“We can take our health into our own hands,” says the Oscar winner. “Our comfort is important.”
Halle Berry on redefining women’s health and advocacy
Halle Berry joins USA TODAY to talk about why women’s health advocacy is the next powerful chapter.
- Halle Berry is an investor in Nera, a company that has developed a new, more comfortable speculum for pelvic exams.
- NellaSpec is smaller than a traditional speculum and is sold directly to consumers for about $50 to $80.
- Berry became an advocate for women’s health after her menopausal symptoms were misdiagnosed.
NEW YORK — Global superstar, Emmy, Golden Globe and Oscar winner Halle Berry wants to talk about your vagina. More specifically, how to stay healthy.
“It’s my favorite subject, by the way,” she laughs.
She began advocating for menopause and midlife care in 2024 after her doctor misdiagnosed her symptoms as herpes, and pushed for legislation to fund research and education on women’s health. That same year, she became an investor in Nella, the company that designed NellaSpec, a new speculum for pelvic exams and pap smears.
Experts recommend that women have an annual gynecological exam (often including a pelvic exam) and a pap smear every three years, depending on their age and risk factors.
“It’s so important to have these annual checkups, but too many women are worried about going for a test due to pain or fear, and may even refuse,” Berry says. “I think when I was younger, I chose not to participate. Sometimes I would go two or three years without participating because I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to face it.”
Traditional speculums are metal or plastic, come in a variety of sizes, are cold, noisy (clunking or clicking), and can be uncomfortable. “Going to your first gynecological exam can be like torture, and so was I. It’s very intimate and personal. My daughter just turned 18 and is about to go for her first gynecological exam,” she says of her daughter, Nahla Aubrey. “When I put my leg up in the stirrup, a large cold metal speculum gets stuck inside and it’s very uncomfortable.”
Tests can be painful for menopausal women. “When you lose estrogen, it hurts there. Sex is painful,” Berry says. “So imagine how painful it is to go to the doctor’s office and get a speculum. It feels like you’re being opened up like a Buick. That’s how it feels in your mind.”
NellaSpec is a disposable plastic instrument that is smaller than a traditional speculum. They are slimmer than tampons and have four tulip-like openings instead of two. The device pushes vaginal tissue back in four directions, so it could be smaller and more comfortable, said founder Fahti Khosrowshahi.
The company also sells directly to consumers on its website or through Walmart in four different kits tailored for first-time testing, menopause, and different body types. The kits include wipes, aromatherapy, and comfortable socks, are not covered by insurance, and cost between $50 and $80.
“We can take our health into our own hands,” Berry says. “Our comfort is important.”
Women’s healthcare lacks innovation
Berry called the upgrade premature, saying, “It hasn’t been reconsidered for a long time.”
Speculum has a checkered history. Although the device dates back to Roman times, one of its modern innovators tested it on enslaved women without anesthesia. In the UK, women suspected of being sex workers were forced to undergo speculum examinations.
But the device has also helped doctors detect cervical cancer in countless women, saving lives.
“Anything that makes gynecological exams easier, less painful, less frightening is all good. Stop it completely. So many women are afraid to go to their gynecologist because they’ve had a bad experience,” says Kate O’Connell White, M.D., chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the Boston University Chobanian Avedizian School of Medicine. “However, it is heartbreaking to think about the need for innovation in this area, because so many women have experienced that their gynecologists and nurses did not take the time to perform the test or provide people with the care they needed for the test.”
White points out that there are several ways to make speculum examinations more comfortable. “I always use the smallest size possible, I always use a lot of lube, and I always examine very slowly. I tell my patients these are the three keys to a good pelvic exam,” she says. “And the vast majority of my patients tolerate it just fine. In fact, they say it’s not as bad as they thought it would be.” Many doctors warm the speculum with water or use a table with a built-in heating drawer for the speculum.
It also costs money. “The price of these speculums means we’re selling them to a very limited number of people who can afford them. Obviously, this is not something you need every month like oral contraceptives,” White says. “But it’s still very expensive, even though it’s something you wouldn’t need to buy anyway. So there’s a real capital issue here.”
She understands the appeal of the device for women getting tested for the first time, women who are perimenopausal, women who are no longer sexually active or have a partner without a penis, and women who are overweight.
“Obesic patients often receive poor gynecological care across the country,” White says. “Larger women have a really, really hard time in the gynecologist’s office because not every place has a larger speculum, and larger speculums are more uncomfortable. If this can help them, it’s a serious game-changer for women.”
Are doctors open to a bring-your-speculum approach? “As long as they’re confident they can use it correctly and without causing any more pain, they’re happy to use it. Typically, they don’t start using a device on a real person until they try it on a model,” White says. “As long as it’s as easy to use as it looks and as long as I can open and close it and feel comfortable before putting it on someone, I’m happy to use it.”
But, she warns, “If a doctor can’t get it within 10 seconds, they may not want to use it, because they never want to put something in their body and have a problem once it gets into their body. That’s even worse.”
White added that clinics are also working to move away from single-use plastics. According to the company, NellaSpec also offers a reusable option for clinical settings that is currently used by hospitals such as Cleveland Clinic, UC Systems, Kaiser, and Columbia, and the cost is part of the test.
However, there is one part of the inspection that NellaSpec cannot replace. It’s Pap itself. “Then people hiss in and say, ‘What hurts?'” That’s daddy scraping. ”
next generation healthcare
Healthcare is rapidly becoming more decentralized with the rise of home-based and patient-owned devices and tests. NellaSpec will likely be the first of many innovations to come.
Despite her concerns about Neraspec, White concedes, “There’s no price tag on health. There’s no price tag on catching cervical cancer early or finding precancerous conditions before they turn into cancer. Ask any cancer patient: Is it really worth the money you’re willing to pay to avoid your current condition?”
Berry sees opportunity for the next generation.
“What I love about Nella is that my daughter is going to have a different day,” she says. “It’s so great to be able to talk openly with her about this. She understands what I’ve been through. She’s seen the work I’ve done. She’s the one who has gone through menopause with no idea what’s going on with my body, angry, crazy, frustrated. I’ve seen her go from being a woman in her periphery phase to now a confident, strong woman who understands everything that’s going on with my body and can talk about it ad nauseum and explain it to her, so she’s not at all afraid to go into this phase of her life. ”
