Dr. Reed proposes sexual health as the Fourth Pillar of women’s healthcare
DAVIS, Calif., July 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — For generations, women have quietly accepted painful intercourse, diminished sexual function, genital discomfort, and changes in intimacy as inevitable consequences of childbirth, aging, or menopause. Many never mention these concerns to a healthcare professional because they do not believe medicine has an answer.
According to board-certified OB-GYN Dr. Michael Reed, the problem is larger than any single condition. It is the absence of a clinical framework that recognizes sexual health as a fundamental component of women’s healthcare.
In a peer-reviewed article published in the International Journal of Sexual Health https://doi.org/10.1080/19317611.2026.2704787 , Dr. Reed proposes sexual health as the Fourth Pillar of women’s healthcare, alongside reproduction, disease prevention, and longevity.
After 16 years in obstetrics and gynecology—delivering babies, managing pregnancies, training residents, and caring for thousands of women—Dr. Reed came to an unexpected realization during his own personal health journey. As a patient, he was asked questions no physician had ever asked him: Was intimacy still meaningful? Was he satisfied with his function? Did he still feel like himself?
“I had never asked those questions of my patients. Not once. Not in 16 years. Not because I didn’t care—but because I was never taught to ask. The examination itself was wrong.”
That experience prompted Dr. Reed to leave his long-standing practice and spend the next 18 months in advanced training under Dr. Michael Goodman, a pioneer in female cosmetic gynecology. As Dr. Reed began teaching physicians around the world, he encountered the same unmet need. Different countries. Different cultures. The same silence around women’s sexual health.
Women’s healthcare has long organized itself around reproduction, disease prevention, and longevity. Yet sexual health—despite its profound impact on quality of life, relationships, and personal identity—has never been afforded comparable clinical recognition, educational standards, or routine evaluation.
The Fourth Pillar framework proposes that when women raise concerns about intimacy, sexual function, genital comfort, or changes affecting their quality of life, clinicians should be prepared to recognize those concerns as legitimate components of healthcare and respond with informed evaluation, counseling, or treatment when appropriate.
“Women have always carried these concerns. The need was never missing. What was missing was a clinical framework that recognized these concerns as a legitimate domain of women’s healthcare.”
The Fourth Pillar framework proposes a new way of organizing women’s healthcare—one that acknowledges sexual health as a legitimate clinical domain worthy of research, education, and routine consideration. It does not ask medicine to create a new need. It asks medicine to recognize one that women have been describing for decades.
SOURCE Dr Michael A Reed P.C.