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at all Befmo locations. Nobody talks to girls about their cervical fluid. It's like denying

seamen exists. It's denying that you sneeze and blow your nose. So your cervix, do you know what

your cervix is? This is me about four years ago, taking a lesson with a woman named Tammy Rubin.

She's a certified fertility awareness and reproductive health educator. I can't guarantee anything for you.

I can just tell you the science and you know what I've learned and what I want to pass on.

The events leading up to finding Tammy are chronicled in the first episode of Bodies, Sex Hearts.

You can listen back if you want all the details, but to summarize, when I was 24, sex became painful.

I told my doctor, but I was dismissed. And it was having a really negative impact on my

relationship with my then boyfriend. And then, through a friend, I learned that it could be the

birth control pill that was causing the pain. I'd been on the pill since I was 18 and never

given it a second thought. But then I started looking into it more, and yes, painful sex,

as well as low sex drive and trouble lubricating, were all potential side effects of the pill.

So I went to an OB-GYN specialist who confirmed that it was indeed the pill that was causing my

issues. He told me to stop taking the pill, use a topical hormonal gel to get my hormone levels

back to normal, and go to pelvic floor physical therapy. I did all three things, and after about

six months, the pain went away. And honestly, my sex drive was better than it had ever been.

And so after I got off the pill, I did not want to take hormonal birth control again,

but I didn't want to get pregnant, either. Condoms are fine contraceptives for the time being,

but they didn't seem like a sustainable solution for the rest of my reproductive life.

...