A lifetime of advocating for women prepared Jennifer Heer Ford, MD, for her role in obstetrics and gynecology at Baptist Health Louisville.
LOUISVILLE — Jennifer Heer Ford, MD, may have traveled a long and winding road before settling into obstetrics and gynecology at Baptist Health in Louisville, but she is exactly where she needs, and wants to be.
Ford knew she was interested in medicine as a child after becoming fascinated with the television show Quincy, M.E. about a medical examiner in Los Angeles. She started as a pre-med major at the University of Alabama, but the timing wasn’t right. She instead earned a bachelor’s in social work and went on to obtain a Master of Social Work from the University of South Carolina.
Ford moved to Atlanta, where she worked for a nonprofit advocating for women and children. She later married and joined her husband in his home state of Alabama. About a year and a half later, after his unexpected death, Ford stayed in Alabama so that she could continue to raise her daughter. The loss became an inflection point—overcoming this loss gave her the confidence to return to medicine. She finished her prerequisites at the University of Alabama and entered medical school at age 34.
After receiving her medical degree at the Mercer School of Medicine, she chose residency at the University of Louisville to be close to her sister and her family in Richmond, Kentucky. Ford has been at Baptist Health since 2013. She married her current husband in 2018 and is stepmother to two children, one of whom is pre-med at the University of South Carolina.
The Variation of an OB-GYN Practice
Ford says she always knew she wanted to help women, so the transition from advocate to physician makes sense. “I saw a need for women to be empowered, to take care of themselves, and to build their confidence,” she says.
Ford enjoys the variation of OB-GYN. “I love that you could be doing surgery one day. You could be delivering babies one day. You’re in the office one day.”
Ford sees patients ranging in age from 13 to 85 years old and estimates about 60% of her practice is obstetrics and about 40% gynecological. She helps younger patients with contraception and controlling their periods and older patients with perimenopause and menopause, with obstetrics in between.
One of the most rewarding treatments Ford provides is laparoscopic surgery. “I think it has the most impact of anything that I do. It’s fun to operate, and it’s some of the most fulfilling work that I do because it is so life-changing for patients,” Ford says.
Sometimes Ford performs some of the duties of a primary care physician with her patients whom she counsels on their annual exams, preventive care, bone density, mammograms, colonoscopies, or just making sure they’re taking care of themselves. “Honestly, I do a lot of just listening and counseling patients whether it’s on lifestyle, or lifestyle changes, or just mental health,” she says.
But Ford can’t be a primary care physician, even to her family, which is a running joke with her staff. “Please call my family and tell them that I’m not their primary doctor,” she jokes.
Perimenopause and Menopause Diagnosis Is Complicated
Ford sees many female patients from their late 30s through their mid-50s complaining of symptoms of perimenopause and menopause and for the most part, they’re quite frustrated.
Ford explains, “They’ve usually gone to multiple people and have felt dismissed. They’ve been told that this is something that they just have to suffer through, but don’t worry, you’ll be fine eventually.”
Ford says being a good listener is important as patients tell her how long they’ve been struggling and wondering what’s going on with their bodies. “At some point they feel very validated when you say, ‘Yeah, this could definitely be perimenopause or menopause. We need to run some tests and talk further, but you’re not crazy.'”
One of the problems with diagnosing and treating menopause and perimenopause is that every woman’s body is different. Symptoms can range from hot flashes, vaginal dryness, weight gain, sleep disturbances, joint pain, fatigue, and irritability to heart palpitations, brain fog, vertigo, rage, changes in body odor, ringing or itching in the ears, and frozen shoulder.
“Some women come in with what they think are these totally random symptoms that they’ve never even thought could be related to menopause or perimenopause,” Ford says. “I believe women know their bodies better than anybody else. If you tell me something’s not right and you don’t feel like yourself anymore, then I believe you.”
Treatment Options Are Many
Fortunately, women have many options to treat these symptoms. Unfortunately, what works for one woman doesn’t work for every woman. Often finding the right treatment requires a trial-and-error approach.
Ford says, “There is non-hormone therapy. There is hormone therapy. There are antidepressants. There are pills. There are patches. There are creams. There are gels. There are lifestyle modifications. There is no one treatment or dose that is more effective than any other. It all entirely depends on the patient.”
One of the biggest myths Ford encounters in her practice is that all hormone therapy is bad. The picture is more nuanced than the headlines that followed the Women’s Health Initiative trial in 2002 would suggest: The absolute breast cancer risk associated with hormone therapy is small, and it depends on the formulation used, the duration of treatment, and a woman’s individual risk profile. For many women who begin therapy within 10 years of menopause, the benefits can outweigh the risks. Ford puts it more bluntly. “I feel like we failed a generation of women with hormone replacement therapy by not giving it to them, or by discouraging its use by overstating the actual risk. I feel like we have failed in a lot of areas of truly taking care of women, listening to women, and just meeting their needs.”
Ford cautions not to just focus on drug therapies alone to control symptoms. Lifestyle changes like eating anti-inflammatory foods, cutting back on alcohol, exercise, and taking in enough protein are important too.
Education Is Vital
Kentuckiana is known for its high levels of heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes, and smoking. These comorbidities, along with poor diet and lack of exercise, can exacerbate problems in patients.
Ford has found that many times women haven’t been educated on healthy lifestyle choices. “I think we can be surprised by how much we think people know what they’re doing. They often have no idea that what they’re doing is bad for them. It’s what they’ve grown up around and it’s so interesting to have small education sessions with them,” she says.
Ford remembers seeing a young, healthy-looking pregnant woman who failed her glucose test. The patient asked for one week to change her diet. When she came back, her glucose was normal. After asking the patient what she did to make such a difference, the patient said, “I was drinking Mountain Dew all day, every day. All I did was stop.”
Ford says, “I think people just really don’t understand nutrition. They don’t understand what their body needs because they’ve never been taught.”
The Future of Gynecological Care
Ford thinks in the future we will see women continuing to educate themselves and feeling more empowered to speak up and advocate for their care. They aren’t going to put up with doctors who dismiss them or tell them menopause is just part of life.
Ford sees this work as part of her calling. “I see women endure and bounce back and continue on, even in the face of adversity. They go through things we wouldn’t think anyone could survive. I think they deserve someone who truly cares about their outcomes and who is invested in taking good care of them and their journey.”