As a young girl, I always had an interest in women’s health. My curiosity led to me, reading many books and educating myself about puberty and other things that I was experiencing at that time. Like most adolescents during that time period, my parents did not have an official “birds and the bees“ conversation with me.

However, my mother in true Caribbean/Panamanian fashion just emphatically advised me to make sure that “I did not get pregnant.” In my mother‘s defense she did encourage me to do one thing-be an advocate for myself. She told me that when the time was right that I needed to make sure that I was prepared. This meant going to the doctor by myself and asking for what I needed. Thus, I was forced to learn how to be an advocate for myself from an early age. I thought that this was something that all young girls were being taught at home.

But now as an Ob/Gyn I am realizing that this is not the case. Now fast forward… my generation- we are now the parents and we are just as scared about how to have these discussions with our children. To make matters worse, our children are now being exposed to Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and their misinformed friends as their major source of information. Also, the issues and challenges our children are being faced with now are very different. What worked for us in the past won’t work for them now. Thus, the narrative has to change and hence the birth of “Let’s Talk About It.”

-Dr. Jessica White-Videa, Board-Certified Obstetrician & Gynecologist