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http://www.intimateecology.com.au/

Intimate Ecology - Moira Bradfield, 101 Wharf Steet, Gold Coast (2025)

26/08/2025

People often look at me funny when I discuss that their prescription will include some nervous system support (they may also look at me funny for wearing a v***a hoodie). But the inclusion of nervous system support in a plan to address v&ginal health is important.

The why:

Ongoing worry and overwhelm, about symptoms, recurrence, relationships and stigma. It chips away at your nervous system wellbeing. You might not even realise the impact until your prompted to answer how your going with it all.

Recurrent pain cycles train the nervous system to be reactive (and compound pain). They can also interupt sleep, rest and recovery.

Cortisol dysregulation is more common in people with recurrent thrush (tied into immunity and metabolic health).

Quality of life of people with recurrent infections (RVVC, BV, UTI, CV and AV) is documented as being impacted and psychological supports are recommended in many papers (but no guidelines...).

Overall prolonged stress impacts so many body systems e.g. GIT, immune, hormones, metabolic health all of which can impact v&ginal microbiome health and recovery.

How is your nervous system?

Need support that considers more than just your v&gina?

Book with an Intimate Ecology practitioner today

23/08/2025

I make a point of reviewing updated research on the va**nal microbiome frequently.
This morning in my review if 2025 literature in Google scholar there were so many new and interesting articles on the va**nal microbiome that I am excited to be sharing some new information in the coming posts. From the impacts of stress and mood on the 3rd trimester va**nal microbiome to updated understandings of the metabolome and microbiome (fungal and bacterial) in HPV 16/18 persistence.

I also make a point of looking at summary and review articles because they often present insights from a range of papers that can set me off on a path of curiosity as I follow the breadcrumbs of hyperlinked references and research facts.

This particular image came from one of these review articles and I saved it to my phone as it presented clearly some (not all) of the many things we think about and explore as we support the va**nal microbiome in a holisitic framework. Much of what I teach other practitioners about holisitic va**nal health approaches covers these factors. Emphasising the importance of thinking about this microbiome as more than just an isolated part of someone's anatomy.

Have you thought about this?
Looking for holsitic support for your va**nal health? Book an appointment today. Link in bio.

Ref for the image:
Sillen, M., Lebeer, S., & Van Dijck, P. (2025). Through thick and thin: The va**nal microbiome as both occupant and healer. PLoS pathogens, 21(7), e1013346

**nalhealth

22/08/2025

This is a really common question we get asked in clinic when people are hoping to find resolve of their recurrent infections, but wish to start actively trying to conceive (or may already be).
The answer is yes! You can be supported whilst actively trying and during pregnancy.

A few things will be carefully taken into consideration: *Ensuring all interventions are safe for pregnancy
*Providing specific guidelines and timing to ensure treatment is appropriate around ovulation.
*Often different interventions for different parts of your cycle (pregnancy and post ovulation).

Research shows a balanced, Lactobacilli rich va**nal environment is important for the journey to conception and beyond. Vaginal microbiome balance can minimise some pregnancy associated risks and improve your pregnancy experience.

Want support?

Naturopath & Nutritionist Jessie-Anne El-Tannoury at offers safe, inclusive care for va**nal health, HSV, preconception and pregnancy.

Book with Jessie-Anne for personalised support
Link in bio

13/08/2025

If you have persistent HPV (human papilloma virus), or have had an abnormal Papscreen with or without cellular changes, you may have been told to “wait and watch.”

This usually happens with lower-risk HPV or low-grade cellular changes. In these cases, a wait-and-watch approach is often appropriate, as the immune system is remarkably capable. Within 12 to 24 months, the majority of people will have made the virus dormant and undetectable.

However, there is a subset of people whose immune systems don’t clear the virus effectively, leading to persistence. Over time, this can increase the risk of cellular changes in the cervix and brings with it an increased risk of progression.

During this wait and watch period, it can feel quite disempowering or confusing, what can you or should you be doing to help? At Intimate Ecology, we use evidence based, holistic support to help optimise outcomes, often within targeted time frames of three to six months. This may mean addressing a variety of factors known to influence viral persistence at the cervical cell level, as well as overall immune health.

An effective immune response looks different for everyone, but it often involves considering:

Vaginal microbiome health

Overall immune trends

Hormonal levels and signaling

Nutritional optimisation

Nervous system health and any barriers impacting immunity or nutrient absorption

Methylation and detoxification pathways, including gastrointestinal microbiome health

In clinical practice, this can include customised va**nal pessaries, supporting the microbiome both orally and va**nally, lifestyle and dietary adjustments, and targeted herbal medicine. We take a whole body approach to address why your immune system hasn’t yet cleared the virus.

We’ve had great success supporting people in this way and you don’t have to feel disempowered. If you’d like more support, book an appointment with an Intimate Ecology naturopath today. Details are in the link in our bio.

**nalmicrobiome and wait

01/08/2025

Recurrent thrush (RVVC) is an incredibly frustrating diagnosis to live with and to support. It takes time, persitence and a thorough understanding of the underpinning factors.
The 'why' of your recurrent symptoms may be different to someone else's. When we break it down there are likely different RVVC sub-types associated with the underpinning factors and risk. Currently, these are not formally classified but we have literature that acknowledges the underpinning risk factors and classifies thrush with hormonal drivers vs. not, idiopathic thrush, and thrush secondary to disease state or disruptor.

Factors to evaluate and consider:

*Metabolic factors: BGL, insulin, thyroid
*Mucosal immunity and hypersensitivity
*Tissue health and nutritional deficiency
*Hormonal drivers (estrogen, HRT, hormonal relationships)
*Bacterial and or fungal microbiome composition
*Atypical Candida species and inflammatory perpetuators e.g. ureaplasma
*Microbe characteristics, resistant traits and virulence
*Medications and microbiome disturbers
*Overall, system health and inflammation (gut, immune)
*Partner factors
*Genetics
*Lifestyle and hygiene factors

Some, all or only one of these factors could be the reason your not getting traction in getting thrush under control.

In October, I'll be presenting a webinar that provides some real life case studies exploring the clinical management of these presentations. This will be a practitioner education webinar. Stay tuned for more details.

Have you thought about these factors and addressed them?

**nalmicrobiome

19/07/2025

Porphyromanas is a microbe that will often show at lower levels in a variety of va**nal microbiome patterns. You may also be aware of it because of its connection to oral gingivitis?

At lower levels it may be quite neutral and species do matter. But we do need to work to reduce it, especially when the environment is unstable. The class of bacteria has a large potential to initiate cell damaging inflammatory and oxidative activity.

• Many species, 25 known strains.
• P. asaccharolytica and P. uenonis common inhabitants, some research reflects correlation with BV and pre-term birth
• Potential to alter homeostasis of reproductive tissues and increase pregnancy risk through clotting disruption, PROM and premature cervical remodeling.
• First identified in the oral cavity. P. gingivalis secretes numerous extracellular matrix targeting proteases. These Proteases can drive periodontal disease and impact cervicova**nal collagens.
• Studies show: P. asaccharolytica and P uenonis associated with HPV associates cervical cancer due to inflammatory microenvironment expression of inflammatory genes
• Research shows colonisation of Atopobium va**nae/Fannyhessia and P. somerae associated with higher occurrence of endometrial cancer than those having only one of the bacteria in higher amount. A. va**nae and P. somerae are able to induce cytokine proinflammatory markers in endometrial cells.

What does this mean? Don’t stress, but be proactive. Working to restore microbiome balance and reduce Porphyromanas along with other disruptive trends is a good idea.

Having Porphyromanas doesn’t mean you have a cancerous or pre-cancerous condition but it should be viewed as part of a dysbiotic trend. Inflammation, hormones, nutrition and antioxidant defences should be considered as a broader approach to supporting restoration when this microbe is present.

**nalmicrobiome **nalhealth

15/07/2025

Sometimes on standard va**nal swab and culture we can see comments about normal va**nal flora and coliforms.
What is a coliform and are they normal in the va**na?

Vaginal coliforms generally refer to gram-negative, rod shaped facultative anaerobes from the Enterobacteriaceae family that can colonise the va**nal tract, often transiently or during dysbiosis. Here are key representatives:

* Escherichia coli: the most frequently encountered, especially in UTIs and aerobic vaginitis.
* Klebsiella species: K. pneumoniae, K. oxytoca; associated with BV, UTIs
* Enterobacter species: e.g., E. cloacae, linked to opportunistic infections.
* Citrobacter species: e.g., C. freundii, can be involved in va**nal and urinary infections.
* Proteus species: especially P. mirabilis, occasionally isolated in BV UTI and aerobic vaginitis, known for biofilm formation and swarming motility.
* Serratia species: e.g. S. marcescens, more opportunistic but can disrupt

These coliforms can be present at low levels in a balanced microbiome.
Their overgrowth often reflects mucosal disruption (e.g. post-antibiotics, hormonal shifts), or impaired local immunity.
Their presence can trigger inflammation, odour, and increased risk of infection and associated outcomes.

Need support? Book an appointment today with an holsitic va**nal microbiome naturopath today

.coli **nalmicrobiome

09/07/2025

It’s not just which microbes are present in the va**nal microbiome, it’s what they do and how the immune system responds.

Take Lactobacillus crispatus vs. Lactobacillus iners: both are common va**nal residents, yet their impacts are profoundly different. While L. crispatus is typically associated with stability and lower inflammation, L. iners can express cytolysins (like inerolysin), which may compromise epithelial integrity and trigger subclinical immune activation.

This raises a critical point: microbial presence vs. microbial function.
The immune system is constantly sampling the va**nal microenvironment. Dendritic cells, macrophages, and epithelial TLRs monitor microbial by-products like lactic acid isomers, hydrogen peroxide, and bacterial membrane components. Some of these cues promote immune tolerance; others, like peptidoglycans from dysbiotic species, provoke cytokine release ( IL-8, TNF-α, and IL-1β) and neutrophil recruitment.

For example in chronic or recurring BV, it’s not just Gardnerella va**nalis, it’s its expression of vaginolysin, a cholesterol-dependent cytolysin that disrupts epithelial cells and modulates immune responses, often tipping the balance toward a pro-inflammatory state.

So the real question is: how does the host interpret the microbial conversation?
This nuanced interplay between microbial function and host immune signalling explains why two women with similar taxa can have vastly different clinical outcomes. It’s not about a “bad bug” or “good bug”, it’s about molecular context, epithelial resilience, and immune thresholds.

If you’re working in this space, look beyond 16S data, think about the host, the capacity of a microbe to cause damage.

Vagiversity is open for enrolment. A 6 month education program for practitioners. Early bird closes July 14th.

Need support? Appointments available with naturopathic genitourinary practitioners.

**nalmicrobiome

06/07/2025

When I'm supporting people stuck in a cycle of UTI and antibiotic use I often suggest prebiotic fibre blends as part of a gut health strategy. Prebiotics in general are fantastic for supporting the gut microbiome by feeding bacteria that are aligned with health. There is data that shows acacia gum / fibre may reduce E. coli gut reservoirs while also supporting microbiome recovery.

Animal and invitro studies show acacia fibre reducing pathogenic E. coli populations in the gut and inhibit their adhesion to intestinal walls. This may indirectly lower uropathogen load which will influence the bladder.

Acacia + antibiotics: Preclinical studies suggest acacia fibre may protect against gut dysbiosis during antibiotic use, helping maintain beneficial populations (e.g. Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus) while making life harder for opportunistic pathogens like E. coli.

No direct human clinical trials yet showing acacia fibre prevents UTIs, but we do see:

*Improved short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production → supports barrier function
*Reduction in gut pathogens in animal models → less gut-derived UTI risk

After antibiotics, gut and va**nal microbiomes can be disturbed and challenged, acacia helps feed beneficial colonies.

With a supported gut microbiome we may see fewer uropathogens and reduced UTI recurrence risk.

Dosage and duration:
Start 2 - 5gm/day, titrate slowly to 10-15gm/day over 1–2 weeks.

Use during and after antibiotics (4–8 weeks total is a sensible timeframe). Sometimes longer especially if digestive microbiome patterns show a need for additional support.

Acacia gum is low FODMAP however like many prebiotics SLOW introduction is key. Gut friendly fibres can cause bloating if your gut isn’t ready. Sometimes people need to start well below therapeutic thresholds and increase dose as tolerated.

Are you using acacia fibre?

Vagiversity open for enrolment now. Link in BIO

05/07/2025

The Oral-Vaginal Microbiome interaction
When we think of the oral and va**nal microbiomes, we may not think to connect them. Treating them as separate ecosystems. But research suggests these two microbial worlds are in constant conversation, with implications for reproductive health and immunity.

Oral S*x: A Direct Microbial introduction
Yes, translocation happens. Studies show that oral s*x can introduce key oral bacteria (e.g. Fusobacterium nucleatum and Candida spp.) into the va**nal environment. This can disrupt the protective Lactobacillus dominated flora, contributing to conditions like bacterial vaginosis (BV) and thrush. BV, in turn, increases risk of STIs, pelvic inflammatory disease, and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Dental Health & Fertility
Poor oral health e.g. periodontal disease / gingivitis, has been associated with:

*Increased time to conception (subfertility)
*Higher risk of miscarriage
*Preterm birth

The suspected mechanism? Periodontal pathogens like Porphyromonas gingivalis and their inflammatory by-products enter systemic circulation, influencing the endometrium and even the va**nal ecosystem.

Immunity & Mucosal Crosstalk
Both oral and va**nal mucosa are part of the common mucosal immune system. Dysbiosis in one site can tip systemic inflammation, modulate cytokine profiles, and reduce mucosal defenses elsewhere. There’s emerging evidence that oral dysbiosis may subtly shift va**nal microbial resilience via immune modulation.

What Does This Mean for Practice?
*Screen for and address oral health in preconception and fertility care (all partners)
*Consider the microbiota beyond the va**na in recurrent BV, unexplained subfertility, or pregnancy loss.
*Remember bi-directionality: va**nal infections may also impact oral immunity and inflammation.

Have you given this much thought before? Need support? Intimate Ecology offers naturopathic microbiome support. Booking link in BIO.

Practitioner wondering how you can learn more? Vagiversity is open for enrolment now. We start in Aug 2025.

02/07/2025

Aspergillus is a well known type of fungal mould found in the general environment and in our houses, gardens and buildings.
Sometimes on clinical microbiome testing we encounter atypical fungal species, and Aspergillus pops up from time to time.

Species like Aspergillus are unique in that we know they can be challenging to health when found in other body sites yet we don't know much about it va**nally. Within vulvova**nal research, the Aspergillus microbe is underinvestigated and may be overlooked due to other more common fungi’s (candida) so we are often left to make decisions around its role in the environment. Whilst there is currently limited research, it has been identified in case studies associated with symptoms and detected in cervical screenings. We know it's often a problem for people in other areas of health when they have immune challenges. As a fungi it can be quite disruptive and the challenges in immunity and the overall microbiome disruption may also apply to va**nas.

In the reported case studies specific conventional antifungal treatment was implemented for 30 days with successful elimination. Garlic’s anti-fungal effects offer a potential natural solution which is also explored in the literature.

If you have thrush type symptoms and nothing is found on culture symptoms can sometimes be associated with other fungal species like Aspergillus (sometimes it's also bacterial driven). This is one of the reasons we often recommend whole va**nal microbiome testing (all bacteria and fungi). So we can make decisions about what is going on for you and your health.

Need support? Book now: link in BIO Jessie-Anne and Danni have appointments in the coming weeks.

Practitioner wanting to know more? Vagiversity open now for enrolment.

**nalmicrobiome

Intimate Ecology - Moira Bradfield

26/08/2025

23/08/2025

22/08/2025

13/08/2025

01/08/2025

19/07/2025

15/07/2025

09/07/2025

06/07/2025

05/07/2025

02/07/2025

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