Thursday, January 18, 2007

Pain Relief in Labour

All Pregnant women are frightened about going through labour pain. Will I be able to tolerate it and overcome it? Is the common fear among them. The joy of giving birth is always clubbed with labour pain. The tolerance level differs for every individual.

There are many ways to reduce the labour pain during the birth. Mental preparedness is the first step in the birth process. The labour preparatory classes enable this. Your husband's presence in the labour room is also important and gives a strong bonding.
The pain relievers as injected to relieve pain. The type of pain relief that is apt depends on the pain threshold. some have higer tolerance capacities. The ability to bear the labour pain depends on the length of labour, intensity of the labour pains and the size of the baby.

Narcotic like pethedine are used as pain relievers int he first stages of labour. These are usually injected into the muscle or into the veins. There are newer methods like 'Epidural Analgesia' which completely blocks the pain in a specific part of the body. This cuts off the labour pain without interfering with action of labour contractions.

In this method the medicine is injected in the lower part of the back. Usually a small tube is inserted from which the medicine can be repeated. When lower doses are administred it eases the pain of contractions and numbs the birth canal during labour ad delivery. The contractions still occur but the pain is not experienced.

When drugs like Pethidine are administered it causes some side effects to the baby as well as the mother. However, these are eliminated when the 'Epidural Analgesia' is adopted. These do not pass to the baby.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

What is Menopause?

Menopause is something that happens to all women as they get older. Menopause is the time in a woman's life when her period stops. It is a normal change in a woman's body. Natural menopause occurs when the monthly cycle of ovulation comes to an end. This is because the ovarian supply of follicles and eggs declines sharply as a woman approaches menopause. It occurs between the age of 45 and 55.

Menopause is when a woman has not had a menstrual period for a full year. It marks both the end of menstruation and the end of a woman's ability to naturally conceive a child. Menopause is a natural occurance and not the one that occurs due to medical intervention. Menopause that occurs due to medical intervention like removal of ovaries etc, its termed as induced menopause.

As you near menopause, you may have symptoms from the changes your body is making. Many women wonder if these changes are normal, and many are confused about how to treat their symptoms. The symptoms are differnt for every women, the only common symptom is stopping of periods. Some of the symptoms are :

  • Vaginal dryness
  • Sleeplessness
  • Change in menstural cycle
  • Hair loss
  • Mood Swings

Women who had mood swings (PMS) before their periods or post-partum depression after giving birth may have more mood swings around menopause. This symptom fades away with time.

One can over come the symptoms of menopause by eating a healthy diet and exercising at menopause and beyond . Most women do not need any special treatment for menopause. Only some serious symptoms need to be treated. Hormone therapy is one way to deal with the most difficult symptoms of menopause. There are many kinds of Hormone therapies to treat the various symptoms like Reducing hot flashes, Treating vaginal dryness , Slowing bone loss , Improving Sleep. Your doctor could advice you on the best treatment.

Menopause is called "premature" if it happens at or before the age of 40--whether it is natural or brought on by medical means (induced). Some women have premature menopause because of Genes, Treatments for cancer.

Follwing healthy food habits and regular exercise routine would help to overcome menopause symptoms easily.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Symptoms of Pregnancy

One of the most commonly asked question by a women is " Am I Pregnant?". These days most women are aware of the signs and symptoms of Pregnancy even if they had never been pregnant. The symptoms may differ from each pregnancy.

Missing a period is one of the common symptom which leads to a suspected pregnancy. Women who have regular menstural cycle will take this as a first sign of pregnancy. An authentic confirmation of pregnancy can be done only by a urine or blood test. If a women is trying to get pregnant its important to keep track of the period start and end dates for the last period start date would determine the due date of the pregnancy.

In most cases the breast gets tender and sore, which is also one of the first symptoms of pregnancy. The soreness and the swelling is due to the increased production of hormones estrogen and progesterone in the pregnancy. Exhaustion and tiredness is also caused during early pregnancy which may induce more sleep.

Nausea is most common in the first trimister. Some women may experience the same throughout the pregnancy also. The reason for this symtom being the increased production of the hormone estrogen, produced by the foetus and the placenta. The nausea can occur during anytime. Some women get senstive to smell of food which may trigger nausea.

As the uterus beigns its expansion cycle lower abdominal discomfort may occur and cramps experienced like that during the periods would occur during early pregnancy. At the later time of pregnancy some women may experience pain in both the sides of the lower abdomen which is caused because of the stretching of ligaments.

Frequent urination is another symptom caused due to the growing uterus that presses against the bladder. Sometimes women may also lose a few drops of urine on sneezing or coughing. This symptom will disappear after pregnancy.

Mood swings are common during pregnancy due to harmonal changes. Women may get upset and brust into tears for no reason. A feeling of weakness, dizziness may occur. A feverish feeling is a common complaint during early pregnancy due to the basal body temperaturethat rises during early pregnancy. Constipation is most common problem during pregnancy, which gets aggrevated due to the consumption of iron supplements. This can be prevented by consuming fiber rich diet and lots of fluids.

Though the symptoms are distressing sometimes its all worthwhile.