In Full Bloom: Why Women’s Health Needs a Bigger Conversation

Women’s health is often thought of in narrow terms: reproductive care, pregnancy, menopause, or annual gynecologic visits. While those areas are important, they are only part of the story.

 In the premiere episode of In Full Bloom: A Women’s Health Podcast, Joan Blomquist, MD, Chair of the Department of Gynecology at GBMC, and Mary Beth Marsden explore why women’s health deserves a broader, more open, and more evidence-based conversation. 

And this podcast is the place where these conversations will happen. 

For Dr. Blomquist, launching In Full Bloom is rooted in a simple but powerful goal: to educate women so they feel empowered to ask questions, seek trusted information, and take an active role in their care. 

“Women’s healthcare is my passion,” Dr. Blomquist shares. After decades of caring for women, teaching, researching, and leading at GBMC, she sees the podcast as an opportunity to bring important health conversations out into the open. 

Traditionally, women’s health has often been associated with what Dr. Blomquist refers to as “bikini health,” the reproductive organs and the conditions related to them. That includes important topics such as endometriosis, fibroids, menopause, fertility, and pelvic health. But women’s health is much broader than that. 

Some diseases present differently in women than in men, and some conditions affect women more severely. And still others are more common among women, including certain autoimmune disorders, migraines, rheumatoid arthritis, and Alzheimer’s disease. Which is why the history of women being underrepresented in medical research is an important discussion point. 

For many years, women of reproductive age were excluded from many clinical studies because of concerns about potential risks during pregnancy. While those concerns were rooted in real historical tragedies, the result was that much of medical research was based primarily on men, and that has had lasting consequences. 

Women may respond differently to medications. Hormonal changes can influence symptoms, disease progression, and treatment effects. Conditions that affect quality of life, such as PMS, menopause, endometriosis, pelvic pain, and migraines, have historically received less research attention than conditions associated with higher mortality. The result is a healthcare landscape where many women have felt unheard, underdiagnosed, or unsure where to turn for reliable information. 

This is just one of many barriers that can prevent women from getting the care they need. Some barriers are financial, including a lack of insurance or underinsurance. Others are logistical, like transportation, childcare, caregiving responsibilities, time away from work, or difficulty finding the right provider. For many women, especially those in midlife, health can take a backseat to everyone else’s needs. But Dr. Blomquist emphasizes that women deserve care, support, and access to trusted information. 

The In Full Bloom podcast is designed to be a reliable place for women and their families to hear from medical experts, learn about common health concerns, and better understand what questions to ask during appointments. At GBMC, education is a key part of better health. By sharing evidence-based information in an approachable way, In Full Bloom aims to help women feel more informed, more confident, and more supported.

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