29 - Hysterectomy: surgery, recovery and hormones

The Dr Louise Newson Podcast

Dr Louise Newson

Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Medicine

4.8 • 798 Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Content advisory: this episode contains themes of suicide

More than a million worldwide undergo a hysterectomy each year, for reasons ranging from heavy bleeding to pain or other gynecological problems - but what happens to your body post-surgery is rarely discussed in depth. When your uterus and/or ovaries are removed, your body’s hormone production of progesterone, estradiol and testosterone reduces which can trigger a cascade of effects on your brain function, mood, bone health, cardiovascular function, sexual wellbeing and overall quality of life.

In this episode of The Dr Louise Newson Podcast, Dr Louise speaks with Dr Kameelah Phillips, a leading New York obstetrician and gynecologist, founder of Calla Women's Health and author of The Empowered Hysterectomy. Together they unpack the science behind post-hysterectomy hormone changes, explain why estradiol, progesterone and testosterone remain important and discuss why so many women still miss out on the support and hormone treatment they both need and want.

Their conversation also covers how healthcare professionals can better prepare patients for surgery and recovery, as well as the crucial questions women can ask before surgery, and why hormone treatment should be considered after a hysterectomy as a standard part of care.

In the UK, you can contact Samaritans 24/7 at 116 123 or visit samaritans.org. If you're outside the UK, please reach out to a local crisis support service or emergency medical help.

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https://www.callawomenshealth.com/the-empowered-hysterectomy

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm really excited because on the 19th of October, I'm going to be at the Rose Theatre in Kingston
0:06.1	with Emma Barnett. There's a few seats left, so I hope some of you will be able to join me there.
0:12.5	We're going to be doing a Q&A where Emma will be questioning me and then I'll be answering as many
0:18.7	questions as possible from the audience.
0:26.2	It's going to be a fun and enjoyable evening, so hope some of you can come.
0:30.8	The today Camilla Phillips is my guest.
0:35.0	She's a doctor, she's an obstetrician and gynecologist in New York.
0:39.7	She runs Calla Health, and she's also the author of the empowered hysterectomy.
0:46.3	So we talk a lot about hysterectomy, what it means, how we should prepare ourselves before the operation.
0:47.6	We talk a bit about how hard it can be for women to be listened to and about how medicine
0:52.5	is broken in certain ways. It's a really great
0:56.4	and very uplifting conversation, which I hope you enjoy. So great to finally have you here
1:04.9	in the podcast studio, even though it's remote. I know you're busy working as an of OBGYN I should say over in the UK it's
1:14.9	an obstetrician or gynecologist. So your work is really inspiring and I'm not a gynecologist
1:23.3	and people sometimes find that quite confusing when I'm a hormone specialist.
1:28.3	Because for many decades, people have just thought about hormones, progesterone,
1:34.3	style, a bit about testosterone, thinking they're just ovarian hormones.
1:38.5	It's just about our periods. It's about our womb.
1:41.3	It's about our fertility.
1:42.8	And when I start talking about the role of hormones in our brain and our bones, people get a bit confused.
1:49.5	But you obviously focus on the pelvic organs, but you think of the woman as an entire person, which is just wonderful.
1:58.9	I appreciate that.
	...

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