Women's Health
Know Your Body 🌿
Understand what's happening in your body with honest, evidence-based information, then take a moment to listen, track, and know when it's time to ask for care.
A gentle reminder: This is educational information shared with love, not medical advice. Always talk with your trusted healthcare provider about what's right for your body.
What brings you here today?
Start with what feels closest to what you're experiencing.
Your Cycle & Periods
Understand changes in your cycle, bleeding, symptoms, and period care.
Vaginal & Sexual Health
Find clear, shame-free guidance for common symptoms, infections, and sexual health.
Fertility & Pregnancy
Explore early pregnancy, fertility experiences, and the people who can support your care.
Conditions & Women's Health
Learn about common conditions, procedures, and changes that deserve informed care.
Hormones & Life Changes
Make sense of hormonal transitions and the changes they can bring.
Preventive & Clinical Care
Prepare for screenings and everyday preventive care with confidence.
What is PID?
Pelvic Inflammatory Disease is an infection of the upper reproductive organs, uterus, fallopian tubes, and/or ovaries. It usually starts as an untreated infection (often chlamydia or gonorrhea) that travels upward. Early treatment is critical to prevent long-term complications.
Causes
- Untreated STIs, chlamydia and gonorrhea cause most cases
- Normal vaginal bacteria moving upward (after childbirth, miscarriage, abortion, IUD insertion, or procedures)
- Douching, can push bacteria upward
- Untreated BV in some cases
Symptoms, often subtle
- Lower abdominal or pelvic pain (mild to severe)
- Unusual or heavier discharge, sometimes with odor
- Pain or burning with urination
- Pain with sex
- Bleeding between periods or after sex
- Fever, chills, fatigue
- Nausea or vomiting (severe cases)
- Some people have no symptoms at all, this is why STI screening matters.
Impact on fertility
PID can scar the fallopian tubes, leading to:
- Infertility, 1 in 8 women with PID has trouble conceiving
- Ectopic pregnancy, scarred tubes increase the risk significantly
- Chronic pelvic pain, in 1 in 3 cases
- Risk increases with each episode, early treatment is everything.
Treatment
- Combination of antibiotics (usually 2 or more), oral and/or injectable
- Treatment typically lasts 14 days, finish the full course even if you feel better
- Partners need to be tested and treated to prevent reinfection
- Severe cases may require hospitalization for IV antibiotics
- Abscess or no improvement may need surgical drainage
Prevention
- Regular STI testing, especially for chlamydia and gonorrhea (annual if sexually active under 25 or with new partners)
- Use condoms
- Treat STIs promptly, don't wait
- Make sure partners are tested and treated
- Don't douche
- Limit number of sexual partners
Seek care urgently if…
- Severe lower abdominal pain
- Fever above 101°F (38.3°C)
- Foul-smelling discharge
- Vomiting and can't keep fluids down
- Pregnancy with these symptoms, go to the ER
Where your health journey continues
Know Your Body can help you understand what's happening. When you're ready to go deeper, explore the part of the garden that fits your season.
Cycle Garden
Track your cycle and understand your rhythm.
Growing
Support for fertility, conception, and trying to conceive.
Blooming
Pregnancy guidance for each stage of the journey.
Mother Bloom
Care for recovery, feeding, and life after birth.
Final Bloom
Navigate perimenopause, menopause, and what comes next.
Inner Garden
Tend to your emotional and mental well-being.