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Cited guides, starting with trying to conceive, PCOS and pregnancy. Each one lists its sources and says whether a clinician has reviewed it.
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Trying to Conceive: Where Should You Start?
Start trying to conceive with clear steps on prepregnancy health, cycle timing, medicines, testing, and when to ask for fertility support.
What Can You Expect During a Typical Pregnancy?
Learn what may happen across the three trimesters, what prenatal care involves, and which pregnancy warning signs need urgent help.
How Does the Menstrual Cycle Work?
Learn how the menstrual cycle works, how to count cycle days, what can vary, and which changes are worth discussing with a doctor.
What Are the Common Signs of PCOS?
Learn about common PCOS signs, why they vary, what details may help at an appointment, and when changes need medical care.
Your Body in the First Six Weeks After Birth
What changes in the first six weeks after birth: bleeding, cramps, healing wounds, breasts, bladder, mood and sleep, and the signs that need care.
What Is Perimenopause and What Can Change?
Learn what perimenopause is, how periods and symptoms can change, how clinicians assess it, and which bleeding needs medical attention.
Trying to conceive
11 guidesTrying to Conceive: Where Should You Start?
Start trying to conceive with clear steps on prepregnancy health, cycle timing, medicines, testing, and when to ask for fertility support.
What Is the Fertile Window?
Learn what the fertile window means, why it spans several days, how estimates are made, and why calendar dates cannot guarantee ovulation.
Trying to Conceive With Irregular Cycles
Why timing advice built on a 28-day cycle does not work when yours varies, what is worth tracking instead, and when to ask for help rather than wait.
When Should You Take a Pregnancy Test?
Learn when a home pregnancy test is most useful, why an early result may be negative, how to follow the instructions, and what to do next.
Age and Fertility: What the Numbers Do and Do Not Say
How age affects the chance of conceiving each month, why population figures cannot predict any individual, and when guidance suggests asking for help sooner.
What Happens at a Preconception Appointment?
Learn what a clinician may discuss before pregnancy, including health history, medicines, vaccines, folic acid, tests, and personal pregnancy goals.
Can PCOS Affect Fertility?
Learn how PCOS may affect ovulation and fertility, what to track while trying to conceive, and when a clinical fertility review may help.
Can Endometriosis Affect Fertility?
Learn how endometriosis may affect fertility, what a clinical review may include, and how care choices can reflect your conception goals.
Thyroid Conditions and Trying to Conceive
Why a thyroid condition is worth reviewing before you conceive rather than after, what usually gets checked, and what changes as soon as a test is positive.
Fertility Tests: What an Assessment Usually Involves
What a fertility assessment usually includes, why both partners are checked, how long results take, and what to ask before you start.
When Should You Seek Fertility Help?
Learn when to ask for fertility support, which factors may call for an earlier review, what an initial assessment can involve, and how to prepare.
Pregnancy, week by week
37 guidesChoose your week of pregnancy.
Pregnancy
5 guidesWhat Can You Expect During a Typical Pregnancy?
Learn what may happen across the three trimesters, what prenatal care involves, and which pregnancy warning signs need urgent help.
What Are Common Early Pregnancy Changes?
Learn about common early pregnancy changes, why symptoms differ, how pregnancy is confirmed, and which pain, bleeding, or sickness needs care.
What Happens at Your First Pregnancy Appointment?
Learn what may happen at a first pregnancy appointment, which questions and checks may be discussed, what to bring, and how to speak up about your needs.
Which Pregnancy Warning Signs Need Urgent Care?
Learn which pregnancy symptoms need urgent medical care, including severe pain, bleeding, breathing trouble, headache, reduced movement, and safety concerns.
Can I Fast in Ramadan While Pregnant?
What the research says about fasting in Ramadan during pregnancy, who should talk to a clinician first, and the warning signs that mean stop fasting and get help.
After birth
14 guidesYour Body in the First Six Weeks After Birth
What changes in the first six weeks after birth: bleeding, cramps, healing wounds, breasts, bladder, mood and sleep, and the signs that need care.
Postpartum Warning Signs That Need Urgent Care
The symptoms that need urgent care in the weeks after birth, why late signs are missed, and exactly what to say when you call.
Bleeding After Birth: What Is Normal and What Is Not
How bleeding after birth usually changes week by week, what clots and colours mean, and the bleeding that needs urgent care.
Afterpains: Cramps in the Days After Birth
Why the womb cramps in the days after birth, why feeding makes it worse, how long it lasts, and the pain that is not afterpains.
Healing After Stitches or a Caesarean
How perineal stitches and caesarean wounds usually heal, what helps day to day, and the signs that mean a wound needs checking.
Your Mood After Birth: Baby Blues, Depression and Anxiety
The difference between the baby blues and something that needs support, what postnatal depression and anxiety look like, and how to ask for help.
Sleep and Exhaustion After Birth
Why exhaustion after birth is more than broken sleep, what actually helps, and when tiredness is a symptom rather than a stage.
Breastfeeding: The First Two Weeks
What the first fourteen days of breastfeeding usually involve: colostrum, milk coming in, latch, feeding frequency, engorgement and sore nipples.
When Breastfeeding Is Not Working
What to do when feeding hurts, supply feels low, or you want to stop: what help exists, what mastitis looks like, and how to change how you feed.
Your Pelvic Floor After Birth
What the pelvic floor does, why leaking and heaviness happen after birth, what usually helps, and why common does not mean permanent.
When Your Periods Come Back After Birth
When periods usually return after birth, how feeding changes the timing, why the first cycles are irregular, and what is worth reporting.
Contraception After Birth: What to Know
When fertility returns after birth, which methods are usually discussed while breastfeeding, and when each can be started.
Your Six-Week Check After Birth
What the postnatal check is for, what usually happens, and how to make sure your own health is on the agenda rather than only the baby's.
Sex After Birth: What to Expect
When sex after birth is usually possible, why it often hurts at first, what helps with dryness and scar pain, and what is worth reporting.
Your newborn
8 guidesYour Newborn in the First Two Weeks
What is usual for newborn babies in the first fortnight: feeding, sleep, weight, nappies, the cord stump and jaundice, and who to ask about your own baby.
Newborn Warning Signs That Need Urgent Care
The signs in a newborn that need emergency care, why fever under three months is different, and what to say when you seek help.
Feeding Your Newborn: How Often, and How You Know It Is Going In
How often newborns feed, what feeding cues look like, and what a midwife or health visitor checks when feeding is being looked at.
Bottles and Formula: Preparing and Feeding Safely
Why powdered formula is not sterile, what preparation guidance covers, where countries differ on water temperature, and how bottle feeds are given safely.
Safer Sleep for Your Baby
What safer sleep guidance covers, where national guidance agrees, where it differs on bed sharing, and how to find the advice that applies where you live.
Newborn Crying, and What Helps
Why newborn crying peaks in the early weeks, what parents are advised to try, and the safe thing to do when you have had enough.
Nappies, Skin and the Cord Stump
What newborn nappies usually contain, how nappy rash is handled, how the cord stump is cared for, and the signs that need to be seen.
Your Baby's First Checks and Vaccinations
The checks usually offered to a newborn baby, what each one looks at, and why vaccination schedules differ between countries.
Periods and cycles
8 guidesHow Does the Menstrual Cycle Work?
Learn how the menstrual cycle works, how to count cycle days, what can vary, and which changes are worth discussing with a doctor.
Is my period normal?
In the first two to three years, periods are uneven by design. Here is the range that is expected, and the few things worth showing a doctor.
How Should You Track Your Menstrual Cycle?
Learn which cycle dates, bleeding details, and symptoms are useful to track, how to spot patterns, and how to prepare a clear health summary.
What Care Options Can Help With Period Pain?
Learn which self-care and clinician-discussed options may ease period pain, how choices depend on the cause, and when pain needs further assessment.
How Are Painful Periods Assessed?
Learn how clinicians assess painful periods using your symptom history, an exam or imaging when useful, and checks for possible underlying causes.
Can Heavy Periods Cause Iron-Deficiency Anaemia?
Learn how heavy periods can lead to iron-deficiency anaemia, which symptoms to notice, what tests may be discussed, and when to seek care.
How Should You Track PMS and PMDD Symptoms?
Learn how to keep a daily PMS or PMDD symptom record, identify cycle timing, summarise daily impact, and know when to seek help.
Period myths, checked
Swimming, washing, exercise, how much blood there really is, and whether tampons hurt. Each one checked against what health services actually say.
Conditions
8 guidesWhat Are the Common Signs of PCOS?
Learn about common PCOS signs, why they vary, what details may help at an appointment, and when changes need medical care.
How Do Clinicians Assess PCOS?
Learn how clinicians assess possible PCOS, which criteria and checks may be used, what other causes are considered, and how to prepare.
PCOS: Food, Movement and Weight, Without the Blame
What the 2023 international PCOS guideline says about food, movement, sleep and weight. No single diet is proven best, and weight stigma can cause harm.
PCOS and Insulin Resistance, Explained
What insulin resistance is, why it matters with PCOS, how clinicians check blood sugar, and what metformin is. Explained without any dose.
PCOS: Treatment Options to Discuss With Your Clinician
A goal-based guide to PCOS options for periods, fertility, hair and skin, with what the 2023 guideline says and questions to bring to your clinician.
PCOS: Hair, Skin and Mood
Extra hair, acne, hair thinning and mood changes can come with PCOS. Learn what to note, how screening works and when to get help now.
What Are the Common Signs of Endometriosis?
Learn about common endometriosis signs, how symptoms can vary, what details are useful to track, and when to seek medical care.
How Is Endometriosis Assessed?
Learn how clinicians assess possible endometriosis using symptom history, exams, imaging, and sometimes laparoscopy, plus how to prepare.
For teens
8 guidesWhat's changing in my body
Puberty happens in a rough order, and it starts at a different age for everyone. Here is what usually changes, and when to ask a doctor.
What is a period?
A period is the lining of the uterus leaving the body through the vagina. Here is what happens, in plain words, for someone who has not had one yet.
Getting ready for your first period
A simple plan: what to carry, where to keep it, who you can tell, and exactly what to do if your first period starts while you are out.
Period products, and how to choose
Pads, tampons, cups and period underwear, described honestly. What each one does, what it costs you in effort, and how to decide for yourself.
A period at school
Leaks, PE, asking to leave a lesson and what to keep in your bag. The practical answers for having a period during a school day.
Period pain: what helps, and when it is too much
Cramps are common and there are things that genuinely help. There is also a line: pain that stops you going to school is worth a doctor, not endurance.
Tracking your cycle without stress
Why an app shows you a wide window at your age, why that is honest rather than broken, and how to track without it becoming another thing to worry about.
When to tell an adult, and when to see a doctor
Which things are worth telling an adult, which are worth a doctor, and who you can go to if home is not the easiest place to ask.
Perimenopause and menopause
5 guidesWhat Is Perimenopause and What Can Change?
Learn what perimenopause is, how periods and symptoms can change, how clinicians assess it, and which bleeding needs medical attention.
How Should You Track Perimenopause Symptoms?
Learn how to track period changes, hot flushes, sleep, mood, and daily impact during perimenopause without treating app estimates as medical conclusions.
What Is Menopause and What Can Change?
Learn what menopause means, which changes may occur, how clinicians assess symptoms, and when bleeding or other symptoms need medical care.
What Menopause Care Options Can a Clinician Discuss?
Learn which menopause care options a clinician may discuss, including HRT, non-hormonal approaches, vaginal care, shared decisions, and review.
Bleeding After Menopause: Why It Always Needs Checking
Any bleeding after twelve months without a period needs checking, however light. What the appointment involves, and why every episode counts.
More guides
5 guidesWhat Is Endometriosis? Signs, Assessment, and Care
Learn what endometriosis is, the signs it may cause, how clinicians assess it, and what care and day-to-day support can involve.
When Are Heavy Periods Worth Discussing With a Doctor?
Learn what heavy periods can look like, possible causes, how clinicians assess bleeding, and when urgent or routine care is needed.
Why Are My Periods So Painful?
Learn why periods can hurt, which patterns are worth discussing, what clinical assessment may involve, and when pain needs urgent care.
What Is PCOS? Signs, Assessment, and Care
Understand what PCOS is, the signs it can cause, how clinicians assess it, and the care options they may discuss with you.
PMS or PMDD: What Is the Difference?
Learn how PMS and PMDD differ, which symptom patterns matter, how clinicians assess them, and when to seek urgent support.