053: Trending: What you need to know about ‘Ozempic babies,’ pain relief for IUDs & Frida goes uncensored
053: Trending: What you need to know about ‘Ozempic babies,’ pain relief for IUDs & Frida goes uncensored
Plus: Whitney Port shares a raw video diary from her fertility journey & Kourtney Kardashian drinks her breastmilk; should you?
Welcome to Two Truths, a bestselling newsletter & media brand exploring the many truths of motherhood from journalists & maternal health advocates Cassie Shortsleeve of Dear Sunday Motherhood & Kelsey Haywood Lucas of Motherspeak. Two Truths is rooted in the healing & affirming principle that two (or more) things can be true. It’s a “best parenting Substack” per Motherly; also seen in The Skimm, Vox, The Bump, Popsugar & more.
This is Two Truths: Trending, a regular feature where we read the internet so you don’t have to. Two Truths: Trending delivers a digest of motherhood-related highlights & headlines — all curated & contextualized with maternal mental health in mind.
In this issue:
What you need to know about ‘Ozempic babies’ — and why you actually want to avoid the drug if you’re trying to conceive
A Planned Parenthood in Illinois is now offering to sedate people for intrauterine device (IUD) insertion, centering the topic of women’s pain
Popular mom-and-baby product company Frida launched a video series of ‘uncensored, unfiltered sexual health education for women’; they were met with applause and criticism
It’s National Infertility Awareness Week, and we need to talk about the emotional and financial burden of infertility: Perelel launches ‘Fertility, Unfiltered’ with Whitney Port — and teams up with Baby Quest to sponsor one woman’s IVF journey
People were abusing Disney’s Disability Access Service (DAS) to skip lines, so the parks revised the offering and will now issue lifetime bans to anyone who misuses it
Kourtney Kardashian drank her own breastmilk. Is there any benefit to doing that?
‘A lawmaker proposed a bill that would ban DEI in medical schools. Doctors say it could roll back progress toward improving Black maternal health’
You could now get unpaid time off to recover from childbirth or get an abortion
Another powerful argument about getting tech out of schools — before it’s too late
Supreme Court appears sharply divided in emergency abortion case
‘The Tortured Poets Department’ for moms
1. What you need to know about ‘Ozempic babies’ — and why you actually want to avoid the drug if you’re trying to conceive
Recently, women across the country have been sharing stories about “Ozempic babies” — surprise pregnancies while taking weight loss medications — bringing Ozempic and others like Wegovy (semaglutide) into the trying-to-conceive and pregnancy conversation. Many women reporting these “surprise pregnancies” have been on birth control or have had a history of fertility issues. Some providers are even reportedly prescribing semaglutide off-label for issues such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which can cause fertility issues.
“We are still learning about semaglutides like Ozempic, and I have not prescribed it personally to patients, but people are sharing personal experiences of regular menstrual cycles and even unintended pregnancies while taking these medications,” Lora Shahine, M.D., a reproductive endocrinologist at Pacific NW Fertility in Seattle, WA and a clinical associate professor at the University of Washington, tells Two Truths.
“Increased sensitivity to insulin, lower blood sugar levels, weight loss, and the resulting regularity of the hormonal axis can lead to more regular ovulation and thus the possibility of pregnancy in people with a history of ovulatory dysfunction like polycystic ovarian syndrome,” Dr. Shahine explains.
And, she adds that while people report personal situations, “we need to study the processes more before we completely understand why.” Also — and this is a biggie: “People planning to try to conceive should not be taking semaglutides, and people with a potential for conceiving taking semaglutides need contraception because studies have shown an increased risk of miscarriage and birth defects in animals (no human studies) taking semaglutides while pregnant.” Ozempic, for one, carries a warning to discontinue the drug for at least two months before becoming pregnant.
» Watch more: This YouTube video from Dr. Shahine is all about this topic.
2. A Planned Parenthood in Illinois is now offering to sedate people for intrauterine device (IUD) insertion, centering the topic of women’s pain
For years now, people have been talking about how excruciating it can feel to have an intrauterine device (IUD), one of the most effective forms of birth control, inserted. The conversation has exposed the very necessary discussion about why women aren’t offered more pain relief options. Often, women are told to take an anti-inflammatory pain reliever like ibuprofen before an IUD insertion, but some physicians argue that the procedure, which usually takes 10 minutes, should be done with local or general anesthesia. Now healthcare providers at a Planned Parenthood in the greater St. Louis area have started offering optional sedation for patients getting IUDs. The change came after providers noticed some patients “opting for other forms of birth control due to concerns about pain.” If you’re considering one and nervous about pain, be sure to voice your concerns and talk to your provider about pain relief options.
3. Popular mom-and-baby product company Frida launched a video series of ‘uncensored, unfiltered sexual health education for women’; they were met with applause and criticism
The site, Frida Uncensored, currently includes six how-to demo videos — featuring experiences like cleansing your postpartum vagina — featuring adult film star and mom of two, Asa Akira. The platform was recently featured in The New York Times1, where moms shared both support and criticism. Some said it’s nice to have how-to videos for how to… well, do these things! Some took issue with Akira’s spot in the videos. Others — including Aviva Romm, M.D., a midwife and physician who was featured in the NYT piece — pointed out that more affordable alternatives for some of Frida’s products exist (such as a bag of frozen peas in place of Frida’s ice packs). In the comment section of an @nytwell Instagram post, Frida founder Chelsea Rosen Hirschhorn wrote, “Count on us to continue to crusade for advancements in women’s health and education, and never to suggest you return to the freezer aisle for relief.”
[partner content]
4. It’s National Infertility Awareness Week, and we need to talk about the emotional and financial burden of infertility: Perelel launches ‘Fertility, Unfiltered’ with Whitney Port — and teams up with Baby Quest to sponsor one woman’s IVF journey
“This is a women's health crisis,” says mom advocate Whitney Port in the debut installment of ‘Fertility, Unfiltered,’ a new video series from Perelel that shines a light on the twisty paths to parenthood. In it, Port shares raw moments and reflections while speaking for the first time on camera about her three years of infertility, four personal pregnancy losses, and two losses with her surrogate. “I think that healthcare and insurance companies need to think about how they can support us and make it easier for women to not feel the stress of having the financial burden and the physical burden.”
Infertility affects an estimated 1 in 5 women in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In an effort to bring visibility to the many different pathways to parenthood and the enormous financial burden that many face while pursuing fertility treatment, Perelel has teamed up with Baby Quest — a national nonprofit providing in vitro fertilization (IVF) financial assistance — to sponsor one round of treatment for a family in need. Learn more about the grant and apply here by May 15.
» Shop: Two Truths readers can use the code twotruths for 20% off a first-time purchase at perelelhealth.com.
» Watch: “I continue to have hope,” Port shares in the video diary below. “While this is so trying and exhausting, and has put this layer of grief in my life, I don’t want to give up.”
5. People were abusing Disney’s Disability Access Service (DAS) to skip lines, so the parks revised the offering and will now issue lifetime bans to anyone who misuses it
Requests for the parks’ Disability Access Service (DAS) — which provides “a return time for attractions, eliminating the need for those guests and their parties to wait in the standby queue” — have tripled in the past five years, and some guests have been caught gaming the system. In an effort to continue to accommodate those who truly need the service, Walt Disney World and Disneyland recently updated their policies for guests with disabilities. Now, DAS supports “guests who, due to a developmental disability like autism or similar, are unable to wait in a conventional queue for an extended period of time” and says that false statements associated with seeking the services will result in being “permanently barred from entering Walt Disney World Resort and the Disneyland Resort.”
6. Kourtney Kardashian drank her own breastmilk. Is there any benefit to doing that?
The mom of four and reality TV star recently wrote in an Instagram Story, "I just pounded a glass of breast milk because I feel sick … goodnight!" So does it actually help? There’s not much research on the benefits of breastmilk for adults; a 2015 study found “no scientific study has evidenced that direct adult consumption of human milk for medicinal properties offers anything more than a placebo effect.”
» Related reading: Should Adults Be Consuming Breast Milk? via Shape
7. ‘A lawmaker proposed a bill that would ban DEI in medical schools. Doctors say it could roll back progress toward improving Black maternal health’
“Black moms, Indigenous moms and their babies have better outcomes when they have someone on their medical team that looks like them or shares their race or ethnicity,” our friend Rachel Blake, M.D., a Boston-based OB/GYN and board member for Chamber of Mothers, told CNN. “This is really a detrimental bill to the medical system trying to have a workforce that reflects the patient population.”
8. You could now get unpaid time off to recover from childbirth or get an abortion
That’s because “new regulations under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act will give millions of workers, many of them low-income women of color, access to unpaid leave for the first time,” via The 19th.
» TTCBT: We can celebrate this and work toward more. Join Chamber of Mothers to fight for a federal paid family and medical leave policy, affordable and accessible childcare, and improved maternal health.
9. Another powerful argument about getting tech out of schools — before it’s too late
Via The New York Times — a must-read Opinion by Jessica Grose on tech in schools: “One way or another, we’ve allowed Big Tech’s tentacles into absolutely every aspect of our children’s education, with very little oversight and no real proof that their devices or programs improve educational outcomes.” Take action: Wait Until 8th. [gift link]
10. Supreme Court appears sharply divided in emergency abortion case
“The justices weighed whether a federal law aimed at protecting access to emergency medical care superseded Idaho’s near-total abortion ban,” via The New York Times. [gift link]
And we’ll leave you with this:
✨ Thanks for reading! To support this work (done between naps, after bedtimes, and before school pickups), please consider upgrading to a paid subscription (it’s just $5/month or $50/year to get the premium experience — every single issue, exclusive content and giveaways, access to the full archive of content, and more). You can also hit the heart button to tell us you enjoyed this issue, share it on social media (don’t forget to tag @twotruthsmotherhood on IG), or forward it to a friend. We appreciate you. —Cassie and Kelsey
Resources and Support For Maternal Mental Health
Emergency assistance is available 24/7 at 911
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 at 988
The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline (1-833-TLC-MAMA or 1-833-852-6262) provides access to a trained counselor 24/7 and is available in Spanish and English
Postpartum Support International provides educational resources on PMADs, free support groups, webinars, advanced trainings for providers, and more
Postpartum Support International’s provider directory includes a list of thousands of trained professionals organized by state
The Motherhood Center offers counseling, support groups, and webinars
The Postpartum Stress Center offers educational resources, counseling, a referral list of trained providers, and advanced training for providers
SUPPORT YOUR MENTAL HEALTH WITH POSTPARTUM SUPPORT INTERNATIONAL (PSI). PSI is a global champion for perinatal mental health that connects individuals and families to the resources and support needed to give them the strongest and healthiest start possible. Visit postpartum.net for information on perinatal mental health disorders, access to 30+ free, online support groups, an online provider directory, the PSI HelpLine, local support coordinators, a perinatal mental health discussion tool, specialized support resources, and more. Call the PSI HelpLine toll-free at 1-800-944-4773 for basic information, support, and resources. Support via text message is also available at 800-944-4773 (English) and 971-203-2773 (Español). Remember: You are not alone. You are not to blame. With help, you will be well.
This is a gift link, which provides our readers with access to paywalled content from other publishers, usually for a limited time.