In all honesty, I usually blow off my annual women’s check up. These days, I feel I’m fairly healthy and also pretty busy. But, since our birth center offers annual women’s check-ups, and one appointment is covered each year by our insurance, we figured I should probably go before year’s end. Two weeks ago, I called them to schedule a “well woman” appointment. Since I wanted an appointment before the end of the year, I got put on their “cancellation list”. Sure enough, on Friday they called me to let me know that they had had a few cancellations on December 24th. I’m guessing people didn’t realize how chaotic it would be to have an appointment one day before Christmas. Bingo!

I didn’t expect to spend the morning of Christmas Eve having my body parts and sex life on display but that’s okay. I am so happy I went. My visit was just another testimony to the remarkable, professional, thorough care of this birth center. It was a holistic visit with not only blood drawn (more suspicions of hyperthyroidism), urine sample taken or breast and pelvic floor analyzed but they spent a full hour and a half asking about TM and Ayo and about my mental and physical health – digging deep into the recurring migraines and *achoo!* bladder incontinence. The director even asked me to follow up with her after seeing an acupuncture specialist and another referral. I left with a title of a book on how to care for my postpartum bod’. I know this might seem like a shameless plug, but I felt so cared for by a birthing center, totally passionate, not only about catching babies but about every aspect of women’s health, that I thought I’d share. Girlfriends, please don’t be as indifferent as I am about our complex (read: amazing) bodies. Go to your annual check-up and find those rare health professionals who truly care about your physical, mental, spiritual well-being.

PS: Rumor has it, MMC is not only opening another birth center in this state but also an office to care for us women as we age, dealing with issues surrounding menopause, empty nest syndrome and aging bodies. I love this! (Obviously not the aging body part 🙁 )