OB/GYN

A doctor explains 10 misconceptions about abortion

Physician
November 2, 2022

The recent case of a fourteen-year-old girl being denied her medications for arthritis highlights that the Roe v. Wade decision has far-reaching consequences for women and girls. Disturbingly, the Supreme Court’s decision allowing for abortion bans also contains several factual errors. As a doctor, I think it is important that we understand the facts about abortion. I want to share the top 10 misconceptions about pregnancy termination that I have …

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A Hungarian Jewish man’s fight for freedom [PODCAST]

Podcast
October 30, 2022
YouTube video

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“Despite the terror of the Soviets, it was clear that not even their mighty tanks could eradicate the social tides that now, like a tsunami, could not be turned back. The power of the movement forced Ernő …

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A C-section is not a defeat

Conditions
October 28, 2022

“It was a cold night in October …”

I can now joke about that night with my husband and my best friend from OB/GYN residency. I had worked a Saturday 24-hour call shift, and as soon as I got home on Sunday morning, I began having symptoms that made me turn around and head right back to the labor and delivery unit …

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Batman catching babies

Physician
October 15, 2022

Whenever asked, I hesitate to tell people what I do because when a young man says: “I’m a gynecologist,” he never seems to be taken quite so seriously. “No, really, I am” – “Oh.” Instead, I opt for the more charming “I deliver babies” line. Works every time.

And why is that? What about birth and babies triggers a sense of astonishment in people? Whatever it is, it seems to magically …

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Miscarriages in a post-Roe world [PODCAST]

Podcast
October 9, 2022
YouTube video

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“The consequences of making miscarriage management unsafe will land most heavily on the marginalized and vulnerable. Our appalling maternal mortality rate in people of color will increase by miscarrying while Black. Our country and health care system …

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The resilience of children throughout the pandemic isn’t what you think

Physician
October 7, 2022

“Don’t forget your masks!”

This phrase has been the daily refrain in my household for my children for the past two years. Masking became as natural as wearing a coat in the winter, and going without a mask would have seemed as strange as going to school barefoot.

The new school year has just started for us; my five-year-old had her first day of kindergarten, and my seven-year-old started second …

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The impact of a lack of diagnosis reaches far and wide

Conditions
October 3, 2022

Getting a medical diagnosis can actually be a huge relief.

I know it may seem counter-intuitive.

Saying “I have cancer,” “I have Parkinson’s,” or “I have depression” definitely doesn’t belong in the same realm as being relieved.

Or maybe it does.

When was the last time you saw a GoFundMe for “gradually progressive neurologic symptoms for 20 years that numerous physicians in many different specialties still don’t understand”?

When did you form a Team Lucy …

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The hidden world of chronic disease

Conditions
September 25, 2022

Sometimes hiding things can work to our advantage: an early pregnancy, a disfiguring scar, public speaking anxiety … Easter eggs! But, more often, they are just temporarily hidden from public view, and, in the grand scheme of things, it can actually be a relief when they are “found.”

Enter the world of chronic disease, and things rapidly become much more complex. Chronic disease can often become manifest without any external visual …

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Women doctors face challenges globally

Physician
September 16, 2022

As I looked around the hot, humid room at the male doctors in their white coats, I couldn’t believe I was actually participating in a medical training mission in Rwanda. After months of planning and securing equipment, I was actually in Africa. I watched as the medical residents listened intently to the lectures United States physician volunteers provided.

Forty-two Rwandan OB/GYN residents came to the University Hospital in Kigali for a …

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Don’t give up on private practice just yet

Physician
September 15, 2022

The medical landscape for practicing physicians is changing. Seemingly the option of “hanging one’s shingle,” being your own boss, setting your schedule, and providing personalized care in a warm and cozy environment, “Marcus Welby style,” isn’t a viable option anymore.

Rather, graduating physicians are choosing between the options of becoming a hospital-employed physician, hospitalist, employed physician in a large multispecialty group, joining the faculty at an academic institution, or, sadly, electing …

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Endometriosis is often misdiagnosed. How to get the right diagnosis.

Conditions
September 14, 2022

The six to ten percent of women in the U.S. who are living with endometriosis have to deal with not only the pain and complications the disease causes, but often also with exceptionally long delays before receiving a diagnosis—an average of 8.5 years from first seeking care to diagnosis. One study revealed that more than 75 percent of the women who participated in the study were first …

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Care coordination for obstetrics teams is crucial

Conditions
September 14, 2022

Maternal health has been a trending topic in the news due to increased maternal mortality rates due to challenges in accessing care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson ruling overturning Roe v. Wade is deepening concerns surrounding this issue. The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate of undeveloped countries, with an alarming 23.8 deaths per 100,000 live births. My wife, Parissa, could have been part …

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My blood pressure spike on postpartum day 3

Conditions
July 25, 2022

The headache wasn’t that bad. The fatigue was worse. I had slept about six hours total in the past three days. I was fortunate to have dutiful help from my husband and both grandmas, but I was still exhausted. Between breastfeeding, diaper changes, snuggling, trying to eat and maybe shower, adjusting to being thrust into the most important role in my life, feeling the joy and anxiety as only someone …

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Post-Roe, miscarriage is more dangerous

Physician
July 23, 2022

If guilt were an Olympic sport, mothers would win every medal. We worry we should have prevented our children’s problems or might have even caused them. Mothers tiptoe through a minefield of complex personal, family, and societal expectations that no one escapes unscathed.

As an OB/GYN resident, I sought extra training to care for mothers experiencing miscarriage and stillbirth. Miscarriage occurs in 1 in 4 pregnancies due to early genetic Read more…

Abortion debates need to happen, but both sides need some ground rules

Policy
July 15, 2022

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court ruled 6–3 to uphold Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act and 5–4 to overrule Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The political temperature was already heightened because Politico released a leaked draft opinion on May 2, 2022.

The pending ruling threw the United States into an emotional pressure cooker spurred on by heavy (some would say irresponsible) news coverage and social media fervor that …

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These are the women who are being told they are not a priority

Policy
July 14, 2022

There are situations where I have told a patient they had no options: a cancer recurrence not responding to any treatment, detecting no heartbeat in a 37-week pregnancy, or telling someone their family member coded and didn’t survive. The worst part of these situations wasn’t just the diagnosis but the lack of options to improve the outcome. Let’s not remove choice in situations where a patient has a chance to …

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Roe v. Wade: Share our experience and be part of the solution

Policy
July 11, 2022

Although this is a politically charged topic in our space in medicine, this isn’t political. For many of us, it’s doing our job — taking care of a patient’s mental and physical health. Making sure they are safe and doing no harm. Living in the Midwest, I had the realization today that in the near future, I will need to refer a patient in need of some reproductive services out …

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Physicians and patients are now pawns in a political game

Policy
July 11, 2022

This morning I had a migraine. I should have known it was coming. I now have complex migraines and was having word-finding difficulty yesterday, which is a harbinger for me. How could I have known that my soul had known before my mind had, that it had known we were about to rip away a standing protection for half of the U.S. population and dress it up as a state’s …

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If it’s not clinically pertinent, then stay out of my uterus

Physician
July 7, 2022

“Stay out of my uterus” is a rallying cry for women defending reproductive rights. But it’s more than just that.

Patient 1: Female went to urgent care for back pain, had a negative pregnancy test, and saw a physician who prescribed a muscle relaxer. In the end, he asked her when she would have a third child. The patient, a physician, was taken aback but answered, “I’m not.” The doctor then …

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When the music stopped

Physician
July 2, 2022

For a long time, I have known that I do not need Beethoven, Bach, or A. R. Rehman. No offense to these extremely talented artists, but music to my ears will always be hearing the baby’s heartbeat on the doppler, hearing the baby’s first cry. The emotion is indescribable, overwhelming and satisfying.

People enter the medical field for myriad reasons, whether charitable, financial, or just for respect. What medicine signified to …

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