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Aviva Romm, MDAviva Romm, MD

Bridging Traditional Wisdom & Modern Medicine for Women and Children

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Books by Dr. Aviva

Read my bestsellers and classics to help with your lifestyle changes and make a difference that can help you feel like yourself again!

Being a woman is not a diagnosis.

Period Problems • PMS • PCOS • Endometriosis • Fertility Challenges Acne • IBS • Hot Flashes • Vaginal Dryness •  Low Sex Drive • Anxiety and More

Within us is an ancient blueprint meant to orchestrate our hormones – the interconnecting pathways between our brain, ovaries, uterus, and even vagina, with our thyroid and adrenal glands, digestive, detoxification, and immune systems. 

Featuring a six-week program for realigning these pathways & personalized protocols for getting to the root causes of key hormonal and gynecologic problems, while addressing symptoms, Hormone Intelligence is the exhale you've been waiting for. Written by a woman MD and midwife, for women, get your copy and let’s get you started on this groundbreaking action plan, that has already helped thousands of women transform their health and feel at home in their body again.

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More Books by Dr. Aviva

The Adrenal Thyroid Revolution

Get out of symptom overwhelm. It’s time to take back your health – and your life!​ The Adrenal Thyroid Revolution teaches you to easily identify your personal root causes of these symptoms and guides you through a natural 5-Step drug-free protocol to reverse them in as little as two weeks!
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Botanical Medicine for Women’s Health

Botanical Medicine for Women’s Health is an evidence-based book that blends the art and science of women’s health, botanical medicine, and conventional medicine from my perspective as an herbalist-midwife-MD, with contributions from expert colleagues.
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Naturally Healthy Babies and Children

I wrote this book in the 1980s when I was in my 20’s and my own children were small. Like my midwifery clients, I wanted my children to enjoy excellent health and didn’t want to expose them to unnecessary medical interventions if and when they did get sick.
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Natural Health
After Birth

I remember well how lovely — and emotionally tumultuous — those first days, weeks, and months as a new momma can be, whether it’s your first baby or your fourth!
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The Natural Pregnancy Book

As a pregnant momma I had so many questions — how to eat naturally and meet my baby’s needs, which herbs and supplements are safe for nausea, restless legs, and other concerns, how to prepare for birth, what about sex during pregnancy….you name it.
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Vaccinations: A Thoughtful Parent’s Guide

Deciding whether or when to vaccinate is one of the most important–and stressful—health-care decisions you have to make. Like many parents you are probably confused and concerned about vaccine safety, whether, when, and how to give vaccines, and don’t know what information to rely on for answers.
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Courses and Pathways

On my website you'll find articles, courses, and a ton that you can do on your own to take back your health. And if you’ve always wanted to have an inner circle of women – full of connection and support – plus the information you’re looking for along your journey, you’re in the right place! Many of my courses have built-in communities – and also stay tuned for the Membership Pathways – coming soon!

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Women’s Hormones + Health

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Pregnancy
+ Birth

Not your average childbirth education program. Traditional wisdom meets modern medicine to support you on your most empowered pregnancy-birth-mama journey.
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Training

Women's Functional &
Integrative Medicine Training Program. The heart and science of women’s healing, in a revolutionary, Innovative, CME/CE online program.

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@dr.avivaromm

Boundaries are an aspect of self-respect, the abil Boundaries are an aspect of self-respect, the ability to speak up for ourselves and what we want and need. Healthy boundaries can translate into better mental health, greater personal efficacy, and what we accept in terms of how we’re treated by others including medically, professionally, and personally – all of which impact our health and our safety. 

The first step in creating, setting, and keeping boundaries is to deeply know that you deserve them. You have the right to have needs, to value your time, and ask others to do the same. One simple, important boundary I have is to keep my Monday mornings clear of meetings and calls so I can focus on one big project. But it takes work in urgency culture to maintain that boundary.

But to set boundaries we have to explore and decide on what we need and want. The act of doing this gets us in deeper touch with our priorities.
How can you decide on your boundaries?
Clear 30 minutes in your day - preferably first thing in the morning when you sit down to work - or even before
Identify something that's important to you to do each day or week (could be yoga, a walk, time to write- whatever it is) and identify some of the distractors getting in the way
Now identify what you're doing to do to persevere - do you need to ask for help for an hour a day with your kids? Schedule 'Do Not Disturb' times on your phone? Set a boundary around social media use?
Write it down and commit to the boundary

Getting comfortable establishing and holding boundaries takes some practice - but I promise, you will feel clearer and more honest having them. You'll learn who really respects you. While the boundary may be new to them and they may feel put off at first, if they care, they will understand. And if not - you've learned something important about that relationship - and perhaps time for a boundary there!

To learn more about the power of boundaries, head to the link in bio for my podcast and article all about this juicy topic that will also help keep us from burnout and resentment!

Did you do the above practice? What are some of your top boundaries? How do you respond when someone doesn't respect that boundary? Let's dish in the comments!
Goddess Bowls (my spin on Buddha bowls) are basic Goddess Bowls (my spin on Buddha bowls) are basic one-dish meals that contain all the components of a satisfying, blood sugar, and hormone-happy meal in one! They’re some of my favorite quick meals and one of the best ways to repurpose leftovers!

And hey, if you don’t want to eat any of these as a bowl, simply arrange the various ingredients on your plate, and use the toppings and sauce on the grain and veggies.

To create a bowl you’ll need:
🍚The Base (pick 1): a prepared grain like quinoa, buckwheat, OR a base of finely chopped ribbons of leafy greens. 

🥬The veggies (pick 3-4): Stacked on top of the base, add your favorite roasted, sauteed, steamed, or raw vegies such as sweet potatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, beats, etc. The more color, the better!

🍣The Protein Layer (pick 1-2): sautéed or grilled beef, chicken, fish, OR a veggie option, for example, grilled tofu, red lentil dahl, or an egg your way—or any of these together that appeals to you.

🌰The Crunch: A few tbsp. of toppings, for example, mung bean sprouts, toasted nuts or seeds, or scallions to give your bowl some delicious texture.

🧚🏽‍♀️The Sauce: This is where you get a healthy fat into the bowl. Avocado is a great topping in this layer, too. I personally love a tahini dressing which also gives you a hormone boost.

After that you’re ready to delight your tastebuds, hormones, and overall body! ❤️

The one I made here is a Quinoa Salmon and Ginger Bowl - simply cook quinoa, top with steamed veggies - I used kale, onion, and sweet potato, a piece of salmon roasted with ginger and lime, sprinkle on some toppings - toasted sesame seeds, scallions, lime juice, fresh grated ginger and tamari, and add a side of kimchi for those fab probiotics - and voila! A healthful meal in a bowl with 3+ veg servings, protein, good fat, and a whole lotta’ flava’!

Going to give this meal a try? What combo will you use? I’d love to hear what you think! And for easy meals all week, batch cook each layer and store seperately in your fridge so you can mix and match your options!

And if you want more delicious, hormone-balancing recipes and done-for-you meal plans, grab a copy of my book, Hormone Intelligence!
In my grandma’s day “the change” was a hushe In my grandma’s day “the change” was a hushed topic – along with nearly every other aspect of women’s health! She could never say the word “period” – she called it my “whoositz” or sometimes my “whatsitz.” Menopause was occasionally whispered about - but not so much.

Things are changing & talking about menopause is now chic- YAY - because the more we discuss our joys and challenges - the more we bring them to light recieve support.

Buuuuut...there’s a lot of misinformation about menopause scaring the hell outta’ women. Yeah, it’s not always so easy but here are some of the myths I want to dispel starting NOW:

-Menopause is a medical condition
No! Menopause is a natural life transition. It’s time to break the stigma and start celebrating our age, power, wisdom - and if you’re not in natural menopause because of surgery, etc, then honor your unique body.

-You just have to live with uncomfortable symptoms
Up to 90% of doctors state that they haven’t received training to support a woman in menopause. Because of this, many doctors don’t offer solutions, or if they do, they’re not effective. There are solutions to minimizing symptoms and feeling your best again.

-You HAVE to take hormone replacement to address unwanted symptoms Often the only solution offered menopausal women is HRT - and while hormones can be helpful, they aren’t the only option. I share herbal, supplemental, and lifestyle support on my website as well as in my book, Hormone Intelligence!

-You brain doesn’t work as well after menopause
Yes - we experience brain changes in menopause, just as during puberty and pregnancy, but this doesn’t mean that we aren’t as brilliant as ever!

-You’re less sexy because you’re in menopause
Nothing could be further than the truth! This is the phase of your life I call the Queen phase. You’re wiser, more mature, and sexy as ever! Whether or not you’re still cycling or even have your womb!

More than 1 million women in the United States experience menopause each year. We’re a force of nature!

Share where you are in your lifecycle journey (cycling? preggers? menopause?) in the comments and let’s support each other in each phase of these phenomenal female bodies.
When I started on my path to becoming a midwife in When I started on my path to becoming a midwife in 1981, it was, in part, to make a difference in the over-medicalization of birth that was already rampant at that time. I had no idea that my journey would be filled with so many women's stories of how they'd been mistreated by medical and healthcare professionals.

It was these stories that provided the intense amount of energy it took to become a medical doctor as a working mom of 4 children. Along the way, I saw far too many doctor-patient (and sometimes a nurse or other provider-patient) encounters that reinforced just how difficult it can be for women to navigate the healthcare system given the many biases, stereotypes, and attitudes about us and our bodies in modern medicine.

As patients, we're taught to view doctors/medical providers as the authority and as all-knowing. As a result, many women find themselves listening to their providers over their own intuition or knowing, and providers are finding themselves frustrated by patients who aren't getting better- leading to diagnoses like "it's all in your head" or "it's normal for a woman to suffer".

Medical gaslighting profoundly – and often dangerously – affects women’s health, preventing countless women from receiving important diagnoses and timely treatment, sometimes for conditions that have proven life-threatening. For example, the dismissal of symptoms of heart attack - women being sent home with anti-anxiety medication, or women with autoimmune diseases being told their fatigue and aching are ‘just stress'.

Enough is enough.

If you're experiencing medical gaslighting:
✋🏽 First, listen to your body and trust your intuition.
✋🏽 Tell your provider your experience of the situation- "I'm being gaslit right now. and I know my own symptoms."
✋🏽 Ask for true support and partnership, and say that you expect to be believed.
✋🏽If you don't receive what you need, find someone who can support you!

If you need more tools on how to get the healthcare you need, head to the link in bio and grab a copy of my book, Hormone Intelligence. I wrote it so that you can understand your body better and know how to advocate for and get support the support you need ❤️
 

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Aviva Romm, MD

Bridging Traditional Wisdom & Modern Medicine for Women and Children

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