OXON HILL, Md. -- A Hollywood trend of getting V-Steams is hitting the main stream.
We’ve seen celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Jada Pinkett Smith and Chrissy Teigen hail the benefits of Yoni or Vaginal Steaming.
It’s an ancient Korean technique said to not only make sex better, but offer women health benefits, like shrinking fibroids and easing menstrual symptoms.
One local woman says it helped her have a baby.
“I still look at her and think you’re not even supposed to be here,” said Dee Dee Washington of Prince George’s County. Washington is still in awe because her doctors said her one year old baby girl Zayne would never be here.
“The likelihood of being pregnant was zero,” she said. "There was no chance whatsoever because of the procedure I chose.”
Washington, a diabetic with numerous painful fibroids (non-cancerous tumors in her uterus), underwent Uterine Artery Embolization years ago.
The procedure worked to shrink her fibroids and decrease her pain but made pregnancy near impossible or extremely dangerous.
She was alright with that because she did not want kids back then, but things changed; motherhood was calling. So, a friend told her about vaginal steaming.
“I didn’t have anything else to lose,” Washington explained.
Washington visited the studio of Womb Therapy Endeed in Oxon Hill once every other week for 3 months before she conceived. Herbalist Endia Richardson used a special mix of herbs she calls the “fertility blend.”
“I was going to stop after the ninth visit because the whole session was very costly,” Washington explained.
One treatment will run you up to $125. The fertility packages, which includes vitamin supplements, has a price tag of $2,500.
Still, Washington said it was a less expensive option than IV fertilization which can run upwards of $10,000.
When asked if she thought it was going to work Washington immediately said, “Not at all!” After she got pregnant she recalled thinking, “Thank you Endia, thank you, God. She was my earthly healing he was my heavenly healing.”
Doctors say don’t believe the hype, there is no medical evidence proving vaginal steaming is effective.
But how does Yoni or V-steaming work? After stretching out with a client and disinfecting the seat, certified Doula and Herbalist Endia Richardson pours herbs into a pot of hot water. Clients choose a colorful hoop skirt and take a seat on top of the steam. Distance and temperature are crucial. Doctors warn women could get burned.
“The heat of the steam and herbs helps improve the circulation from the body and removes stagnant energy, so you can cleanse yourself,” explained Richardson.
But, doctors say the vagina is a naturally self-cleansing organ and steaming is not necessary.
Richardson added, “Our foods have changed, the products we use in our vaginas for our periods are toxic. So now we have, over the years, this accumulation of all these toxins. In a perfect world where we ate perfect food and organic products you probably wouldn’t have to steam.”
For Richardson, V-steaming is more than just a trend, it’s a way of life.
“Womb therapy is about taking care of your whole self - including your core,” she explained. There’s an obvious vulnerability in the process and clients shed their emotions on the on the chair.
“You come here for a service and you end up talking about things you didn’t know that was still occupying space in your heart and in your mind,” said client Danny Sellers as she blotted tears from her eyes.
It’s emotional for our new mom Washington too because when doctors told her it was impossible to have a child, she found hope through the holistic healing of the yoni steam.
“Everyone should know that womb therapy and God saved my life,” she said.
Dr. Jen Villavicencio a practicing ob-gyn and member of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, emphasized there are no-known medical benefits or accepted medical literature that supports the claims that vaginal steaming works. She does not recommend it to her patients.
Dr. Villavicencio, who did not treat Washington goes on to say, “Becoming pregnant is a complex process that requires many components to work in harmony. There is no medical evidence or plausible biological theory that vaginal steaming would improve chances of becoming pregnant after UAE. There are many other potential reasons she became pregnant at the time she did, time, partner, weight loss, fertility medications, contraceptive usage, timing of sexual activity, etc., all of which are more likely than vaginal steaming to have contributed to her becoming pregnant."
