Exploring Hope in Vaginismus and Vulvodynia Journeys

What does a year of building a podcast about pelvic pain from the inside of living with it actually look like?

This is Mathilde's year-end update - a short, personal episode reflecting on the journey so far, sharing where she is in her own treatment, and explaining why getting the information right matters so much to her. It is also a thank you to the community that has gathered around what was then called Baubo. For new listeners, this episode offers a useful snapshot of what the podcast is and what it's trying to do. For people who have been here from the beginning, it is an honest accounting of what the first year held.

Building community: what the response to the podcast revealed

When Mathilde started recording, she didn't know what kind of audience would show up. What happened was not what she expected. The warmth, engagement, and generosity of people who found the podcast - many of whom shared their own stories, their own years of searching for information, their own relief at finding a space where the reality of these conditions was discussed plainly - shaped what the show has become.

Community is not a side product of this podcast; it is close to the point of it. The isolation that comes with vulvodynia, vaginismus, and chronic pelvic pain is itself a consequence of how little these conditions are talked about. Discovering that other people are asking the same questions, navigating the same systems, and carrying the same frustrations turns out to be one of the most therapeutic things available to many people in this situation.

"I was honestly blown away by how kind and supportive and engaging people were."

A personal update: where Mathilde is in her own treatment

Mathilde shares a personal update on her own journey - not as a testimony of recovery, but as an honest account of where things stand. This kind of transparency from a host who is herself living with the condition she covers creates something different from what a purely informational podcast could offer. It is not performed vulnerability; it is the account of someone genuinely in process.

The update also touches on why fact-checking and accountability matter to her in the context of information about women's bodies. In a space where misinformation is easy to spread and the stakes for people who are already poorly served by mainstream medicine are high, the commitment to getting things right is not incidental to the project - it is part of what it is.

Updating the knowledge base: how the podcast learns

One of the things a year of recording conversations with researchers, clinicians, and patients produces is an expanded and revised understanding of what is known about pelvic pain conditions. Mathilde reflects on what the expert conversations have updated in her own thinking - and what she would have told herself at the beginning of the year.

This is a model of intellectual honesty that is rare in the wellness space, and it is part of what makes this podcast trustworthy. Getting things right is treated as an ongoing process, not a fixed state. The willingness to update positions in response to new evidence - and to be transparent about that publicly - matters particularly in a field where misinformation can lead people toward ineffective or harmful treatment paths.

What's coming in the next year

Mathilde closes the episode with what's ahead: new guests, new topics, and a continued commitment to the core of what the podcast is for. She is not making predictions about her own recovery or the show's trajectory - she is simply continuing, and that continuity is itself something worth marking.

For the community that has gathered around this work, the year-end episode is a moment to recognise what has been built together. For people finding the podcast for the first time through this episode, it is an invitation to join a space that takes both the pain and the person experiencing it seriously.