As part of Women's Health Week we're bringing back our episode on Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and the difficulty of getting a diagnosis. 

Weight gain, bristly hairs, no period. Welcome to Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome.  

PCOS is one of the leading causes of infertility worldwide and it can cause debilitating physical and psychological symptoms. 

1 in 8 women have PCOS, so that’s at least a couple of friends in your group chat. So why do we still know so little about it?  

Yumi Stynes catches up with ladies who’ve been battling PCOS for years and finds out how they get on top of it. 

Featured in this episode: 

• Professor Helena Teede, female endocrine specialist from Monash University

This episode will answer questions such as: 

• What is PCOS? 
• Why does PCOS cause weight pain?
• What is the link between PCOS and infertility? 
• How is PCOS diagnosed?  

What to listen to next: 

Has Ozempic killed body positivity? 

Calling out wellness bullsh*t with Dr Jen Gunter

Perimenopause: but aren't I too young? 

You can binge more episodes of Ladies, We Need to Talk on the ABC listen app (in Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. 

This episode contains references to PCOS, weight gain, excess hair, medical misogyny and infertility. 

Stand-up star Sashi Perera called off her wedding at the last minute. There were tears and tantrums but that wasn't the final time the lawyer-turned-comedian blew up her life.

Moving to a country in the middle of civil unrest? Tick. Dating a series of duds? Tick. Quitting a well-paid job for stand-up comedy? Tick.

Sashi's redefined what success means to her through career changes, relationship breakdowns and IVF struggles. Yumi Stynes sits down with Sashi to find out how she's learned to run her own race.

What to listen to next:

How to give zero f*cks with Gina Chick, Jessie Tu and Anna Broinowski 

Jessie Tu, on miscarriage and doing motherhood her way 

Emotional labour with Rose Hackman 

The price of perfectionism 

What to read next: 

The price of perfectionism for women

How Turia Pitt's body image changed in motherhood

Sandy seemingly has a perfect marriage, but she’d never been lonelier

You can binge more episodes of Ladies, We Need to Talk on the ABC listen app (in Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. 

This episode contains references to marriage, wedding, runaway bride, comedy, stand-up, dating, Tinder, online dating, shame, depression, mental health, immigrant, immigration, family, IVF, pregnancy, miscarriage, relationships. 

A herpes diagnosis can come with a whole lot of stigma, but it shouldn't. Around 15% of us carry the antibodies to genital herpes, making it one of the most common STIs in Australia.

Yumi Stynes finds out what it's like hearing you have herpes for the first time and how to best manage. From itching to tell partners to soothing your symptoms and how to keep sex humming. 

Plus, STI expert Dr Ellie Freedman explains the science behind the virus and how it changes over time.

You might also like:

The secret lives of vaginas

Esther Perel — how to have a hard conversation

This episode contains references to genital herpes, herpes simplex virus type one, herpes simplex virus type two, antibodies, sexual health, womens health, shame, stigma, mental health, vagina, vulva.

Approaching her 70th birthday, Gail Rice booked herself an appointment with a sex worker. She'd never done anything like it in her life. As a younger woman, Gail had enjoyed a string of sexual and romantic partners. As the years passed, her sexual currency dwindled and she was hungry for intimacy. But exchanging money for sex taught Gail much more about herself than she was expecting. This is a story about erotic power, ageing and finding the courage to ask for what you want. 

You might also like:

Loneliness – you're not alone 

Sugar babies – dating men for money 

This episode contains references to sex work, escort, ageing, older Australians, older women, eroticism, sex, orgasm, erotic massage, people pleasing, gender, orgasm gap, relationships, monogamy, dating apps, online dating.  

Correction: this episode describes Gail Rice approaching Mitch's escort agency for a refund. However, Gail contacted Mitch directly and got him to agree to a refund.

Ozempic has entered the group chat. Since GLP-1 agonist drugs burst onto the scene, they've been hailed as a weight-loss game changer, but they've also raised uncomfortable questions about what bodies are acceptable, or not.

For years, the body inclusivity movement pushed back against the idea that only thin bodies can be 'healthy' but Ozempic & co are drowning out this message.

So, what do these drugs mean for fat liberation? And how can we shift our collective thinking around weight and morality?

Yumi Stynes chats to a panel of amazing women about the impact of this new generation of weight-loss drugs and how we can all find ways to be kinder to our bodies.

Featured in this conversation:

• Dr Emma Beckett, nutritionist
• Evie Gardiner, size inclusivity advocate
• Nat Atkinson, Mum, taking Wegovy

You might also like:

The Ozempic era

I'm fat, don't hate me—Aubrey Gordon

Fat talk

This episode contains references to fat, fatphobia, weight stigma, Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, GLP-1 agonists, semaglutide, obesity, diet, diet culture, women, body image, self-esteem, bullying, weight loss, Serena Williams.

Having blah sex? You've CUM to the right place.

Dr Emily Nagoski has the tools for you.

The renowned sex educator and author of Come as You Are, Burnout and Come Together brings the wisdom of psychology and sex research to the fore. She chats with Yumi Stynes about the science behind our sex drives and how we can bring back the chutzpah in the bedroom. (R)

You might also like:

Is everyone having better sex than me?

https://bit.ly/4okf9LO

Perimenopause: how to have better sex

https://ab.co/47bAC3s

This episode contains references to sex, long-term relationships, marriage, libido, sex drive, heterosexual relationships, queer, gender, mental load. 

Unrelenting standards, high expectations and a fierce, reprimanding inner critic. Perfectionism is often celebrated, but striving for flawlessness comes at a cost. There’s lots of ways we, as women feel pressure to be perfect: be the perfect partner, the perfect mother, have the perfect body. But, of course, perfectionism is always out of reach. So, how can we learn to be kinder to ourselves and let go, even just a little?  

Yumi Stynes meets women whose perfectionism has consumed their lives. She learns what happens when a perfectionist f*cks up, and how to recover. Plus, clinical psychologist Eileen Seah shares tips on how we can all accept our imperfect selves.  

You might also like:  

Anxious? We got you

Penny Moodie’s OCD

This episode contains references to perfectionism, procrastination, anxiety, depression, relationships, parenting, striving, IVF, fertility, career, eating disorders, self-criticism, psychology, therapy. 

Hannah Diviney never saw herself reflected in pop culture. And she definitely didn't see herself as the object of desire. Growing up with cerebral palsy, Hannah watched on as rom-coms and teen dramas depicted able-bodied bombshells fall in love, snog their guts out and have sex. All these experiences, it seemed, were out of reach for her. It meant that Hannah had the demanding job of being her own role model. She had to be the change she wanted to see.

You might also like: 

Sex and the D word

Your sex and disability stories

This episode contains references to: dating, relationships, disability, sex, sex scenes, television, entertainment industry, fear, anxiety, body image, Beyonce, Lizzo, Latecomers. 

Have you ever experienced 'the ick'? It's that sudden, visceral feeling of being put off by someone you're dating. Maybe it's their flat cap, the way they chew, or how they laugh.

Stories of the ick are prolific online, but it leaves us with a question — what causes it?

To separate red flags from disgust, we get into the psychology of the ick — why you might feel icky, if it should be a deal breaker, and what it says about your own attachment style.

This episode comes from our science friends at All in the Mind.

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Quitting men: Hope Woodard's 'boysober' movement

Hannah Ferguson's case against hookup sex

This episode contains references to: dating, relationships, evolutionary psychology, disgust, break up, situationship, love, conflict, couples.

'Bounce back' culture can find someone else to pick on, we're celebrating bodies who've given birth.

And this episode isn't just for the mums. It's for everyone who's ever felt the bod they were given this earth to roam in isn't good enough.

Yumi Stynes meets women who've fought the insidious pressures on mums' bodies and found a new appreciation for themselves.

Featuring: burns survivor and author Turia Pitt, founder of the Australian Birth Stories podcast Sophie Walker, body image researcher Dr Zali Yager and mum of two Tegan Russell.

You might also like: 

Body Image

Birth trauma

Love your boobs

This episode contains references to: body image, eating disorders, birth, baby, motherhood, parenting, stretch marks, weight gain, weight loss, bounce back, diet, diet culture, children, self love, prolapse, child birth, Australian Birth Stories podcast.