Category: Fertility and Pregnancy

When not to get a Pap Test

When not to get a Pap Test

If you dutifully visit your ob-gyn for a Pap smear every year, you might want to change your routine. There are new government guidelines for the test, which checks for abnormal changes in cells...

Hysterectomy

Hysterectomy

Hysterectomies are among the most common surgical procedures give to women: 600,000 a year are performed in the USA alone. But, are these operations necessary, or simply the easiest option to offer? A hysterectomy...

Menopause Naturally

Menopause Naturally

Since 2002, when the National Institutes of Health halted a hormone-therapy (HT) trial for safety reasons, women have been worried about HT use. In fact, over half the women surveyed in one study attempted...

The New Pap Rules

The New Pap Rules

Whether you’re 25 or 40-plus, cervical-cancer screening can save your life. What to know before you step into the stirrups. 20s Being getting annual PAP tests 3 years after you start having intercourse or...

Endometriosis

Endometriosis

Approximately 5 million women in the USA and 1.5 million women in the UK suffer from endometriosis. Endometriosis is characterized by cells from the endometrium (the lining of the uterus) that have migrated to...

Pregnancy Back Pain

Pregnancy Back Pain

The weight of an unborn baby and the softening of ligaments during pregnancy mean that between half and three-quarters of expectant mothers experience some form of back pain during their pregnancy. Fortunately, there are...

Miscarriage and Your Age

Miscarriage and Your Age

Unfortunately, the ratio of miscarriage increases with age because the older you are, the older your eggs are. In addition, older women tend to be more prone to hormonal imbalances that can affect their...

Morning Sickness

Morning Sickness

If you suffer from motion sickness, you’ll know that horrible, queasy feeling that doesn’t go away until you stop moving. Morning sickness is just like that – but there’s no opportunity to stop! In...

Losing Your Baby

Losing Your Baby

From the earliest beginnings of your pregnancy, you probably felt that the fetus was an integral part of yourself. This instinctive response to pregnancy means that miscarriage or stillbirth can be devastating. Miscarriage is...

Why Age Matters

Why Age Matters

Fertility and aging You were born with your life supply of eggs already in place – usually about two million of them. However, from the moment you were born these eggs began to die,...

Pre-conception Care

Pre-conception Care

In suggesting a three-month period of pre-conception care, the aim is to encourage you to look at all the different aspects of your lifestyle, such as your diet (including the vitamins and supplements you...

How to Pump Your Milk

How to Pump Your Milk

Pumping milk is when you squeeze milk from your breasts by hand or by a pump, store it, and save it in a container so you can feed your baby later. It’s a great...

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding

Doctors, midwives, and even manufacturers of baby formula agree that breastfeeding is best for both you and your new baby. For this reason, I encourage you to give it a try. No sooner has...

Period Pain

Period Pain

Known medically as dysmenorrheal, period pain is caused by substances called prostaglandins. Many prostaglandins are healthy, but some are unhealthy and can increase your sensitivity to pain. Around ten percent of the women who...

Your Uterus

Your Uterus

The uterus’s impact on “womanhood” is perhaps greater than that of any other organ. From your first period to pregnancy and menopause, life constantly reminds you of this most significant part of yourself. As...

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

Every month, follicles grow on a woman’s ovaries. When the follicles don’t develop properly they can form cysts on the ovaries’ surfaces, which, when accompanied by hormonal imbalance, can lead to PCOS. In a...

Ending Ectopic Pregnancy

Ending Ectopic Pregnancy

Researchers say one out of every 100 pregnancies is ectopic. That’s when the egg grows outside the womb. Surgery is usually required, but now doctors believe they have a better, easier way. Gerri counts...

Ovarian Cysts – Diagnosis

Ovarian Cysts – Diagnosis

Pelvic examination The first thing your doctor will do to diagnose whether or not you have ovarian cysts will be to give you a combined internal and external pelvic examination. To do this, he...

Ovarian Cysts

Ovarian Cysts

Not to be confused with the unruptured follicles that occur in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), ovarian cysts are fluid-filled sacs that form in or one your ovaries and may be benign or malignant. For...

No More Morning Sickness

No More Morning Sickness

Pregnancy is a time when women are supposed to have that “glow.” However, if you suffer from morning sickness, the nausea and vomiting can make you feel anything but radiant. For those who haven’t...

digg Preventing Birth Defects

digg Preventing Birth Defects

There are nearly 3,000 pregnancies each year in the United States where babies have birth defects of the brain and spine known as neural tube defects (NTD). Hispanic women have the highest rate of...

Lack of sexual desire

Lack of sexual desire

Before considering a sex therapist or any kind of counseling, women may want to do some self-assessment. While therapists and physicians will ask many of these questions, there’s no substitute for self-knowledge. Are you...

CUSA For Endometriosis

CUSA For Endometriosis

Fifteen percent of all women will be diagnosed with endometriosis before reaching menopause. It occurs when tissue that lines the uterus grows outside the uterus. For women with severe endometriosis, surgery using lasers is...