Get to Know Your OBGYN: A Deep Dive Into Women’s Healthcare
October 2023 | Episode 4
Producer’s Note: The following is an AI-generated transcript of The Wellness Conversation, an OhioHealth Podcast
SPEAKERS: Missy Gleason, Marcus Thorpe, Megan Battin, DO
Marcus Thorpe 00:01
We are so glad you're with us. I'm your host Marcus Thorpe, but I'm joined by my co-host, Missy Gleason.
Missy Gleason 00:05
Thank you, Marcus. So I'm excited to be here as well and start this new podcast just to catch you up on who we are. Marcus and I are teammates on OhioHealth marketing communications team and as the brand journalism lead, I work on the OhioHealth wellness blog and our social channels. I've been here 13 years but before OhioHealth I spent another 13 years in local broadcast news as a newscast producer for Columbus's CBS affiliate WBNS.
Marcus Thorpe 00:31
that we're both here because we have very similar backgrounds when it comes to our television. History. Missy and I have known each other for a very long time before we connected professionally through our work at OhioHealth. I'm currently a Media Relations Manager at OhioHealth. I've been in that role since 2016. But prior to that, I worked 20 years in television as an anchor or reporter, a producer. Most recently with NBC four in Columbus, of course, I love the art of an interview. I think it's so much fun, you learn so much. So I hope you enjoy this podcast we think you're going to and we hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed doing it and bringing it to you. On an every month basis. It is going to be a blast, missy.
Missy Gleason 01:07
Absolutely. I'm excited to get started. So on today's episode, we are going to be diving into the topic of women's health. We're going to do a Get Started guide. And joining us today we've got Dr. Megan batten. And she will be talking about a range of services that the an OBGYN provides. And you'll be able to get valuable insights into women's health issues and learn how to prioritize your well-being with our expert guest. Thanks for joining us today, Dr. Battin.
Megan Battin, DO 01:34
It's a pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me.
Marcus Thorpe 01:35
Yeah, this is the very first one. So you're our very first guest. So tell us a little bit about yourself. I mean, this is a wide range topic. It is something that is very important for people. But first off, tell us a little bit about yourself how you landed at OhioHealth why you chose this route. I mean, it's it's such an important piece of work that you do on a day-to-day basis.
Megan Battin, DO 01:55
Yeah, absolutely. So I'm originally from Buffalo, New York. My educational career took me from Buffalo to Rochester, then down to Kansas City. And then up here where I trained at Ohio State for my residency. And then immediately after joined the group out in in Marion, Ohio. And I chose OB because I'm passionate about women's health and passionate about being an advocate for patients, particularly those going through the highs and the lows of their life. Yeah.
Missy Gleason 02:21
Awesome. So can you explain for us what an OBGYN is? And what's their role in women's health care?
Megan Battin, DO 02:30
So an OB GYN is a physician and we specialize in women's health. And so this means that we take care of women from adolescence all the way through to and past menopause. When we think of OB GYN, it's kind of twofold where the OB stands for obstetrics. And we provide care for patients and the antepartum state which is pre pregnancy through the delivery itself and then postpartum then when we think of GYN, that's for gynecology, and that is where we take care of all the disorders and diseases that pertain to the female pelvic track. So that could be things such as endometriosis, endometriosis, PCOS, anything pertaining to that.
Marcus Thorpe 03:08
Are there common myths, conceptions that you think people have when they’re bringing someone for the very first time? Or maybe they've put off care? And they see you for the first time?
Megan Battin, DO 03:21
Yeah, I think the first misconception that we see a lot is people either assume or just an obstetrician or just a gynecologist, and certainly there are there are some OB GYN who now only do OB or only do GYN but I would say for the majority is that we do both. So a lot of times I'll see patients for their OB care, and I'm like, Oh, can I see you afterwards as well. We do do global care. And so we do see patients for all of OB and all GYN. The other misconception I see a lot is that patients will think that they need a pap smear every year. And so they're often very scared to come see us because they think they're getting a pelvic exam, which pertains a pap smear. And so a lot of times we don't see patients in the adolescent stage because of that fear. And I would say that it's not true. It's definitely a misconception. Often we don't start pap smears until the age of 21. We'd still like to see our adolescent patients to provide them with counseling and guidance prior to that. And sometimes we don't have to do pap smears every year. Sometimes we can do it every three years or every five years depending on where that patient falls in our SCCP guidelines.
Missy Gleason 04:29
So jumping off of that point, what is something you wish your patients knew about your job and the care you provide?
Megan Battin, DO 04:37
Well, first and foremost, I think it's really important for patients to know that it is a safe and confidential space, it is between myself or their other OBGYN that they're seeing. And then the other thing I believe that every patient should know is that what's right for their body is what's going to be right for us while we're there to prevent or present them with guidelines and recommend Asians on what we feel the next best step, maybe, ultimately, the best step is what they feel is right for their body. So sometimes women feel that they're going to come in and get pressured into saying IUD or surgery or getting a pap smear that day. But if they're not ready, then we're not ready to. So we're there to educate, and then also respect their body and their wishes. So I wish every patient knew that so that they felt it was a safe and comfortable place for them. And then lastly, I would say, it's really important for patients to know that we are non-discriminatory, whether you're LGBTQI or straight, we are here to provide each and every patient with the standard of care.
Marcus Thorpe 05:40
Are the patients surprised? I mean, you say sometimes they're hesitant to come in? Because they think it's going to go one way, once they're done with it, how often do you then hear? Oh, that's it.
Megan Battin, DO 05:50
Almost every time, I'll tell patients, you don't have to change it. You don't have to take off your clothes, you don't have to put in a gown. Whether unless you want to unless you said today's the day I want to have Pap smear, then we'll have that conversation. Particularly with adolescents, I get it all the time where I'm like, you don't even have to send the exam table just in a chair. And let's just talk and let's just figure out what's right for you and what you want to do next. So I would say, almost every time patients are like, Oh, I wasn't as bad. Or they anticipate that pelvic exam or the Pap smear is painful, it is painful, we are doing something very wrong. So I tell them, if there's pain, we stop, we reevaluate. And almost never do patients tell me that
Marcus Thorpe 06:27
said an important component for you is to kind of break down those myths and those fears. Because if they have a good experience, the first or second time that they come and they visit with you, the chances of them coming back consistently, for those checkups increases at the way you and your team have to look at these things.
Megan Battin, DO 06:46
Absolutely. And I think that's also why we look at the importance of adolescent care. Bring a patient in whether they need a Pap smear, or a pelvic exam or a breast exam, which likely they don't at that age, it's just about building that relationship, making them comfortable making them feel like Oh, Dr. batten or Dr. Tucker, or whomever they're seeing is so comfortable, and so lovely to be around. I know they're going to respect me, my body and my wishes.
Missy Gleason 07:10
So can you give us an idea? I mean, it's a wide range of things. But can you give us an idea of what services OBGYN typically provide? And maybe it might be easier to kind of break it down by age group?
Megan Battin, DO 07:21
Yeah, absolutely. So I would say, services we provide from an obstetrical standpoint, relatively speaking as we do the antepartum. So pre pregnancy care. And that's the same for anyone of any age, the intrapartum, or labor and delivery care and then the postpartum care. When it comes to gynecological care, that is where it varies by age. But generally speaking, our goal is first and foremost, always for prevention. Our goal is to prevent disease or prevent anyone from having a formal diagnosis. And that's by first making sure that they're up to date on their vaccine, so they get their flu shot that they get their Gardasil, their COVID vaccine. And then other things that we target for prevention is making sure we're preventing an unplanned pregnancy and making sure we're preventing sexually transmitted infections. So that's our first goal is prevention. And then secondly, our second main objective always is to detect things such as cancer, whether it be breast cancer, lung cancer, cervical cancer, endometrial, ovarian cancer, with a goal of detecting it earlier than later. And then lastly, our goal is to treat so it may be treating something like endometriosis or endometriosis, endometriosis or sexually transmitted infections. That is our main goal. So I would say to prevent to detect into treat
Marcus Thorpe 08:40
Dr. Megan baton as our guests, OB GYN with OhioHealth, what stages how often should people be coming in? At what point whether it's just what you would consider a quote unquote, routine versus maybe when you find something that you want to pay a little closer attention to over a six month period or a year period? Or even maybe shorter than that? Can you give us those stages of how often you think you need to be seeing patients?
Megan Battin, DO 09:07
Sure. So it's a little bit easier to say that for an OB patient, it's pretty standard, and that we see everyone every four weeks up until they're 28 weeks, and then we start seeing patients every two weeks until they're 36 weeks, and then we see them weekly until delivery. If they're a high risk pregnancy, often it's even closer, or maybe we're managing them side by side with maternal fetal medicine. So those appointments may differ, but typically they're pretty standard. Now when we're talking about gynecology visits for an annual that's every year, and that's a recommendation from adolescents on past menopause, but when we're treating a disease or disorder that could vary. Typically when we start medication and any patient it's going to say come back in four to six weeks. Let's see how you're doing, evaluate and decide if we need to stay the course or change the direction and then sometimes events where Starting a contraceptive or a medical management for something like abnormal uterine bleeding, that's often will say what's you back in two to three months, let's give that medication time to kind of take over work its magic. And then we'll see where you're going. Again, decide stay the course or switch it up.
Marcus Thorpe 10:18
So regular checkups, obviously critically important in all of this. And so as you're looking for opportunities, online call offices of of your OBGYN because we want to make sure that folks are getting regular screenings, Missy and the importance of regular checkups. We see that so much when it comes to not only seeing if anything is going wrong, but also encouraging people, you're doing all the right things this is really working well keep your course of action, it seems to be doing really well for you.
Missy Gleason 10:47
It sounds like there aren't, it's not a typical visit. It will depend on when you show up how old you are, where you are in your life. But can you kind of give us an idea of how your visits with your patients start and how do they continue.
Megan Battin, DO 11:03
So typically, like what age they start at, so typically in adolescence, we'd say the first time we should see patients between the ages of 13 and 15, or if they're sexually active or whichever comes first. Starting from there, I want to see my patients typically every year or even shorter intervals. I see patients all the way through the perimenopause, menopause and even postmenopausal state, some patients may be used their OB GYN as their primary care physician. So we encourage them to continue to come to us for their mammograms, pelvic exams, orders for their colonoscopies, DEXA, scans, and anything else that they might meet needs screening for, such as diabetes and their lipid screening as well.
Marcus Thorpe 11:44
We always talk about having a supportive family, a supporting partner, those kinds of things. Obviously, I'm a man. So what role can a husband a partner, somebody play in kind of the role of women's health and making sure that either daughters are getting checkups, or wives or mothers or those kinds of things? Like how can I approach it from a man's perspective, to be supportive and to be encouraging and making sure that these screenings and these kinds of things are, are being taken care of on a regular basis,
Megan Battin, DO 12:17
I would say that the most important thing from that perspective would be to encourage whether it's your sister, your daughter, or your aunt, your mother, and let them know that there'll be GYN as a safe place. They're likely also for me, a woman who also has a daughter, a mother, an aunt, a sister, a grandmother, we are there to provide them with the best care, the standard of care, and to be in a safe and comfortable environment. If it's not something that say adolescents or peers are able to talk about amongst themselves. They certainly can talk about it with us and in the office. Yeah.
Missy Gleason 12:53
So regular checkups, and have your support system and considered your OBGYN your safe space. Absolutely. Wonderful. Okay, so let's transition into a very important topic, mental health. What are some common mental health concerns that women may face?
Megan Battin, DO 13:11
So often we see women for a whole slew of mental health concerns, but the majority being things such as anxiety, depression, particularly postpartum depression, anxiety and a lot of PTSD?
Marcus Thorpe 13:25
Has that grown? Do you see more of that? Is it about the same? I mean, is there it's not one size fits all? Obviously, everybody's different. They're coming to you from different parts of their lives and world? Is there age groups that you're seeing more of that? And maybe then you have in years past?
Megan Battin, DO 13:44
You know, it's hard to say, I wonder if, if it's either we're seeing more of it, or women are feeling more vulnerable and open to talking about it. But regardless, yes, I do think there's an uptick in patients who I see daily with these concerns that need addressed.
Marcus Thorpe 14:01
I do see so much more of that on. You know, social media does get a bad rap for good reason for tearing people down. But the more and more I see of people that are saying, I'm struggling, or I'm going through depression, or here's my story, in some ways, I think men women, teens read that and might go okay, it's okay to talk about this, which I think in some ways, is obviously a very encouraging thing. So when you see folks that you know, are struggling, or they're telling you that they're struggling with mental health, how can an OB GYN support a woman's mental health and moving forward?
Megan Battin, DO 14:39
Yeah, the first thing I tell patients is, one, we're gonna do everything we can to get them better to we will likely likely get them better. And three, it's a marathon, not a sprint, but for and most importantly is it's a team effort. So we have a lot of resources for anyone battling with anxiety, depression, postpartum depression. Mmm. And it starts in the office first, the patient has to tell us they're struggling. And I congratulate them for that. Because the more vulnerable we are with each other, the more likely friends and family will also open up and that we can get them the resources they need as well. So we typically talk about the next best steps for them, I typically like to get patients in the therapy right away. And this may be through a social worker, or we also have a really wonderful behavioral s team that they can get linked up to. And they can do that through telehealth or in the office as well. So it's a really wonderful resource. For patients with postpartum depression, we have wonderful resources as well, we have a group called poem that works directly with them. We also have community resources such as helped me grow, that's really important for our patients who are pregnant struggling with depression or with postpartum depression. So I tell them, we're gonna tackle it full on, we're gonna get in with a therapist, a psychiatrist myself, likely social work for more community support as well. And if we need to start medications, and that's something the patient I will talk about doing either that day or at their follow up visit if they're not improving.
Marcus Thorpe 16:10
I have seen in a lot of different regards with OhioHealth, it's kind of the advantage of being a large system is that you can take the patient put the patient in the middle, and then all the teams can work around the patient. So you have the Social Work team, you have the primary care physician, you have the specialist, you have all of these things, do you think there's an advantage of that instead of having a patient has to keep coming in and out in and out in and out now you've got them centered and you work around them?
Megan Battin, DO 16:35
Oh, absolutely. And I love it because we were able to collaborate much easier that day. So are our behavioral lessons in the office with us. So if I have a patient who are like Dr. Banton, I'm struggling postpartum depression, we go through our spiel, we talk about the next best steps and I go get Erica right away in therapy, I have a patient for you to meet with. And she'll go on me with that patient that day. So we're already connected with the physician, we're already connected with a therapist, we already have a behaviorist on board. And all I had all it took was a patient just kind of telling me hey, I need some help.
Missy Gleason 17:07
And it's okay. It's okay to feel this way sometimes, too. So it's okay not to be okay. Yeah, absolutely. So when you see women in spaces in their life, where they're making big changes, pregnancy, menopause, and a lot of people look at that as a physical change, it's, you know, they focus on the physical. But hormones shifting and adjusting has such a big impact on mental health and how you perceive yourself and how you perceive the world around you. How do you as a physician help women cope with those changes?
Megan Battin, DO 17:43
Yeah, at first, I let them know, it's, it's hard. And it's gonna be hard. But it doesn't have to be as hard as they need it to be or are making it be, you know, that's something we're there to help them through. I let them know pregnancy is hard. Menopause is hard. I think a lot of times with pregnancy, patients talk about or the community or, or social media talking about the joys of pregnancy, but it's actually really hard time for most, if not all women. The first thing I tell them is just be kind to your body. It's okay to have to slow down in pregnancy, it's okay to have to ask for help. In the postpartum setting. It's okay to feel low during menopause. But I say be kind to your body. And then I tell them to pick a mantra. Sometimes for me, for instance, a mantra that I have with my, my toddler right now is, she's a good human having a hard time. And sometimes I tell patients, you're a good person, you're having a hard time, it's okay, we're gonna get through it. And then I set them up with resources, what do we need, and what's the next best step for them?
Marcus Thorpe 18:46
I think about my wife, obviously, a very strong person, a professional, a great mom, but also the kind of person that will push through it and work hard and put her head down. And I think about, you know, those those weeks and months after having our two sons, you know, her mindset was, I gotta put my head down and get this done, and nothing's gonna stop me. But how important is it for support systems and those people to really pay extra close attention, because you'll have somebody like my wife who I can't stop, I can't do it. I'm not going to do it. But if I see changes, or somebody sees changes, you have to do something, you have to say something you have to get involved. Can you walk us through how to do that?
Megan Battin, DO 19:33
Absolutely. I would say the first thing if I never asked someone in the postpartum setting, like how great is how great is life right now? How's your baby doing? How's this I always ask when I see a patient for a postpartum visit is how are you doing mentally? Because physically, we're going to fix that no matter what's going on physically. If it's hard, we got solutions. But I always ask how are you doing mentally? And I think in society, that's something we need to be asking our friends or family In that postpartum setting, not just kind of reveling over this miracle that's taking place, which is wonderful. But it also came with a big sacrifice and saying, How are you doing mentally? And how can I help you? And a lot of times, even with that question is how can I help you is, is giving help, and not necessarily asking a woman for help? Because like you said, we put our heads down, and we kind of persevere through. And sometimes I just say, Look, you have a lot on your plate, I'm going to take one thing off of it, tell me what that one thing is. So not really giving them an option, or not making someone confess that, hey, I do need help. And I need this to be taken off my plate saying I'm going to do it. Give it to me,
Marcus Thorpe 20:40
we all have a role to play there. I mean, it's not just the woman trying to have to make the decision and saying I having a difficult time here. It's somebody else also recognizing and seeing that it's okay. As you mentioned missing not not to feel okay, not to be okay at this point, too.
Megan Battin, DO 20:58
But culturally, I think it's also really important that we start talking about our struggles, in this in these times, talking about the struggles of menopause, talking about the struggles of pregnancy, because I often feel that patients feel alone. But the ironic thing, or maybe not so ironic is that most days, all day, every day, sometimes I've seen patients with the same concern. So I know that no one in this space really is alone, quite frankly, there, there probably should be bonding over that. And that's why we do really have some great resources and group therapy for for these women.
Missy Gleason 21:29
So I would love to know, can you share a particularly memorable or impactful moment from your career as an OBGYN?
Megan Battin, DO 21:38
Man, I think that's a really, really hard question. And I think it's because OB GYN we are known for taking care of women through that the highs of the highs, such as delivering their first baby delivering their last baby, and some pretty, pretty hard lows having a miscarriage or infertility. And so I would say over the course of my career I've met, every single woman I've met is incredible in their own way. But what I would say as a whole is that I don't necessarily have one great moment. But when I look back on COVID, I always think, Wow, this has a really long lasting impact that is often mostly seen as negative. But I think when we, when we really look at it, it's easy for me to see it as like, glass half full, because I can look back on COVID. And think of all the women who didn't have their significant other or their spouse in the delivery room. But they had me in a nursing team, and some pretty Rockstar students, and everyone around them, who supported them and provided them with great care. And that's when that era of COVID really made me proud to be an OBGYN to see how amazing women really are resilient, kind, fearless and loving. And I thought it's pretty great to be a woman. And it was really great to stand by women during this time. That's amazing. I love that.
Marcus Thorpe 23:03
Yeah, me to make a baton is our guest OBGYN with OhioHealth. You talked about kind of nerves and ages and those kinds of things. I'm curious, like, when do you see kind of that that wall of nerves go down? Is it? Is it their first visit? Or? Or do you have some that sometimes it takes a couple or it's not right away, and you have to kind of earn that trust. I mean, that's kind of what physicians are all about is earning that patient trust and coming back over and over again, when do you start to see some of those walls go down in somebody's residence?
Megan Battin, DO 23:42
Usually, it's the first visit when I can tell someone's nervous and I just say, Hey, get off the exam table, sit in the chair, we're not even doing an exam today. And they know a few. Because what people are most nervous about is that exam. So we'll do the exam when you're ready. And often by the end of the visit, they're like, Oh, I'm okay doing an exam today. Or maybe it's not even indicated. But that's the first time we we kind of break the barrier, make them comfortable, understand that it's a safe place, and that we're only touching their body if it's right for them on that day. Yeah, I love
Missy Gleason 24:11
that. So we have now come to the portion of our show where we love to get a little more personal and ask you some rapid fire questions. And I know we had some chatter pre recording. So this is a gimme, gimme, but um, favorite TV show
Megan Battin, DO 24:26
Ted lasso. And so I can't stop talking about it, particularly the season finale. Agree,
Marcus Thorpe 24:33
which I've made sure nobody's tells me because I haven't finished it yet. And they keep teasing me along saying What do you mean you haven't seen it yet?
Megan Battin, DO 24:41
But you could bench you could binge the whole last season in a weekend.
Marcus Thorpe 24:45
I will too. What do you like about Titleist? So I mean, is it just the characters? Is it the storylines? What is it that draws you there?
Megan Battin, DO 24:55
Honestly, I think the character development is phenomenal. I I often will finish a episode. Besides that beard episode, which still is very strange to me, I'll walk away wanting to be a better person and feeling like a better person. And I think that's powerful. What I think is the most amazing is that you look at it as a team, because that's what they are. I'm looking at it from a leadership standpoint, and his leadership, Ted lassos leadership is unique. But it's filled with kindness, love, loyalty. And that is what gets his team where they want to be. And at the end of the day, it's about them being happy, not champions. And they end up being happy, which makes him a champion, which I think is remarkable. But somehow, it just makes you want to be a better person when I finished those episodes, and I love it. It's light hearted. It's not dark, it's not scary, and I can fall asleep afterwards.
Marcus Thorpe 25:52
And you said you don't watch a lot of TV anyway. So that's one that obviously pulled me in and didn't let
Megan Battin, DO 25:56
- Yeah, that new girl. So girls fun. That's all I got.
Marcus Thorpe 26:02
Is there a comfort food? I mean, is there something where you're like, I've had such a stressful day, which, in your line of work, I can imagine as many days but is there something where you get home and you're like, Okay, this is where I'm going?
Megan Battin, DO 26:14
Well, to my husband's dismay, I am from Buffalo New York. So pizza and chicken wings are gonna say always my go to the anchor bar then from Buffalo, obviously, yes, but that is not the best place to go. Really? Yeah, there's like so many places. It's just the most well known right? Yeah, from like, touristy standpoint. You just can't go wrong and buffalo
Marcus Thorpe 26:37
true. Buffalo Bills fan then I guess. Absolutely.
Megan Battin, DO 26:39
Absolutely. Well, I don't know if I'm bills mafia fan per se.
Marcus Thorpe 26:44
I've tables here.
Megan Battin, DO 26:48
But yeah, I'm a Josh Allen fan.
Missy Gleason 26:49
Yeah. Okay, one more question. What is the best vacation you have ever taken? Oh,
Megan Battin, DO 26:55
I've been on a I've been on a lot of great adventures. I am very passionate about global health, particularly women's care and global health. So I've been to Africa a lot. But recently, two years ago, I went to Pakistan with a group called Amana. And it was a wonderful, a wonderful trip, I suppose it was not a vacation. But we got to provide care for a lot of really underserved underprivileged women who hadn't seen a doctor in their entire lifetime. And so that was a really unique experience, but it was also very rewarding as well.
Marcus Thorpe 27:30
So that's amazing. Well, Dr. MegaMat, and this has been a great chat, we really appreciate you being on our podcast. And we will put all of Dr. battens inflammation in the body of a story that we're going to put together with a story. So if people want to find you or women's health colleagues, it's obviously very easy. Women's Health is a very big component of the OhioHealth. A portfolio and family. Obviously, we're growing with the new project that's happening at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital for the next several years. I'm curious about your take is that I mean, this is your your life, your passion, when you see the investment that an organization like OhioHealth is making women's health. What does it mean to you?
Megan Battin, DO 28:11
Oh, I'm so excited. Because I think oftentimes women feel shafted, especially with health care. And I think this is OhioHealth saying that. Absolutely not everyone deserves the standard of care if not greater, and I think it's an opportunity for every woman in central Ohio and all of Ohio to receive the best care that they deserve. Amen.
Missy Gleason 28:35
Is there anything in our discussion today that you feel like we missed or you want to address? No,
Megan Battin, DO 28:42
I don't think so. Wow.
Marcus Thorpe 28:44
Did a good job. All right. Thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. Thank you.
Megan Battin, DO 28:49
Thanks for having me.