Here’s what we’ve been up to at the V word this week besides fighting the patriarchy, one good patient experience with her gynecologist at a time 🙂

 

LISTENING

Check out a few new episodes of The V Word —

One all about BREASTS BOOBS TITS – where we talk beyond cancer and feeding

Another from our series on “In Their Shoes” where we talk to writer/producer/actress Caitlin Barlow about her experience having a baby in the pressures of Hollywood

We have a lot of exciting stuff coming up – so stay tuned!

 

We’re also listening to some of these favorites:

Pod Save the People with Doula and Educator, Erica Chidi Cohen

Invisibilia: the 5th vital sign (spoiler alert: this episode is all about chronic pain in girls)

 

READING

(*discussed by Dr. Erica and Dr. Jenn on a recent episode)

Science has long excluded pregnant women from research – now it’s changing (The Lily)*

Male birth control may actually happen – but does anyone care? (Wired)

The best shows/books/movies about infertility (Mothermag)

Interactive overview of state laws in the pipeline to challenge Roe (Politico)

The risk to babies of having older fathers (NYT)

Diagnostic criteria is largely defined by male patients… (The Lily)

 

WATCHING

Period. End of Story (now on Netflix!)

Pen15 (Hulu) all about high school awkwardness with some getting real about masturbation and crushes

GOT – because next season is coming so soon!

 

RESEARCH CORNER

Genetic screening: what information do women want about their pregnancies?

The answer: ALL OF IT.

In a survey of 553 pregnant women receiving prenatal care, researchers asked if women were able to under whole genome (all of the DNA) sequencing for their pregnancy, what would they want to know. The preferences were organized by actionability, severity, prevalence, and age of onset.

They found that most (89.7%) wanted information about serious, treatable childhood illnesses, which was unsurprising.  More surprising was that 40% wanted information about non-medical traits.  Over half of respondents were interested in having some counseling with their care providers regarding which tests would be most useful.

*V word take-away*: In the day and age of genetic data being more widely available, many women would want more information about their pregnancies.  However, really important that we allow space for discussions of the utility and interpretability of what is available.

 

Reference:

Noninvasive Prenatal Whole Genome Sequencing: Pregnant Women’s Views and Preferences.

Authors: Sullivan, Haley K., BS; Bayefsky, Michelle, BA; Wakim, Paul G., PhD; Huddleston, Kathi, PhD; Biesecker, Barbara B., PhD; Hull, Sara Chandros, PhD; Berkman, Benjamin E., JD, MPH

Obstetrics & Gynecology: March 2019 – Volume 133 – Issue 3 – p 525–532

 

 

 

image from the amazing @darshunkendrick IG