Host Christine Garvin Notes:

I've known about vaginal steaming (sometimes referred to as "yoni steaming") for a while now. In fact, I probably learned about it the same way you may have - when Gwyneth Paltrow introduced it to the wider western world in 2015 via her online magazine, Goop.

There's been a ton of negative press about vaginal steaming since that time, probably because of Paltrow's assertions of its healing properties. What is rarely talked about is that vaginal steaming has been used for thousands of years by nearly all cultures, which Garza shares on her Vaginal Steam World Map.

And despite all the OB/GYNs that are interviewed for articles condemning vaginal steaming, Garza lists a few of the US doctors that use steaming in their practice. As we talk about in the interview, some of these OB/GYNs have found steaming particularly good for bacterial vaginosis, which has a high recurrence rate when using prescribed medications.

I was particularly intrigued about using vaginal steaming for fibroids, which of course I asked Keli about (listen in to hear what she has to say!).

One other aspect of the "uproar" about vaginal steaming that I want to point out. Negative articles will often point out that vaginal steaming has not been shown to offer any benefits, and in fact can be damaging. But the problem is, there has been no research conducted in this country to point either way. Yet studies have been conducted in other countries, including Korea, where steaming is like "getting a manicure," it's done so often. So the underlying racism at play - the idea that other non-white countries science isn't valid - is typical when it comes to discussions about natural techniques used by indigenous cultures for most of human time.

And since none of the "experts" claiming vaginal steaming is harmful are doing any studies to back these claims, Garza decided to commission a small study called, Fourth Trimester Vaginal Steaming: A Foundational Study.

The study concluded that: "vaginal steaming has a positive impact on many of the indicators of postpartum recovery, particularly in the areas of lowering blood pressure and pulse, uterine restoration, initiating and expediting waist girth and weight loss, labia healing, the quicker cessation of uterine bleeding through drawing out lochia, alleviating suture discomfort, promoting bowel regularity and hemorrhoid reduction."

There are so many hardships women face with their cycle - from excessive bleeding to no period at all - that vaginal steaming can help with, and Keli and I discuss these in-depth.