Many women develop heavy and irregular bleeding in the years before menopause because estrogen dominance causes the lining of the uterus to overgrow. Emotional stress of all kinds can make this worse. Instead of the normal monthly buildup and shedding of the uterine lining, too much endometrial tissue builds up and then breaks down in a disordered way that results in spotting or irregular heavy bleeding.
I talked to my friend Jane in a local restaurant a few weeks after her mother died. Her description of her relationship with her mother—and her sense of loss—touched me deeply. Because their relationship had been so good for so long, her grief was normal and expected—tinged with love, not regret or longing. Jane’s mother was very independent and didn’t make Jane responsible for her happiness. In many ways, this is the kind of relationship we all long for—one of ease, without guilt or obligation.
From the moment I gazed into the eyes of my firstborn child, Annie, I was enchanted. Given what I teach now (and how I practiced medicine), I think you will find this ironic: Up until the moment that I actually went into labor, I treated my impending motherhood in a detached clinical way and managed to stay totally immersed in my career. Talk about a mind-body split! Then happily, suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, at age thirty-one, my innate nurturing and mothering skills were awakened in me as I went through the process of labor and birth.
Having a baby is the true “change of life.” Women who go through labor and birth fully supported often emerge from the experience changed forever. One of my patients who had her two children at home told me: “My births were absolute peak experiences of ecstasy and spiritual fulfillment. Nothing I’ve ever experienced before or […]
