Celebrating Intuitive Women Medicine: Interview with Chantal Blake, Founder of Honoured Womb
Happy Vaginal Steam Awareness Month!
If you are wondering what on earth is Vaginal Steaming, you are not alone!
Also known as pelvic, womb, yoni, or perineal steaming, vaginal steaming is a traditional self-care practice where someone sits or kneels over a warm pot of boiled water, exposing the pelvic area to the steam. It is believed that vaginal steaming is beneficial for many gynecological conditions, such as menstrual pain, irregular discharges and infections, and postpartum recovery, amongst others.
I talked to Chantal Blake, a Certified Womb Steaming Facilitator, to learn more about the practice. Chantal is currently based in Muscat, Oman. Through her business, Honoured Womb, she provides womb wellness services and consultations. Chantal is also a licensed practical nurse, an environmental engineer, a researcher, and a writer. In this interview, we discuss the origins of vaginal steaming, bust some of the myths people associate with the practice, and talk about the importance of women centered methods as a way to decolonize reproductive care.
Can you tell me a bit about yourself?
My name is Chantal Blake. I was born and raised in New York City. I began living and traveling abroad with my husband in 2008, which we continue to do with our two children. I have a professional background in Nursing and Environmental Engineering, but since becoming a mother, I’ve turned my attention to writing and women’s wellness.
How did you decide to become a Certified Womb Steaming Facilitator?
After listening to a podcast that featured the founder of Steamy Chick, Keli Garza, I realized that there’s a women’s health crisis. Many modern medical systems are failing women in many ways. Birth control is overprescribed under the guise of it being perfectly safe for women of all ages. Women with period problems and reproductive disorders are not given alternatives beyond pharmaceuticals and surgery. Women giving birth are coerced into unnecessary interventions and offered little to no postpartum care. The pain that women experience became personal to me, and I wanted to be able to offer womb steaming as a gentle, natural, and non-invasive modality of preventative care, reproductive health care, and postpartum care. This is how my business, Honoured Womb, came into being.
“Honouring the womb means honouring the cyclical design of the female body that changes from season to season just like the natural world.”
How do you define an honoured womb?
An honoured womb is one that is respected and heard. Every period is a conversation that our womb is having with us. She tells us she is well-supported when we experience a light to moderate monthly flow, without clots, cramps, PMS, or pain, coming every 28-30 days. When our period is heavy, painful, irregular, or symptomatic, she tells us that she is not well and is in need of our care and attention. Ultimately, honouring the womb means honouring the cyclical design of the female body that changes from season to season just like the natural world.
Let’s talk now about womb steaming. Can you briefly explain what it is?
Womb steaming refers to the universally traditional practice of sitting over medicinal herbs, roots, or resins that are heated by water, coal, or wood. Womb steaming can be considered the original women’s health medicine and has been cited in medical texts as a reproductive health treatment from centuries ago.
You mention on your Instagram account that womb steaming has benefits for women of different ages and experiences. Can you tell me how the process of womb steaming might vary from one woman to another?
As a part of my training from the Peristeam Hydrotherapy Institute, I interpret the period and its symptoms to understand the possible imbalances. Depending on how the period presents itself in an individual, we might need to use a steam protocol that helps to tone and strengthen the reproductive organs, or one that clears out excess discharge that makes infections recur, or one that helps to cool down symptoms of excess heat like night sweats, hot flashes, and vaginal dryness. There are a couple of factors we have to look at to prescribe the appropriate way to steam for an individual—the herbs, frequency, and duration of steam all have to be tailored uniquely.
And how do you choose which herbal blends to use?
The herbal blend is selected based on the imbalance that the period is showing. Some women bleed too frequently and have short cycles, so we need herbs that help to delay their period to a healthy length. Some women have very late, painful, and clotty periods, so we need herbs that will increase circulation to their womb. Some women have a lot of infections and viruses, so we need disinfecting herbs for them. Other women have excess heat, and need cooling herbs. Basically, we use herbs to restore balance.
Do you discourage any woman from steaming?
In some cases. Women should not steam when they are menstruating, spotting, or experiencing a burning itch. Women also should not steam after ovulation if they are trying to conceive, or before reaching full-term during a pregnancy.
Some medical practitioners warn against womb steaming and say it increases risks of infections and burns. What do you think about these claims?
The limited amount of research that exists about womb steaming suggests that steaming helps with treating infections. Practitioners all over the world regularly help women finally get rid of chronic infections that have not been resolved with pharmaceutical drugs. As for burns, everyone needs to exercise safety around hot water. Women should keep in mind that steaming should always feel relaxing and soothing! Some of us have been conditioned to believe that healing should be a painful process. This is not the case with womb steaming.
Vaginas have good bacteria and are self-cleansing. This fact makes some women argue that womb steaming encourages a sexist discourse of vaginal dirtiness. How do you reply to that?
Some people try to liken steaming to douching, but it’s not the same. Steaming doesn’t wash out your vagina or its healthy bacteria. Alternatively, steaming is a gentle way to support the womb in its natural cleansing functions by increasing circulation and nourishment to the womb. Steaming does not introduce artificial scents to mask the vagina’s natural scent. There are many parts of the body that can occasionally become a bit sluggish depending on how we care for ourselves—our livers, our colons, our skin, etc. Increasing circulation or nourishment to any body part only helps it do its job better, not shames it for being what it is.
“Steaming seems to be the pre-modern, intuitive women’s medicine universally! ”
I would like to talk a little bit about the origins of the practice. Does womb steaming have roots in the MENA region?
Yes! The practice of womb steaming has been reported in Morocco, Turkey, Oman, and Syria, especially after childbirth. But, with the replacement of traditional midwifery care with hospitalized maternity care, womb steaming became less known. However, it is important to mention that no single country or region can claim to originate the practice. Sudan, Somalia, and other East African countries use smoking, which is a dry form of steaming. Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas all have some records indicating a history of steaming as well. We do not have any common culture, religion, or philosophy to credit for the practice. Steaming seems to be the pre-modern, intuitive women’s medicine universally!
Given this rich and universal history, some say that womb steaming is anti-racist work, while others argue it is cultural appropriation. To give a bit of context for the readers by what I mean by anti-racist work, we know that womb steaming was practiced for centuries by midwives and women healers across the globe. The reason we lost this knowledge is due to its suppression by colonialism and slavery, making its revival a return to pre-colonial and anti-racist medical practices. Going back to my question, what is your standpoint regarding this conversation?
Gynecology as a medical practice has a very racist history because procedures and techniques were tested on the bodies of enslaved African women in America without consent or anesthesia. Steaming is a way to ‘decolonize’ our reproductive care in favor of the gentler, non-invasive, women-centered methods of the past. As for cultural appropriation, there is no single culture that can give everyone permission to practice steaming. However, if one chooses to practice steaming in the specific custom of a particular culture, they should have expressed permission and consent to do so.
“Steaming is a way to ‘decolonize’ our reproductive care in favor of the gentler, non-invasive, women-centered methods of the past. ”
What advice would you like to give women reading this interview?
Every woman needs to know that pain is a problem. Period pain is statistically common, but not biologically normal. If you are suffering every month with PMS and painful periods, don’t accept the response that “some women are just like that”. Many of us no longer know how to properly care and feed our female bodies. We are told to mask our pain and keep on going, but this is why our bodies scream in protest. The female body needs rest, proper nourishment, love, and care. If you have been diagnosed with PCOS, endometriosis, fibroids, cysts, etc., there are treatment options to explore before surgery. Changing your diet, lifestyle, and period care products can help, as well as a regular practice of steaming under the guidance of a practitioner. The same is true with infertility. Steaming has helped many women conceive and have healthy, full-term pregnancies. Also, every woman needs to know that painful sex is not normal. Do not accept this myth that intimacy should not be pleasurable for women. It is not biologically true!
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I sincerely hope and pray that all women take their personal healing as a priority. When we are well, everyone and everything around us flourishes. We have a tremendous impact on the lives, relationships and environment around us. Our power as agents of change and co-creators of life is amplified when we are healed, whole, and well.
You can follow Chantal on Instagram @honouredwomb
