#415: Your Menstrual Cycle As A Window To Your Health. Our thoughtful discussion with "The Fifth Vital Sign" author, Lisa Hendrickson-Jack
Birthing Instincts
Dr. Stuart Fischbein + Midwife Blyss Young
4.5 • 631 Ratings
🗓️ 28 May 2025
⏱️ 90 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week Blyss and Stu discuss the importance of understanding the menstrual cycle with guest Lisa Hendrickson-Jack, author of The Fifth Vital Sign. Lisa brings not only her personal experiences with menstrual health, but also her expertise in the roles of basal body temperature, cervical mucus, and cervical position in fertility awareness. They highlight the broader health implications of suppressing ovulation with birth control pills and shed light on how modern medicine often overlooks natural bodily functions.
About Lisa Hendrickson-Jack:
Lisa Hendrickson-Jack is a certified Fertility Awareness Educator and Holistic Reproductive Health Practitioner who trains women’s health practitioners to use their menstrual cycle as a vital sign in their practices. She is the founder of the Fertility Awareness Mastery MentorshipTM program. She is the author of three bestselling books The Fifth Vital Sign, the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook, and her most recent book Real Food For Fertility, which she co-authored with Lily Nichols RDN. Lisa works tirelessly to debunk the myth that regular ovulation is only important when you want children by recognizing the menstrual cycle as a vital sign. Drawing heavily from the current scientific literature, Lisa presents an evidence-based approach to help women connect to their fifth vital sign by uncovering the connection between the menstrual cycle, fertility, and overall health. With well over 4 million downloads, her podcast, Fertility Friday, is the #1 source for information about fertility awareness and menstrual cycle health.
Website: http://fertilityfriday.com
Instagram: @fertilityfriday
Resources
Real Food For Fertility: realfoodforfertility.com
The Fifth Vital Sign: thefifthvitalsignbook.com
In This Episode
The Menstrual Cycle as a Vital Sign
The Birth Control Pill: History and Controversies
The Hidden Dangers of Birth Control Pills
The Importance of Understanding Your Cycle
Side Effects of Suppressing Ovulation
Impact on Partner Attraction and Genetic Compatibility
The Role of Cervical Fluid and Ovulation
Fertility Awareness Methods
The Influence of Big Pharma and Research Bias
Natural Ways to Support Your System
This show is supported by
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Connect with Dr. Stu and Blyss
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- Email: [email protected]
- Podcast webpage: birthinginstinctspodcast.com
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Burling Instincts Podcast. |
| 0:05.0 | I'm Dr. Stewart Fishbein, community-based practicing obstetrician and long-time advocate for birth choices. |
| 0:10.0 | And I'm Bliss Young, a licensed midwife. |
| 0:13.0 | Join us in our conversational style podcast where we talk about everything birth. |
| 0:17.0 | Sometimes we laugh, sometimes we cry, but we're happy that you're here. So here we go. |
| 0:22.6 | Hooray. I can see you. Oh my God. It's so great to see you. |
| 0:28.9 | For people listening, we were just mucking with tech stuff from a state park and Bliss wasn't doing so well over there. |
| 0:36.2 | But she's moved and now we can see her. |
| 0:38.0 | And we've got a great guest today. So good morning, good afternoon, good evening and good middle |
| 0:41.7 | of the night. And happy Bladed Mother's Day to everybody. Our guest today is Lisa Hendricks and |
| 0:47.0 | Jack, the author of the fifth vital sign. And we'll be getting to her in just a minute. |
| 0:51.7 | But before that, let's catch up. So where are you now? Right now I'm in a |
| 0:58.1 | Starbucks parking lot. But I'm, um, I might be anywhere, by the way. I know. My client is coming in |
| 1:05.7 | from Fiji on the 18th. I think that's Monday. So I left Santa Barbara to have some work done on Hope and |
| 1:13.7 | visiting with some friends out in San Luis Obispo. As you guys remember, I was thinking about living |
| 1:20.2 | here and practicing with a friend. So I know the area quite well from when I first came out, |
| 1:25.8 | and I'm just kind of bouncing around in the state |
| 1:28.3 | parks and last night was my favorite kind of thing where I could open my window and all I could |
| 1:34.9 | hear was the ocean in the distance and I never heard one sound of a car or a freeway. I like that is my |
| 1:43.0 | that's my love when I don't hear the city sounds, |
| 1:48.5 | when I can just hear nature. |
| 1:50.1 | So that was great. |
... |
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