What should my period be like? What can I do when things go wrong? And are there better options for me than taking the birth control pill?

These are common questions among women; so why do so few of us have reliable answers? With the menstrual cycle’s taboo history and the shortcomings of traditional medicine, women are left with few options for addressing period problems beyond a prescription for birth control. But the pill, unfortunately, just shuts off the body’s hormonal cycles without allowing the chance to truly heal. For too long, periods have been viewed as “too problematic,” “too messy,” and “too hormonal” to spend much time worrying about. It’s time to think differently about periods and the hormones that regulate them. The female body is resilient, powerful, and wise, and the menstrual cycle follows suit when given the right support.

Many women don’t realize that their fertility and feminine physiology play a crucial role in supporting wellbeing, even outside of family planning or pregnancy. Because of this, they settle for hormone-disrupting pharmaceutical interventions which often make the original problem worse, not better—whatever it had originally been. Though it seems like a simple solution, prescription of hormonal contraceptives for period problems simply creates millions of over-medicated women who never knew that they had an alternative choice. Consequently, their period problems remain and even worsen, with the symptoms hidden under the cover of their hormonal contraceptives. That’s a problem.

It’s the twenty-first century, and it’s time to allow women to identify the root cause of their period problems and make their own decisions about how they want to address them. Go With Your Flow is the solution they needed all along, offering a deep dive into the essential, evidence-based information about the female body, how it works, and what it means when problems arise. Through a combination of methods that align lifestyle with the menstrual cycle, science-backed techniques for addressing specific hormonal disorders, the integration of ancient medicine with modern philosophy, and a judgment-free exploration of all the available options, Dr. Alexandra MacKillop puts decision-making back into the hands of readers. Go With Your Flow gives women what Google can’t and most healthcare providers don’t: the power to reclaim their fertility, femininity, and freedom by taking charge of their own health, no questions asked.

But if they do have questions or concerns? Go With Your Flow helps with that too. After exploring the ambiguous history of hormonal contraceptives and the many ways they still hinder rather than help menstrual health, the book details the science that Sex Ed classes never taught, and also what it means behind-the-scenes when uncomfortable or concerning symptoms arise. Then, Go With Your Flow offers solutions, both natural and pharmaceutical, and a full disclosure of risks, benefits, and alternatives. It’s the accessible, easy-to-read, textual embodiment of informed consent when it comes to medical management of their hormones.

Written by a functional medicine physician who specializes in female reproductive health, Go With Your Flow validates women’s concerns about using the pill to mask symptoms and offers them access to the knowledge they need to really understand what’s happening in their bodies every month—or not happening, depending on their experiences with their own periods. Ultimately, the text honors a woman’s right to choose how to care for her own body. Honest, straightforward, and backed by years of clinical experience, this book empowers readers to make the decision that’s best for them based on both scientific evidence and their own individual values.