Recommended by the Women's Health Science Center

There are currently three types of women's health science museums in China that deserve priority - specialist science museums hosted by public medical institutions, comprehensive theme museums operated by public welfare organizations, and vertical experience spaces in communities. You can choose flexibly according to your own needs and time.

Last year, I accompanied my best friend for a pre-pregnancy check-up, and by the way, I visited the Zhejiang Maternal and Child Health Science Center next to the Women’s Hospital of Zhejiang University. The first thing I felt was “reassurance”. All knowledge points have been repeatedly checked by clinicians, and there is no eye-catching exaggerated content like those on the Internet. It is full of practical information from adolescent physiological care, pregnancy preparation precautions, postpartum repair misunderstandings to menopausal response plans. What impressed me the most was the HPV exhibition area, which clearly listed the cancer risks of different subtypes. The misunderstanding wall next to it was dedicated to rumors that had been circulating for several years, such as "HPV vaccination eliminates the need for cervical cancer screening" and "HPV positivity means personal misconduct." I stood there and watched for ten minutes, and a lot of questions I had accumulated by watching short videos were cleared up. There is also a labor pain simulator in the museum. My best friend forced her husband to try it. As soon as he reached level 7, the man grabbed the railing and shouted to stop. After he came out, he told me that he finally understood why giving birth is called "passing the gate of death." Of course, this kind of museum is not without its shortcomings. Most of them are located near hospitals or CDCs, and they inevitably smell of disinfectant. The opening hours are basically fixed on weekday afternoons and weekends. You have to make a reservation on the official official account a week in advance. If you go there temporarily, you will most likely be rejected.

If you are a little averse to the hospital environment and feel inexplicably nervous as soon as you enter, you will feel much more comfortable browsing in the public welfare themed science museum. For example, the Shanghai Women's Health Science Education Base in Jing'an District, Shanghai, is jointly developed by the Women's Federation and the local maternal and child health hospital. It is all decorated with warm yellow soft furnishings, without cold white walls, and the exhibition area is all scene-based design. I went shopping with my sister before, and there was a simulated dressing table with a bunch of samples of inferior cosmetics and private care products. Next to them were labels indicating which illegal ingredients could interfere with hormone levels. ； There is also a comparison section of sanitary napkins, which directly dissects the absorbent layer and fluorescent agent issues of inferior products. My sister used to buy 9.9 ten packs of off-brand sanitary napkins for cheap. After reading this, she would throw away all the stockpiles when she went home. However, there are also controversies about this kind of public welfare museum. I have seen some people complaining about the advertisements of cooperative brands in some exhibition areas. This is indeed true, but after shopping around, I felt that the ones exposed were all regular medical brands without exaggerating their efficacy. Just automatically filter out the advertisements when shopping, and the core knowledge points are completely fine.

If you don’t have much time to travel far, the women’s health science popularization space in the community near your home is actually a treasure that many people ignore. There is a "Pink Station" on the second floor of my community health service center in Chaoyang, Beijing. The place is only thirty or forty square meters, and the content is full of practical and down-to-earth information. Every Wednesday, a doctor from the gynecology and pediatrics department will come to sit and answer questions, and will also give free small classes to teach you how to perform breast self-examination correctly, how to choose underwear suitable for different exercise intensities, and even break it into pieces and teach you how to distinguish physiological dysmenorrhea from pathological dysmenorrhea. Last month, I met an aunt in her 50s. She always thought that hot flashes and sweating after menopause were due to physical weakness. She secretly bought more than RMB 10,000 in "ovary maintenance" health products. After eating it for two months, she had a nosebleed. After attending a class, she found out that it was a normal reaction of menopause. Later, she went to the hospital for evaluation and followed the doctor's advice to supplement with low-dose hormones. Last week, she came to the inn to deliver oranges. She said that her sleep is much better now, and her overall mental state is completely different. Of course, the limitations of this type of community library are also obvious. Most of the content is introductory. If you want to learn more in-depth professional knowledge, you still have to go to a public library, which is more reliable.

Oh, by the way, don’t believe the pink-decorated “Women’s Health Center” on the Internet celebrity in Xiaohongshu. My friend has been there before, saying it’s free to check in. When you go in, you’ll be asked to prick your finger for a “quick estrogen test.” They then tell her she has premature ovarian failure and ask her to buy a box of 3,980 oral liquid. Later, she went to a regular hospital to check that her hormones were normal, and she was just cutting leeks. Before going, search for the organizer. If it is sponsored by a regular hospital, CDC, or Women's Federation, go. If it is privately run, you can just pass without qualifications.

In fact, the most important thing about visiting a science museum is not to take many check-in photos, but to really learn more about your own body. After all, there are too many rumors about women’s health on the Internet. Many people have been fooled and don’t know about such things as “cervical erosion is a serious disease” and “drinking ice water will cause colds in the uterus.” Go shopping when you have time, even if you only remember one useful knowledge point, it is better than spreading rumors through short videos. If you really don’t have time to go shopping offline, many public museums also have online exhibition resources. You can find them by searching the official account, which is quite convenient.