A GUIDE TO ANTE-NATAL TESTS: THE MEDICAL HISTORY
The taking of a history essentially consists of a straightforward checklist of questions a doctor or midwife will ask about your medical background and previous pregnancies, if any. Have you had any serious illnesses? And, how are you now? Is there a family history of illness? Have you had any serious operations? Equally important, but much less frequent, the taking of a history provides the opportunity for the doctor or midwife to get to know you and for you to get to know them and for you both to discuss anything that is causing you concern. Ideally, they should help you think about how you would like the pregnancy and birth to proceed, whether you would like one midwife to look after you throughout your pregnancy and during your labour or whether you would prefer consultant care, or even whether you would like a home birth. As consultant obstetrician Peter Huntingford sees it, It is an opportunity to make an individual plan for pregnancy.' Unfortunately, such individual planning happens too rarely. For many women the medical history may be taken as a routine part of the booking-in process, making it hard for them to feel free to ask questions. Important concerns may be overlooked or oversimplified, with little opportunity for discussion, let alone choice. If this happens to you, it is worth trying to make contact with other pregnant women, perhaps via the National Childbirth Trust or a local women's group, or even setting up a pregnancy support group of your own.
A few hospitals are planning to introduce computers into the ante-natal clinic. Women would then read the questions about their medical history on a TV screen and press 'yes' and 'no' buttons in answer. It is claimed that some people feel less inhibited 'talking' to a computer rather than a person and that later there will be more time for a personal consultation. But this is unlikely to be the result. Time and again the introduction of technology has served only to distance women further from human contact and support.
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Women's Health
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PUBERTY
All of a sudden, strange things start to happen to our young Miss as she begins to grow up.
It can commence anywhere from nine years of age onwards. In recent years, for reasons unknown, it seems to be commencing at a younger and younger age in western lands. No doubt it is tied up with today's sophisticated way of living, earlier psychological development and earlier mental stimulation, all of which play a potent part. It is referred to as puberty.
Suddenly the system starts to develop potent chemicals, called sex hormones, and these have a rapid and far-reaching effect on many parts of the system.
Suddenly breast development commences. The unnoticed, flat, pinkish nipples become more marked, rounded and protrude as they rapidly increase in size. This is most noticeable between the ages of 8 and 15. Pubic hair commences to grow, this becoming obvious in the 8-14 age group at any time. Underarm hair also makes an appearance.
Menstrual periods make a tentative start, and anywhere from 10 to 161?2 years they will become more and more regular. There is usually a dramatic increase in height; this is called a 'height spurt' and takes place in the 9-141?2 age bracket.
The skinny, school-age child is transformed within a few short years into a modern young woman of vastly different appearance and shape. Most tend to put on weight, but there is an alteration of the system's fat deposits, giving the body the characteristic female curves which tend to remain for life. In brief, Nature has transformed her into an adult, with the physical and psychological issues that this involves.
But although the ages quoted are 'averages', the range is enormous and varied. Many develop sexually at an early age. Others are late developers, and often they may reach the age of 18 or 20 before some of the typical secondary sexual characteristics (as the doctors say) have appeared. This is especially so in regard to breast development.
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Womens health
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