As the coronavirus pandemic has unfolded, the uncertainty of this crisis has stoked heightened awareness and precaution in each aspect of our lives. We have incorporated personal protective equipment into our human interactions, and we are compulsively…
It is hard to imagine an age in which assisted reproductive technology (ART) did not exist. The CDC reported that 1.7 percent of U.S. births in 2017 were attributable to ART, with approximately 285,000 ART cycles reported that year. In reality, the pro…
Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed during pregnancy. In fact, 5 percent of invasive breast cancers occur in women less than 40 years of age, and 7 to 14 percent of premenopausal breast cancers occur in pregnant women. Harrington and othe…
As a practicing physician, there is a lot to be mindful of right now. Today, COVID-19 is on the forefront in most healthcare settings, both in identifying and treating symptoms of the virus, and in inhibiting its community spread. In the multiple labor…
Setting: An impersonal, windowless conference room within a hospital Characters: A nurse in charge (NIC), a department chair (DC) and me (ME) *** NIC: Thank you for joining us to discuss the report you made of unprofessional behavior in the operating r…
I held back my tears as I headed home that day from work. A sense of impending doom and fear of the future was clutching my heart, something like I have never experienced before. For the first time in my medical career, my mind was preoccupied with tho…
As protests broke out on the streets of downtown Cleveland and the National Guard camped outside the hospital, I delivered a beautiful, Black baby boy. In some ways, that night was like any other night. Another vaginal delivery, another moment filled w…
The COVID pandemic has revealed chasms between health care delivery system tectonic plates, revealing disparities of care and treatment of people of color and underrepresented groups. I write this from my own feminine perspective in hopes of cultural c…
Reproductive psychiatry, also known as perinatal psychiatry or maternal mental health, focuses on mental health concerns in pregnancy (also including planning and IVF), delivery, postpartum, and parenting. As a reproductive psychiatrist, I try to imagi…
As an obstetrician, I am asked daily, what is my birth going to look like? What happens when I am in labor? Where do I go if I think I am in labor? Before COVID, these were easy questions to answer. I would explain what the usual steps are and then pol…
