Woman’s Hospital’s new UNPrivate Parts Podcast tackles the taboo
A lady does not talk about X in public. A lady does not concern herself with Y. A lady must not admit that she may be struggling with Z. We’ve heard them all before with these longstanding social restraints that have often kept women from the comfort and necessity of discussing their own health and biology. But the year is 2021, and the dawn of a new age has been breaking for quite some time now. So, at the start of this month, Woman’s Hospital embarked on its own mission to counter taboos with a helpful dose of entertainment: enter the UnPrivate Parts podcast.
“It was actually the brainchild of our Woman’s marketing and communications team,” says Caroline Isemann, communications supervisor for the hospital. “We’re made up of women ranging in age from the 20s through the 50s, and we all have a unique perspective on the healthcare challenges women face at different stages of life. We’ve all talked to our friends and family and read the hundreds—sometimes thousands—of comments we get on social media every week. It was apparent to us that there are so many topics that women are afraid to talk about openly even though we know a lot of women experience them.”
The staff members decided that they bore a responsibility to identify these topics publicly. Among the subjects tackled: breastfeeding, pregnancy loss, body issues after giving birth, and much more, courtesy of various guest hosts and doctors at Woman’s Hospital.
“It’s about taking those ‘private parts’ of life and making them a little less taboo and easier to talk about,” says Isemann. “A podcast was the perfect avenue to dive deeper into these topics and to talk openly and honestly about women’s health—the good, the bad and the ugly.”
The first four episodes are being released on Thursdays throughout the month of August, and can be streamed on Apple, Spotify, Google or online at womans.org/podcast. Listeners looking for a bit more can also stream the video version on a smart TV through the WAFB+ app. Now get out there and break down some social constructs.
