Vulva: facts, myths and life-changing insights

Winner of People's Choice in the Swedish Design Award 2023

This book brings you the latest research on the importance of vaginal flora to women's health and fertility – and translates it into practical advice. Here you will get tools to better understand your body and prevent problems, with facts about everything from vaginal bacterial flora to contraception.

Many women report difficulties in getting the right help in healthcare when it comes to women-specific ailments. Instead, they often turn to forums and closed online groups, where myths, health-threatening tips and misinformation spread quickly. At the same time, statistics show that only around 4% of the pharmaceutical industry's research and development budget is invested in women's health, and that medical research has traditionally been carried out mainly on men.

Vulva explores the entire female gender – from the microbiome to contraception – in an accessible and de-dramatizing way. The book shows why vulvar care is so important and how we can best take care of our health.

Ina Schuppe Koistinen is an associate professor at Karolinska Institutet and works at the Center for Translational Microbiome Research, where she researches the role of bacterial flora in women's health. She writes regularly on the blog Food Pharmacy , has contributed to several popular science books, and is also an artist using watercolor as a form of expression.