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You're listening to Life Kit from NPR.

Hey everyone, Emily Kwong here in for Mary El Segara.

I am the host of Shortwave NPR Science Podcast,

and I'm here to talk about body-oddies.

And why if you have reproductive organs like a cervix,

vagina, or ovaries, you should consider regularly seeing a gynecologist,

whether you're a woman, trans, or non-binary.

If these are your parts, this is for you.

And if hearing the word vagina makes you flinch,

just know you are not alone. For being such an intimate part of us just

naming our reproductive systems can feel like breaking a major taboo. That was

certainly the case for Dr. Rachel Burbell. I come from like a really strict immigrant household.

I never had the birds and the bees talk.

I never had any of those type of conversations.

But now Rachel has these types of conversations all day, every day.

She's a physician trained in obstetrics and gynecology and the co-founder of the Black Obgynyn Project. When Rachel told her friends she wanted to pursue OBGYN care, they were

dumbfounded. People were like, oh my gosh, Rachel, this is so funny because in college you

used to be like, sucks. Like I would literally whisper it and here I am being

like okay everyone let's talk about your periods and menstrual cycles and blood

Rachel's enthusiasm her knowledge knowledge, it's infectious.

...