TLC’s ‘Dr. Down Below’ Destigmatizes ‘Down There’ Care [Exclusive]
Dr. Fenwa Milhouse wants to destigmatize “down there” care. The Chicago-based urologist stars in TLC’s Dr. Down Below, a medical reality show that explores an often-misunderstood area of healthcare. She recently talked with Showbiz Cheat Sheet about her passion for her work and what she hopes people take away from the program.
Urology encompasses more than many people realize, ‘Dr. Down Below’ star says
The first thing to know about urology? It involves more than men and their penises.
“People think urology super narrow, but it’s actually broad,” Milhouse said. In addition to dealing with “any kind of urinary issue” for men and women, urologists can treat sexual health issues in both genders, such as male infertility or pain during intercourse.
In the first episode of Dr. Down Below, Milhouse’s patients include a woman who has nearly lost hope that anything can be done to treat her painful labial cyst and a young mother with a prolapsed bladder. The episode also features a first for Milhouse: a man who hopes to get surgery to close up a hole created by a penis piercing he removed a decade ago. The hole is causing problems with urination and making it difficult to potty-train his young son.
“That was my first time really understanding what a Prince Albert piercing was. I guess it’s common knowledge,” Milhouse confessed. “They did not teach that in medical school.”
The TLC show grew out of Dr. Fenwa Milhouse’s social media presence
These days, Milhouse is educating people about urology on TV as well as via her TikTok and Instagram. But when she was growing up, reality TV personality was not on the list of approved career choices.
“We were Nigerian immigrants. It was like, you become a doctor or an engineer or a lawyer … doctoring fit for me,” she explained. A meeting with a Black woman urologist set her on the path to her current specialty.
“It literally changed my entire viewpoint of myself, seeing myself in her,” she recalled of her decision to go into an area of medicine that is overwhelmingly dominated by white men. “She is a unicorn and inspired me tremendously.”
When the pandemic hit in 2020 and elective surgeries were canceled, Milhouse turned to social media to fill her free time. She began posting about urological issues, and it didn’t take long for a producer to slide into her DMs with a proposal for a TV show.
At first, Milhouse was skeptical. “The first thing I said was, ‘Do you know what I do all day? Like, you know, I’m examining penises and vulvas and vaginas all day. How is this going to work?’”
But the producers figured it out, and two years later, the result is Dr. Down Below.
“I cannot believe this is actually happening,” she said. “I love that I was able to able to do a job that I’m passionate about in a way that is me. What you see is my personality, not acting.”
‘Dr. Down Below’ aims to educate, not exploit
While Milhouse was eager to educate TV viewers about urology, she had some concerns about letting cameras into the exam room. But the show is able to strike the right balance between entertainment and information while keeping a focus on real human stories. And patients always come first, she stressed.
“My obligation is to the patient. Not to a production team, not to a camera, not to a network, to the patient,” she said. “You are seeing a TV show, but it is a real live human who needs help. And I am, you know, their physician. And so my first concern was maintaining the patient’s dignity.”
As for those who tune in to Dr. Down Below, “I hope that they learn something,” she said. If nothing else, she hopes it encourages people to start using correct terms for the female anatomy.
“I hope people start using vulva appropriately,” she said. “The vulva is the part that we can see. The vagina is the inside that we really can’t see unless you get a speculum.”
The show may already be having an impact in that regard. The days after the first episode aired, Milhouse received a call from someone interested in making an appointment at her clinic, Down There Urology, which has locations in both Chicago and Deer Park, Ill.
“I had an individual call my office today, a new patient wanting to see me and she said, ‘Something’s happening in my – I think you said vulva – I’ve never knew that term before,’” she said.
“She watched my show and that’s why she was calling,” Milhouse added. “And so because of it, too, she knew what to appropriately call it. And I loved that.”
Missed the premiere of Dr. Down Below on TLC? It airs again on Friday, April 7 at 5 p.m. ET and Thursday, April 13 at 10 p.m. ET. It’s also available to stream on discovery+.
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