Tune into TODAY with Hoda & Jenna's Own Your Health special at 10 a.m. ET, Oct. 19, on NBC, featuring two top women's health doctors, Naomi Watts, and TODAY contributors Maria Shriver and Bobbie Thomas.
Have you heard about hormone replacement therapy but aren't sure if it's right for you? Are you concerned about staying fit and eating right as you age? Ever wondered if you're using the right form of contraception for your stage of life?
Many women are confused about these topics and far more. It can be hard to find accurate info online, and the bias against women's pain and bodies in medical settings is well-documented.
To help women own their health, TODAY with Hoda & Jenna is hosting Dr. Lisa Larkin and Dr. Jessica Shepherd, to discuss these subjects and more. TODAY contributor Maria Shriver and her daughters, Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt and Christina Schwarzenegger, as well as actor Naomi Watts and TODAY beauty expert Bobbie Thomas will also join the conversation, sharing their thoughts on menopause, sexual health and more.
No matter your age, Own Your Health with Hoda & Jenna will have something for women and the people who love them to learn.
Bobbie Thomas on needing intimacy after husband’s death: ‘Couldn’t believe how good it felt’
Bobbie Thomas is in the dating world once again after losing her husband, Michael Marion, who died in December 2020 after being hospitalized for organ issues. The TODAY beauty contributor reflected on finally making time for intimacy after everything she’d been through. She’s also been sharing her journey in Bobbie’s dating diaries on TODAY.com.
“I missed my husband, but it was like I got so good at missing (intimacy) that I wasn’t even aware that I should need it. And having someone else say out loud you need to be touched and your body needs to feel love and care — I think for us as women we need to talk about what we need and not make it common that we put ourselves last,” she explained.
Prioritizing romantic, human connection has come with some surprises for Bobbie, including getting to know herself all over again. “I was nervous about dating on so many levels but when the butterflies hit and there was chemistry, all of a sudden I cared if my underwear was matching, and I was thinking when was the last time I bought a bra? It’s all these little things you don’t really think about at first,” she recalled.
“For me, it was a big reality check. … I felt good and I was happy, and it wasn’t just because I liked someone. … I was happy because I hadn’t felt like this about me in so long, and I feel like so many women are now in the second chapter. … There are women out there saying, wow, I need to find time for this because, while my responsibilities have increased, my needs haven’t decreased.”
While sex for some women can bring up complicated and at times negative feelings, Bobbie has had the opposite experience, she said. “I felt empowered. I felt connected to my own body and I cried. I couldn’t believe how good it felt to feel so comfortable with myself. And honestly, that’s when sex is good. That’s when you want it. It’s when you are good with you, so it’s exciting to share you with someone else.”
Naomi Watts details her perimenopause symptoms at age 36
Naomi Watts started experiencing what she didn't realize were early menopause symptoms in her mid-30s, what's known as perimenopause. Her mother had started menopause at 45, but she still didn't know much about what was going on with her body.
"I'd had night sweats for years," she told Maria, Hoda and Jenna during the Own Your Health hour. "There's so much confusion and so little information."
“Our mothers didn’t have these conversations with us because their mothers didn’t. The cycle was just passed on," Watts previously said on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna. "The tide is changing, which is great news, because to be ahead of it is wonderful,” the actor continued.
To help women better cope with menopause symptoms, Watts started a company called Stripes, which provides various resources from supplements to hydration kits.
Maria Shriver’s daughters, Katherine and Christina, reveal top of mind health issues
As a woman, maintaining your health in your late 60s versus your early 30s is quite different. Maria asked her daughters, Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt, 33, and Christina Schwarzenegger, 32, what they talk about when they go to the doctor and what they and their friends chat about when it comes to their bodies.
Katherine, mom of two, was quick to point out that much of her health-related conversations are about having children — whether it’s your first, another one or just contemplating becoming a mom. “I feel like the thing that we talk the most about in our friend group and also on BDA Baby is just overall burnout, and that’s burnout with your kids, at home. It’s burnout in relationships, and burnout with trying to make everything perfect,” she explained.
Christina, meanwhile, is more focused on future fertility and mental health. “A lot of my friends are working and trying to figure out big life choices as to whether they want to freeze their eggs,” she recalled. “ I went in after (Katherine) had a baby and I went to my gynecologist and I was like, ‘Do I need to be freezing my eggs? How much time do I have?’ I think I just turned 28. And she was like, ‘You have so much time. Don’t worry about it.’ I go in (at) 30 and she’s like, so let’s talk now about freezing your eggs. I was like, hold on a second. I thought at some time here.”
But both daughters agree that mental health is much more prevalent in their conversations now than it had been in recent years. Christina, who has worked on Netflix documentaries about Adderall and Xanax, said those projects were born from personal experience, adding that topics like taking medications for anxiety and other issues are much less judged than in the past.
Katherine shared that “there’s a lot more awareness and conversation about (mental health) with doctors and also in my friend group.”
Maria Shriver’s knowledge and passion for women’s health has also been a resource for Katherine and Christina. “We’re really lucky to be able to have open and honest communication with mom,” Katherine said.