Dr. Ashley Womack

🎆Happy 4th of July from all of us at Pearl Women's Health & Surgery!🎆

Pic from our USA lunch yesterday. Everyone have a fun & relaxing day today! God bless America!

Endometriosis excision surgery can be life changing, especially for women who have been suffering for YEARS without answers.

Take aways!
1) There are many different appearances to endometriosis lesions and you should go to someone who is trained to see both typical and atypical lesions.
2) Sometimes the endometriosis that you can see is just the tip of the iceburg. Optimal excision can take meticulous dissection.
3) Endometriosis should be excised with minimal trauma to surrounding tissue and minimal blood loss for adhesion prevention.
4) Adhesion prevention measures can make a world of difference for results after surgery!

PMC8301806

🗣Exciting Announcement‼️

On February 19th this year, we opened our new medical practice!

Introducing Pearl Women's Health & Surgery.

Pearl exists to help restore women to their natural health and function, so that they can flourish while fulfilling their life's ultimate purpose. We belief women are created with a natural beauty and complexity - just as that of a pearl.

We are on the forefront of women's health by taking a restorative appproach to health. At Pearl, we embrace a holistic view which includes a patient's physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Together with our patients, we will find the best combination of lifestyle changes, medicine, or surgery restore health and quality of life.

We are EXCITED to serve women and families with truly restorative reproductive medicine. We focus on hormone health, fertility, abnormal bleeding, and of course, restorative surgeries for endometriosis, fibroids, polyps, and more.

www.pearlhealthdallas.com

🗣Ready for a second chance at fertility??💕

With the appropriate candidate, tubal reversals can be an effective treatment for tubal factor infertiltiy due to a prior tubal ligation procedure. This surgery requires meticulous microsurgical dissections with delicate handling of the tissue for the best outcomes!

As you can see here, the tube was separated in the middle from the prior ligation. I opened up those closed ends and sewed them back together in order to restore normal anatomy and function. The blue dye is then pushed through the tube to confirm no leaking from the suture line and confirm that the entire tube is open... which it was!!

Such a great time attending and speaking at the FACTS Conference in my former home of Austin, TX! I got to reunite with and meet new healthcare professionals also passionate about fertility awareness based methods - this includes Dr. Marguerite Duane who has mentored me on my professional journey since medical school!

It was a privilege to be able to speak about fibroids and how we can best serve women who struggle with debilitating symptoms. Fibroids are more common that you think and there’s a lot we can do to help.

Thank you FACTS about Fertility for the opportunity to speak about this important topic!

Check out FACTSaboutfertility.org for some great resources to learn about YOUR fertility!

The robot 🤖is an awesome tool to use in gynecologic surgery... especially for those tough and delicate endometriosis excisions! The robot allows for finer movements enhanced by wrist articulation of the instruments. This helps me get to those small spaces near vital structures while respecting the surrounding tissue.

Here you can see the console where I operate the robotic instruments during surgery. Fun Fact: When I sit on the robot console, it is helpful to operate without my shoes so I can feel the pedals! No shoes? No problem! 😆

When it comes to your fertility, choose a surgeon who will go the extra mile to respect tissue health and integrity throughout surgery.

When it comes to fertility, a LOT happens in the fallopian tubes! Both s***m and egg travel through here, fertilization occurs, and the new little human makes its way to the uterus for implantation.

One of the first steps in an infertility work up is to make sure the tubes are open. In order to do this, we can utilize a selective hysterosalpingogram, or selective HSG. This is not your average HSG!

A general HSG can only diagnose a tubal issue, but a selective HSG can also TREAT certain kinds of tubal blockages, particularly a proximal tubal blockage.

But wait, there's more! During the selective HSG, we also measure intratubal pressure because sometimes, even if the tube spills (dye goes through the tube), the pressue can still be high signifying a partial obstruction. This can also be treated.

PMID: 10428171
PMID: 19370895
PMID: 12620449

Happy Monday everyone! Stay tuned for more educational posts! Any requests?

Did you know that almost ONE THIRD of babies in the United States are born by c-section? While c-sections can be wonderful aids to a healthy-mom-healthy-baby delivery, they can pose some issues postpartum...

A c-section scar defect is also called an "isthmocele" or a "uterine niche". Of course, not all women will have issues from said defect, but a niche can cause inflammation, bothersome bleeding/spotting, and/or fertility issues. At times, these defects will require repair which can be done hysteroscopically or laparoscopically. The approach depends on the size and depth of the defect as well as future fertility goals.

Here you can see the defect hysteroscopically (camera inside the uterus) which helps me to pinpoint it laparoscopically (inside the abdomen) and fully resect and repair it!

Creighton Model charting can show signs of a uterine niche which is another great reason to chart and track your cycles!! 😊

Thank you to our awesome staff who celebrated national doctor's day with a surprise amazing delicious cake and sweet cards! We love our job!! I am so blessed to work with Dr. Behan and everyone at Arbor Vitae!

💛Let's talk ENDO!💛 I see patients affected by endometriosis every. single. DAY. at my practice. Endometriosis is defined as endometrial glands and stroma (tissue normally on the inner wall of the uterus) that grow outside of the uterus. Common places endometriosis can grow are the pelvic walls, ovaries, behind the cervix, and re**um. There are MANY symptoms of endometriosis and it can be debilitating. But... you don't have to live this way!!

The only way to *officially* diagnose endometriosis is through a laparoscopic surgery where we take a biopsy of tissue to confirm endo. At the same time, I can also TREAT your endometriosis! The goal of surgery is OPTIMAL EXCISION - emphasis on both words. We want to TAKE OUT all visible disease, not just ablate it.

BONUS: My goal is to also prevent adhesion formation, optimize fertility, and leave your pelvis in better shape than when I found it!! More on that later 🙂

On Tuesdays we wear PINK! 😄Matching with our practice manager April! I am officially back in the office after maternity leave (Welcome baby GIRL!💞) and can't wait to see you!

It’s been a while… Happy New Year and new beginnings! I will be welcoming our little babe soon, so office visits will be available again in March! Thank you to my wonderful team at Arbor Vitae and Dr. Behan for their support!!! Can’t wait to find out if it’s a boy or girl💗👶🏻💙 Any guesses??

I look forward to serving you and your family when I am back!

Come join us!!

Our staff have hearts of GOLD!!💛💛 Do you have a passion for helping others? Come join us at Arbor Vitae!! We are currently hiring a receptionist. We will train you! Spanish is a huge plus but not a deal breaker. Contact April directly at 214-987-1195 extension 103 or [email protected].

www.arborvitaehealth.com

There are so many things that I love about the Creighton Model and NaProTechnology, but my favorite is the emphasis on getting to the *root cause* of infertility. So many couples come looking for answers, and a holistic approach to work up can reveal a lot of ways that we can naturally optimize fertility.

As your doctor, I want to work *with* your body and not against it. I want to restore your body to its optimal function. That way, you can do what you were made to do!

www.ashleywomackmd.com

I love helping women with their vulvar and vaginal health. Chronic discharges, itching, pain, burning, and dryness can cause so much discomfort (and, of course, make charting more difficult!). There is SO MUCH that we can do! A little closer look under the microscope, swabs, and pH measurements can tell us a lot. Don't just live with it, take charge of your health!

www.ashleywomackmd.com

So happy to have Jennifer on board to help take care of our patients!! Welcome Jennifer!

WELCOME to our newest medical assistant Jennifer! We are so happy to officially welcome her to the Arbor Vitae team!!

www.arborvitaehealth.com

Happy Mother's Day to ALL the mommas out there! I LOVE being your doctor and walking with you in this journey to and through motherhood. Thank you for trusting me with your most precious gift. Your strength and joy never fail to amaze me! 🤩💪💐

www.ashleywomackmd.com

So proud to work with these CHAMPIONS for Life!! Dr. Behan and April have created a clinic where women, babies, and families can be cared for with dignity. Not only that, thanks to their leadership and courage, a path has been paved for me to be able to work as a pro-life, pro-woman doctor also. The fruits of their labor are abundant!!

Pro-Life person of the year award from the CPLC. Congratulations Dr Behan!

One of my favorite parts of my job is getting to educate and 💪EMPOWER💪 women to understand their bodies and their natural, perfect function. The female body is so AMAZING and is truly a sign of real feminine genius. 💋👧👩👱‍♀️👵

www.ashleywomackmd.com

Happy happy birthday Maggie!!🥳

Happy Birthday MAGGIE!! Thank you for your hard work managing the front desk here at Arbor Vitae! If you see Maggie this week, be sure to send her a big Happy Birthday greeting! 🎉🥳💐

April Fisher Behan is the best!! Happy Birthday April!!🥰

Happy happy birthday to the woman who runs this place!! We wouldn't be able to do anything without April! Send her some love on her birthday tomorrow! Happy Birthday April Fisher Behan !! 🥳🎉

So proud to work with the CPLC's Pro-Life Person of the Year!! Congrats Dr. Behan!!🥳 Because of your courage, you have made it possible for doctors like me to follow in your footsteps, and I am forever grateful!

Bishop's Pro-Life Dinner Bishop's Pro-Life Dinner Pro-Life Person of the Year

Happy National Doctor's Day! Dr. Behan, Dr. Rodriguez, and Dr. Womack are proud to be your doctor!

www.arborvitaehealth.com

Happy Birthday Judy!!

Happy Birthday to our one and only JUDY! If you are a patient at Arbor Vitae, then you know how much joy and love Judy brings to our clinic. We are grateful for her and all her hard work! Happy birthday Judy!🥳🎉

Dr. Ashley Womack updated their business hours.

Happy Worldwide FertilityCare Week! THANK YOU Creighton Model and NaProTechnology for all you have done to HELP women and families!

I love it SO MUCH when women and couples chart their cycles. It allows me to have a real-time look into her health and elevates our conversation to the next level. I believe all women should chart their cycles for SO. MANY. REASONS! Health maintenance and self-knowledge being a great starting point 😊.

www.ashleywomackmd.com

So excited to be adding new approved insurance plans all the time with Aetna coming in this week!! This is not a complete list, so call and see if I am on your plan! Can't wait to meet you!
www.ashleywomackmd.com

Early morning C-sections with Dr. Behan! 2/22/22 is a great day to be born! 😊🥳
www.ashleywomackmd.com
www.arborvitaehealth.com

It is official... I PASSED my oral board exam!🎉 I am now a board-certified ObGyn! Of course, the real kudos goes to my family, friends, and faith that fueled my fire to get here. Can't wait to serve many more women and families to come!
www.ashleywomackmd.com