- In a startling experiment, Andrea Donsky (of NaturallySavvy.com) shows just what disposable menstrual pads are made of, by setting them on fire. (See video at right.)
- Dr. Jen Gunter, the internet’s favorite vaginacologist, explains what to expect with regard to bleeding after Mirena insertion. She notes that a significant portion of patient dissatisfaction with IUDs is due to lack of adequate preparation.
- Women are often advised – during and after pregnancy – to do kegels to strengthen their pelvic floor muscles. Here’s why squatting is a better exercise for this purpose. As author Nicole Crawford explains, “Really the squat isn’t an exercise at all, but a basic human movement that we used to do all the time”.
- A new warning from the (US) Food and Drug Administration recommends against prolonged use of magnesium sulfate to stop pre-term labor, due to bone changes in exposed babies.
- Little-knowns facts about your favorite feminist superheroes, via Nursing Clio: Wonder Woman’s weapon of choice in her battle against the patriarchy was a speculum.
- Bears repeating: I’m not PMSing, I’m just angry.
- Jane K. Bening, a California gynecologist who writes a column for the Laguna Beach newspaper, recommends that women use synthetic hormones to escape “the hormonal roller coaster of life. Use of safe, FDA-approved products can help you control your reproduction, your moods, your menstrual pattern, your cancer risk, your skeletal and cognitive health and, ultimately, your longevity”. I have many thoughts, but not sure where to begin.
- This week at Ms. magazine’s blog, readers celebrated feminist accomplishments with a list of “10 Things That American Women Could Not Do Before the 1970s“. Yesterday, that was followed with a list of “10 Challenges That American Women Still Face Today“. Number 10 is “Menstruation frustration. Post-pubescent and pre-menopausal, women are still menstruating—and still getting patronized for it”. One of the links points to Gloria Steinem’s classic essay, If Men Could Menstruate, sadly as relevant today as the day it was written. We’ll honor Ms. Steinem for that essay next Thursday evening, June 6, at the 20th biennial meeting of the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research, with our first-ever Making Menstruation Matter award. Please join us!
