A Wake-Up Call About Women’s Healthcare

Mascari, Brooke - February 1st, 2026

A couple of days ago I went to a women’s health clinic because I wanted to be proactive about my health. As many of you know, I have a history of PCOS, and last year I was told it was “in remission.” I wanted to follow up, check in with my body, and compare my labs to see how things were trending.

I wasn’t in crisis.
I wasn’t trying to get pregnant.
I wasn’t there because something was “wrong.”

I was there because I wanted to understand my hormones.

That felt responsible. It felt empowered. It felt like good self-care.

But the experience I had left me feeling dismissed, invalidated, and deeply disillusioned with how women’s healthcare is often practiced.

When Prevention Isn’t Welcome

I asked for basic labs and a couple of hormone labs, too. I had timed my appointment perfectly in my cycle so that progesterone could actually be interpreted in relation to ovulation. I wanted to see what my body was doing and compare it to the previous year.

I was told no.

Instead, I was told they would only run cholesterol, insulin, and A1C. When I asked why, I was told those were the only labs “controlled by lifestyle.” Anything else would require medication or birth control to change.

That statement stunned me.

It suggested that my hormones were disconnected from my stress, sleep, nutrition, inflammation, blood sugar, and daily life. As if estrogen and progesterone exist in a vacuum. As if my body isn’t responding constantly to how I live.

“We Only Check That After Three Miscarriages”

I was told progesterone would only be checked if I had already experienced three miscarriages.

Let that sink in.

I would need to lose three pregnancies before they would look at a hormone that plays a role in ovulation, cycle regularity, mood, and pregnancy maintenance.

I went home and cried.

Not because I’m trying to get pregnant, but because it revealed how reactive women’s healthcare is. We are taught to wait for crisis. Wait for disease. Wait for loss. Wait for suffering to become undeniable before we are allowed to investigate.

Why does care only come after damage?

“That’s Normal”

I shared my history of periods that were so painful I would vomit, pass out, and be unable to function. Periods that affected my mental health because of how intense the pain was.

I was told that was normal.

I shared that I occasionally don’t ovulate every cycle and that in the past, my cycles were long, sometimes 38 days.

I was told that was normal, too.

Everything was labeled as normal! If everything is labeled “normal,” then nothing is allowed to be addressed.

And if nothing is allowed to be addressed, then women are left to silently endure.

The Only Options Offered

The solutions presented to me were:
• High-dose ibuprofen
• Birth control

That was it.

No curiosity about why my body was doing what it was doing.
No investigation into root causes.
No conversation about prevention or restoration.
No respect for my goal of understanding my body rather than suppressing it.

I was also told that PCOS can never go into remission. That it can never be healed. That my body should be expected to malfunction. That ovulation and balance would be the abnormal state.

That perspective hit me hard.

Because what kind of healthcare teaches women to expect dysfunction as their baseline?

The Bigger Problem

What I experienced isn’t rare. It’s systemic.

So many women are told:
• “It’s normal.”
• “Just take birth control.”
• “That’s how your body is.”
• “We don’t test unless something is really wrong.”

This isn’t neutral care.
This is medical gaslighting.

It trains women to doubt their bodies and lower their expectations.

What I Believe Instead

Our hormones respond to:
• Blood sugar
• Stress
• Sleep
• Inflammation
• Nutrition
• Gut health
• Trauma
• Rest

Labs are not separate from lifestyle.
They reflect how the body is adapting to life.

Cycles are communication.
Pain is information.
Irregularity is a message.

We deserve healthcare that:
• Listens
• Investigates
• Partners
• Prevents
• Educates
• Respects our goals

We deserve more than crisis care.
We deserve proactive care.

If you’ve ever left a doctor’s office feeling dismissed, minimized, or unheard, you are not alone. And this is not how it has to be.

We can expect better.
We should expect better.

Learn how to prepare and feel empowered at your next doctor’s visit: