, and Paige Bellenbaum, LMSW. Catherine and Paige are dedicated to changing the perinatal mental health terrain, and they do it through The Motherhood Center, a place of radical acceptance, nurturance, and individual and group support. On today’s episode, we pull back the curtain on motherhood and redefine what is considered "normal" and "typical". With PMADs (perinatal mood and anxiety disorders) being the #1 complication associated with birth and the #2 cause of maternal mortality, this is a critical conversation. On today’s episode, we unpack why it’s so important that we talk more about these conditions, how to do your best to prevent PMADs, and what to do if you or someone you love has symptoms. 
 
 
Aviva, Paige, and Catherine discuss: 
 

The definition of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADS) and the different diagnoses that fall under the PMAD umbrella 

What PMAD taboos still exist today, why this needs to change, and how Roe v. Wade affects these taboos 

Paige and Catherine’s personal stories with perinatal mood disorders and what brought them to the point of specializing in PMADS and opening the motherhood center 

The kinds of physical and psychological feelings and symptoms associated with PMADs and signs birthing people and their providers should watch out for 

Why we need to move in the direction of making it mandatory for OB-GYNs, midwives, pediatricians, and any providers who come in contact with newer expecting mothers to begin educating their patients about PMADS and screening for symptoms  

The effects of the pandemic, social isolation, and potential cultural contributors on PMADS  

The role of medication and psychotherapy in treating conditions 

 

Catherine Birndorf is a reproductive psychiatrist and the co-founder, CEO, and medical director of The Motherhood Center of New York. Dr. Birndorf is the founding director of the Payne Whitney Women’s Program at Weill Cornell Medicine and a clinical associate professor of psychiatry and obstetrics & gynecology. Dr. Birndorf was a regular mental health columnist for Self Magazine and has appeared on numerous television programs, including The Today Show, Good Morning America, MSNBC, and CNN. She is the author of The Nine Rooms of Happiness and What No One Tells You: A Guide to Your Emotions from Pregnancy to Motherhood.  
  
  
Paige Bellenbaum is the founding director and chief external relations officer at The Motherhood Center of New York. For the past 20 years, she has worked in public policy, advocacy, and clinical care with various populations, including homeless families and incarcerated young adults. She drafted legislation in New York State championed by Senator Liz Krueger, mandating hospitals to provide education on PMADs and str

The Hidden Motherhood Struggle with Catherine Birndorf and Paige Bellenbaum

We're living in a time when collective solutions and open dialogue are needed more than ever, but the rise of call-out and cancel-culture has left many important conversations silent. This week, I welcome the absolutely iconic feminist and activist, Loretta J. Ross. Loretta is flipping the script with her newly coined term, "Call-In Culture," and on today’s episode, we learn exactly what that term means and its impact on cancel culture. Loretta is a trailblazer in the reproductive rights movement, and we speak about the major phenomenon she calls "horizontal canceling" and its impact on the effectiveness of movements. Hopefully, this conversation expands your understanding of how we can connect and influence, rather than silence, to create change. 

Aviva and Loretta discuss: 


The incredibly challenging obstacles Loretta faced growing up, including sexual abuse and an unintended pregnancy at fourteen, and how these experiences led to her work in reproductive rights, becoming one of the first African American women to direct a rape crisis center and coining of the term reproductive justice.

How Loretta defines calling-in, her take on why people tend to go after more vulnerable targets, and the impacts of fierce individualism on community well-bering

How calling-out is showing up in the reproductive rights movement, the risks of horizontal canceling, and what we can do about it  

The meanings of the "woking dead" and “circles of influence” and the impacts both have on our culture  



Loretta J. Ross is a fierce and formidable women’s health rights activist for over four decades now and co-coined the term reproductive justice. She currently teaches courses on white supremacy, human rights, and calling in the calling out culture at Smith College's Program for the Study of Women and Gender. Loretta was the National Coordinator of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective and the National Co-Director of the 2004 March for Women’s Lives in Washington, D.C., the largest protest march in U.S. history at that time. She founded the National Center for Human Rights Education and launched the Women of Color Program for the National Organization for Women. She has co-written 3 books on reproductive justice and has a forthcoming book called Calling In the Calling Out Culture. 
 
Find out more about Loretta and sign up for her courses at lorettajross.com. 
 
Thank you so much for taking the time to tune in to your body, yourself, and this podcast! Please share the love by sending this to someone in your life who could benefit from the kinds of things we talk about in this space. Make sure to follow your host on Instagram @dr.avivaromm and go to avivaromm.com to join the conversation. Follow Loretta @LorettaJRoss. 

Calling In the Call-Out Culture with Loretta J. Ross

This week we are diving deep into fertility awareness, body autonomy, and cycle tracking with the author of The Fifth Vital Sign, Lisa Hendrickson-Jack. With forms of contraception at risk of becoming harder to access in a post-Roe world, now more than ever we need options that allow us to be in sync with our cycles and decide exactly when we would like to have children, if at all. Lisa shares her expertise on the fertility awareness method, the various biomarkers that signal you’re fertile, and how conception occurs—or doesn’t. If you’re looking to take control of your reproductive health, this episode is for you. 

Aviva and Lisa discuss: 
 

The common myth that pregnancy can occur every day of the cycle 

Ovulation and the fertile window length, and signs and symptoms to help you track and understand your cycle 

Popular fertility awareness methods, their efficacy, and how to begin using tracking methods safely and effectively 

Emergency contraception methods, how they work, and information to help you choose the right option for you 

 

Lisa Hendrickson-Jack is a certified Fertility Awareness Educator and Holistic Reproductive Health Practitioner who teaches women to chart their menstrual cycles for natural birth control, conception, and monitoring overall health. Lisa is the author of The Fifth Vital Sign and host of the Fertility Friday Podcast. 
 
Find Lisa’s charting workbook HERE 
 
Thank you so much for taking the time to tune in to your body, yourself, and this podcast! Please share the love by sending this to someone in your life who could benefit from the kinds of things we talk about in this space. Make sure to follow me on Instagram @dr.avivaromm and go to avivaromm.com to join the conversation. Follow Lisa @fertilityfriday. 

Fertility Awareness Is Power with Lisa Hendrickson-Jack

Even before the pandemic, we were facing a cultural epidemic. It goes by a lot of different names—anxiety, depression, overwhelm, burnout. Chances are you’ve felt it before. Currently, as a collective, we are experiencing a feeling of global overwhelm and exhaustion and find ourselves in a constant state of survival mode. This has its own name—crisis fatigue. On today’s solo episode, I share how crisis fatigue shows up both physically and emotionally, how to get out of it, and a wealth of tools to weather this storm. 
 
Let’s explore this further. For the accompanying article, go to avivaromm.com/170 
 
 
Thank you so much for taking the time to tune in to your body, yourself, and this podcast! Please share the love by sending this to someone in your life who could benefit from the kinds of things we talk about in this space. Make sure to follow me on Instagram @dr.avivaromm and go to avivaromm.com to join the conversation. 
 

How to Thrive When All You Feel is Turmoil

Did you know researchers estimate that nearly two thirds of those living with Alzheimer’s in the United States are women? This week, I am joined by the Mona Lisa of Neuroscience, bestselling author, and one of the most influential scientists of our time, Dr. Lisa Mosconi. Lisa is blowing the lid off of female brain health with her groundbreaking research on cognitive enhancement and Alzheimer's prevention, specifically in women. She provides us with a full access pass into what is truly going on in the female brain as we age, and why understanding the unique risks and strengths of the XX brain is so incredibly important, no matter the year you were born. Consider this episode a roadmap to optimal, lifelong brain health. 
 
We discuss: 
 

The meaning of “bikini medicine,” why it hinders women’s health research, and how Lisa is confronting this crisis 

The protective effects of cumulative estrogen exposure and the role of hormone replacement therapy in women’s brain health 

How risk of memory loss and dementia can be prevented by using an integrative approach including appropriate medical care and lifestyle modifications involving diet, physical and intellectual fitness 

Testing recommendations to assess brain health, the Women’s Brain Initiative and therapies to prevent, delay, and, minimize the risk of Alzheimer’s disease 

 

Dr. Mosconi holds a PhD degree in Neuroscience and Nuclear Medicine and is an associate professor of Neuroscience in Neurology and Radiology at Weill Cornell Medicine/NY-Presbyterian Hospital, where she serves as director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Program. The program includes the Women’s Brain Initiative, the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic, and the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinical Trials Unit. She is ranked amongst the top 1% of scientists of the past 20 years by official metrics, and was listed as one of the 17 most influential living female scientists by The Times. She is the author of The New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Der Spiegel bestselling book The XX Brain (2020) and of the international bestseller Brain Food (2018). 
 
Find out more about the Women’s Brain Initiative and testing here - neurology.weill.cornell.edu 
 
Thank you so much for taking the time to tune in to your body, yourself, and this podcast! Please share the love by sending this to someone in your life who could benefit from the kinds of things we talk about in this space. Make sure to follow along on Instagram @dr.avivaromm and go to avivaromm.com to join the conversation. Follow Lisa @dr_mosconi. 
 

Optimizing and Protecting Your XX Brain with Dr. Lisa Mosconi

The new medicine for women is here—I’m back with a new season full of taboo-busting conversations about all things women’s health. As a woman in her wisdom years, I’m bringing together the four decades of work I’ve done as a midwife, herbalist, and MD, to share tools, knowledge, ideas, and insights with you all. 
  
Today’s episode could not have come at a more pressing time in history with the recent decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. I am joined by Kathryn Kolbert and Julie Kay, the authors of Controlling Women: What We Must Do NOW to Save Reproductive Freedom, for a critical conversation surrounding reproductive rights, abortion activism, and the American judicial system. Kolbert and Kay have together dedicated decades of their careers to litigating, lobbying, and plotting for the expansion of abortion rights. In the words of Joan Baez, "Action is the antidote to despair." 
 
We discuss: 
 

Why abortion became a potent and polarized political issue 

How the overturning of Roe affects maternal care and decisional autonomy 

The significant physical and emotional risks associated with lack of access to abortions  

How you can become active in making change at a personal and local level 

 
 
Thank you so much for taking the time to tune in to your body, yourself, and this podcast! Please share the love by sending this to someone in your life who could benefit from the kinds of things we talk about in this space. Make sure to follow me on Instagram @dr.avivaromm and go to avivaromm.com to join the conversation. Purchase a copy of Controlling Women: What We Must Do NOW to Save Reproductive Freedom here. 

What We Must Do NOW to Save Reproductive Freedom with Kathryn Kolbert & Julie Kay

Welcome to the new medicine for women! From the stuff your mother never told you, to the stuff your doctor never learned, On Health is what happens when a midwife + a Yale trained MD shares about all things women’s health. From periods to menopause, sex to reproductive health politics, motherhood to mental health, join me for taboo-busting conversations that demystify and destigmatize our bodies, all while bridging the gap between conventional medicine and wellness. Along the way, we'll be exploring the science and wisdom of how our bodies work, what makes us well, what gets in the way, and how we can live our best lives on our terms, authentically and bravely. When it comes to women's health and well-being, there's nothing we won't talk about. 

If you haven't already, please rate, review, and follow the podcast to be notified of new episodes every Wednesday. Plus, be sure to follow your host on Instagram @dr.avivaromm and go to avivaromm.com to join the conversation.

Introducing: On Health

There are so many options available for contraception, and so much conflicting information about what’s safe, that it can be overwhelming to choose. Add to that, if you’re here on my website, there’s a good chance you’re someone who wants to keep things as close to natural - and as safe for your wonderful body - as possible. Perhaps you’ve also heard about some negative press about the Pill online.
So how do you choose the safest, most effective contraception? What are the risks you need to be aware of, as well as other pros and cons? As you’ll learn, this decision is very individual and also can change throughout our lives. Let’s explore this further. For the accompanying article, go to avivaromm.com/167

167 How to Choose the Best Birth Control for You

The connection between my love of quiet introspective time and my highly chatty nature is that I love to learn, gather information, make sense of it, digest it, and then share it with you, my course students, my patient, and anyone who will listen, in useful and understandable ways. That is, I’m a deeply curious maker who also loves to share.
Getting to create a podcast is especially fun because it brings together my love of learning, my love of communicating and my love of sharing. I’m super delighted to share this episode's very special guest: Dr. Robynne Chutkan, with you.
Robynne is not only a kickass smart board certified gastroenterologist in clinical practice, like I am, she’s curious, passionate about the microbiome, leaky gut, and the connection between gut health and our total health, and passionate about sharing that information which she’s done in her books. Listen in to our amazing conversation.

166 The Gut-Hormone Connection with Robyn Chutkan

While there’s a clear relationship between diet, nutrition, and PCOS, most doctors aren’t talking about it enough, or at all with patients, beyond women with PCOS being told all too often, and sometimes in a shaming, blaming way, to just “lose the weight” – as if that were the only answer – and as if it were just that simple to do!
In this episode I’m going to show you how you can use food to take charge of your PCOS symptoms, how you feel, and your weight, too if that’s one of your symptoms. We’ll focus on the relationship between diet and PCOS, and food solutions for PCOS – what to eat and what to avoid. You can make a huge difference in the severity of your PCOS, and sometimes even reverse your diagnosis, by getting to the roots of imbalance in this complex hormonal and metabolic condition. For an accompanying article, go to avivaromm.com/165

165 The PCOS Diet - Why Food Matters

Jonathan Fields believes that we’re all born with an “imprint” for the work that makes us come alive - that sparks us. This "Sparketype®” is a DNA-level driver of work that lets you know when you’re doing what you’re here to do. Join me for this rich conversation with my 'brother from another mother" as we dive deep into work, passion, alignment, and his brand-new book - Sparked - to explore insights into what drains you, what fills you up, and how to use this to your best personal advantage, as well as to understand your colleagues, teammates, and even parters and children better, so we can all be the live the best expression of ourselves, with the greatest ease and joy.

164 Find Your Sparketype with Jonathan Fields of the Good Life Project

In this episode you are going to meet an unusual and wonderful couple, Tallene and Sirak Hacatoryan. 10 years ago, at age 18, Tallene was diagnosed with PCOS. After being put on birth control and having her PCOS symptoms take over her life, she started focusing on diet & lifestyle to reverse her symptoms.. Scared and confused, without much information or guidance from her practitioner, and unsatisfied with the generally accepted belief that birth control is the only way to manage a PCOS diagnosis, Tallene began to focus on diet & lifestyle-based solutions. She studied nutrition science and discovered that eliminating gluten and dairy was a huge key for her to live healthier with PCOS. Together with her husband Sirak (a personal trainer), Tallene developed a podcast and programs meant to make living with the diagnosis easier to both understand and embrace. Join me for this informative and fun conversation during PCOS Awareness Month with Tallene and Sirak.

163 Thriving with PCOS: A Couple’s Approach

Join my conversation with Dr. Robin Berzin as we talk about our experience working in the integrative space for women’s care, the root causes of these conditions, how our medical system has failed us, and what we are each doing to and what we are each seeing in support of women regaining control over their hormonal and overall health.
Robin is the founder and CEO of Parsley Health, a holistic medical service specialized in supporting women with chronic conditions. She founded Parsley to address the rising tide of chronic disease in America through personalized, holistic medicine that puts food, lifestyle, and proactive diagnostic testing on the prescription pad next to medications.

162 Rethinking Healthcare with Robin Berzin

For many, the advent of a COVID-19 vaccine was a welcome relief allowing for greater social connection and a return to life as we knew it - or sort of. For many, the advent of vaccinations was incredibly confusing.
Now, with Delta, the cards seemed to be shuffled differently. the playing field has shifted, and there's a lot of uncertainty again. More choices often means exhausting internal decision-making loops. Add to the mix the vaccine now becoming available for young people 12-18, and vaccine or testing mandates in many workplaces.
In this episode I go through the data of the vaccine and what you need to know regarding its impact on hormonal health, autoimmune, fertility, pregnancy, and children’s health. My goal in sharing this episode is simple: to provide you with my interpretation of the most recent, trusted data out there, so that you can make informed decisions for yourself and your loved ones when applicable. I hope that it does just that.

161 COVID-19: A New Wave of Decisions to Make

So many of us only start to get to know our cycles when we’re looking to get pregnant. But the truth is, tracking and getting to know our cycles is one of the most critical and powerful forms of ‘me-search’ you can practice – at any age: those looking for natural contraceptive, those looking to learn how to use their cycle as a key indicator of their health, and, for those women who are anywhere on their conception journey – from thinking about getting pregnant soon to seeking fertility support, and everywhere in between – to identifying the changes that herald perimenopause and menopause.
In this episode, I share a Hormone Intelligence Chat (you can learn all about those here) in which I sat down with Lisa Hendrickson-Jack to discuss her menstrual health journey – and how and why cycle-tracking and fertility-awareness can empower you to take control not just of your fertility, but of your overall health, and your life.

160 A Menstrual Health Journey with Lisa Hendrickson-Jack

Uterine fibroids (‘fibroids’) are solid, well-defined, non-cancerous growths of muscle tissue in the uterus. They’re highly prevalent in the US, where a woman’s lifetime risk of developing them is estimated to be as high as 75% (the often cited 20% to 50% is likely a significantly underestimated range) by age 50, and as high as an 80% lifetime risk for Black women.
Given their remarkably high incidence, their significant impact on women's health, and the high rate of hysterectomies as a result of fibroids, it’s incredibly important for all women to know how to prevent uterine fibroids, and the strategies that are available to reduce them to avoid unnecessary surgery – and possibly unnecessary medications.
Like so many chronic women’s health conditions, fibroids may be a symptom of reversible environmental and dietary factors that can be associated with other medical conditions. An integrative approach can therefore not only prevent and reduce fibroids, but can be part of a plan for lifetime hormonal and total health. Join me for today's episode to learn how, and for an accompanying article go to avivaromm.com/159

159 Uterine Fibroids: What Every Woman Needs to Know

I started tracking my menstrual cycles 40 years ago. It was 1981, I was 15 years old, not yet sexually active, but curious about my body and already on the path to studying midwifery.
Tracking my cycles taught me how my innate hormonal blueprint shows up in my life – my moods, food preferences, energy, sleep, creativity, and so much more – month in and month out, so much so that its patterns allowed much more predictability in my life. I hope it's something you'll start doing as a daily practice, because it also gives you a few minutes each day to ‘drop in' on yourself – to see how you're doing – and use this moment of awareness to ask yourself what you really need right now for hormone health and balance. And I hope, if you have daughters or nieces, you'll let them in on the secrets of cycle self-awareness and the beauty of their hormonal blueprint with this episode.
For a companion article go to avivaromm.com/158

158 Menstrual Cycle Tracking: The Best “Me-Search” You Can Do

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a condition that causes millions of Americans to suffer with intestinal cramping, bloating, gas, constipation and/or diarrhea. And it affects women twice as often as men. Some of my patients have had such significant problems that they are anxious about social events, and what should be normal activities like going grocery shopping or having to travel any more than short distances for fear of needing a bathroom quickly.
If you've been there, I don't need to tell you how uncomfortable it can be. While I want us to let go of the stigma of bloating, and the eternal quest for a flat belly, I also know that you feel very real discomfort - so let's get to the bottom of that so you can be free of all that! And that is possible. For a companion article, go to avivaromm.com/157

157 Healing Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Root Cause Approach

Dealing with PCOS is no small matter. Symptoms like acne, hirsutism (hair growth in unwanted places like your chin, breasts, or lower belly), weight gain, alopecia (hair loss), irregular or skipped periods, and possibly even fertility problems are challenging — both physically and emotionally.
Unfortunately, most women tell me that they received nothing more than a brochure from their doctor and prescription for the Pill — no further questions asked, no further guidance given.
I’m here to tell you there’s a lot more we can do for PCOS. In my new book, Hormone Intelligence, I created a complete Advanced Protocol for PCOS, filled with diet and lifestyle changes that can help treat the underlying causes of PCOS. In this episode I share part of that protocol in the form of the top herbs and supplements for PCOS to address the underlying causes. For a companion article go to avivaromm.com/156

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On Health

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