Women’s Health is happy to be be registered for the upcoming Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce First Annual Healthy Living Expo on September 18, 2010. The Blackstone Valley Healthy Living Expo will be held at Blackstone Valley Technical High School in Upton Massachusetts.

A few WHCMA staff will be exhibiting at the event. There will be a variety of obstetrical and gynecological medical information available at the Women’s Health booth. If you or a woman you know is in need of OBGYN care, come visit Women’s Health at the Blackstone Valley Healthy Living Expo!

Women’s Health is excited to have Dr. Stanley Surette and Dr. June O’Connor-Ramsaran joining the practice in September of 2010.

Both physicians are obstetrician-gynecologists. Dr. O’Connor-Ramsaran will be working in the Worcester office and Dr. Surette will be working in Worcester and Webster.

High school can be a very difficult time for teen girls. With so many hormonal changes occurring, the influence of peer pressure and the continued pressure to excel academically, teens can become very overwhelmed and anxious.

A great way to deal with these issues is to direct teenagers to the right resources. “Girlshealth.gov” provides a variety of excellent resources ranging from nutrition to drugs & alcohol to bullying.

If a teen girl you know is struggling with the normal stresses of their high school years, refer them to girlshealth.gov.

Women’s Health is very excited to announce the addition of two new Physicians: Dr. Stanley Surette and Dr. June. O’Connor-Ramsaran. They will be officially joining the practice this October as obstetricians and gynecologists of Women’s Health of Central Massachusetts.

An Easy Guide to Breastfeeding provides information and encouragement to women and their loved ones. It explains the benefits for baby, mom, and society, and also provides frequently asked questions and answers about breastfeeding.
    
- official description from womenshealth.gov

By:  Dr. Dina Deldon-Saltin

It is no secret that in the last 20 -30 years there has been an epidemic of obesity in this country.  Currently 2/3 or 66% of all women in the United States are considered overweight and 1/3 of these women  are considered obese.   Obesity is associated with reduced fertility primarily as a result of decreased and lack of ovulation (monthly release of egg from ovary).  During pregnancy, additional risks occur in obese patients including, but not limited to gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, cesarean delivery and infectious morbidity.

Maternal obesity can have effects on the fetus as well, including increased risks of congenital  anomalies, growth abnormalities, miscarriage, and stillbirth.  The most common types of obesity-associated birth defects are related to the neural tube, heart and facial clefting.  In addition increased body mass impairs visualization of ultrasound images and can compromise prenatal diagnosis of  these fetal anomalies.  Although some studies have reported an increase in small infants, most studies report an increase in large and macrosomic infants.  The risk of stillbirth is 2-4 times greater in obese compared with normal weight women.

Since the beginning of the twentieth century recommendations for weight gain during pregnancy have changed.  These changes have mirrored nutritional status of pregnant women and fetal outcomes.  In the early 1900’s, recommendations were between a 15 and 20 lb weight gain.  Between 1970 and 1990 weight gain recommendations increased to 20-25 lbs.

In August 2009 these recommendations changed once again. This time the change in recommendation for weight gain is dependent on one’s Body Mass Index or (BMI).  A person’s BMI is a standardized calculation of weight based on an individual’s height and can be calculated by dividing one’s weight in kilograms by meters squared.  The following webpage can help you calculate this yourself.

www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/

Women with a BMI under 18.5 are considered underweight and should gain approximately 1 lb a week in pregnancy or 28-40 lbs total

Women with a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 are considered normal weight and should gain approximately 1 lbs a week  or 25-35 lbs total.

Women with a BMI between 25 and 29.9 are considered overweight and should gain approximately 0.6 lbs a week or 15-25 lbs total

Women with a BMI greater than 30 are considered obese (class I =BMI 30-34.9, class II= BMI 35-39.9, Class III=  BMI >40).  In all classes of obesity women should gain approximately 0.5 lbs a week or between 11-20 lbs.

For women carrying twins add about another 10 lbs onto weight gain recommendations.

An endometrial ablation is used to treat heavy vaginal bleeding with no underlying cause. It is a short procedure that destroys the inner lining of the uterus. It is a short procedure that destroys the inner lining of the uterus. There are now two types of ablative procedures that can be done in the office. Call Women’s Health today for more information.

“National Women’s Health Week is a week long health observance coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health (OWH). National Women’s Health Week empowers women to make their health a top priority. With the theme “It’s Your Time,” the nationwide initiative encourages women to take simple steps for a longer, healthier, and happier life. Important steps include:

* Getting at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous physical activity, or a combination of both each week
* Eating a nutritious diet
* Visiting a health care professional to receive regular checkups and preventive screenings
* Avoiding risky behaviors, such as smoking and not wearing a seatbelt
* Paying attention to mental health, including getting enough sleep and managing stress…”

Last year, Women’s Health sponsored an event at the YWCA in Worcester offering free blood pressure screenings to the public.  This year, WHCMA is encouraging its fan and patients to join the “Women Challenge” to take a pledge to live healthy and receive regular health screenings.

A great website for information on bone health for girls is “Best Bones Forever.” This website is managed by The Department of Health and Human Services.

“Best Bones Forever” provides teens and their parents great tools for bone health, calcium-rich recipes and fun games for girls.

Check it out!

The National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition offers free text messages to pregnant moms to help educate and support them during their pregnancy. This educational program is called “text4baby.”

We found this great resource on the womenshealth.gov website and wanted to share it with all of our expectant moms. Women’shealth.gov is a great resource for health information for women too!

We hope you enjoy this interactive tool for pregnancy~!

The Staff @ Women’s Health

With many job requiring people to sit in the same place for a long time, it is important that we sit in the correct position and have the appropriate desk set-up.

Have you ever wondered why your neck hurts, your shoulders ache, or you have leg cramps? It could be the ergonomics of your work environment.

Check out The United States Department of Labor’s website for information on Ergonomic Solutions.

FRIDAY, March 5 (HealthDay News) — The benefits of breast-feeding for infants are numerous and well-known, but researchers are finding more and more that breast-feeding can be a boon to mom’s health as well.

In fact, the latest study on the subject suggests that women who breast-feed have reduced amounts of abdominal fat, even decades later.

The study, which was scheduled to be presented Friday at an American Heart Association conference on cardiovascular health in San Francisco, found that middle-age women who consistently breast-fed their children had waist circumferences that were an average of 2.6 inches smaller than women who had never breast-fed.

“Belly fat is the least healthy place for women to store fat, and breast-feeding really seems to be targeting this bad fat,” said study author Candace McClure, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Pittsburgh.

Breast-feeding confers a host of benefits to infants, including a decreased risk of ear infections, asthma, stomach problems, respiratory illnesses, skin allergies, diabetes and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In mothers, research has shown that breast-feeding might lower a woman’s risk for type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and postpartum depression.

Recent research has found that women who breast-fed their children had less risk for heart disease and the factors known to contribute to it, such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Many experts have suspected that it’s not just the extra calorie expenditure of breast-feeding that’s helpful, but that breast-feeding helps women lose abdominal fat faster. Excess abdominal fat is a risk factor for heart disease.

To see what lasting effects breast-feeding might have on abdominal size, McClure and her colleagues reviewed data on 351 women who had participated in the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation Heart Study, conducted from 2001 to 2003.

to continue reading this article, click here.

If you have questions regarding appointments, prescription refills, billing questions and insurance concerns during regular business hours (8:30am – 4:30) pm Monday-Friday) simply call our office. If a message is left, know that we strive to return calls in a timely manner.

Worcester: 508-755-4861
Marlboro: 508-485-1056
Webster: 508-949-3600
Email: info@whcma.com

How to Make the Most of Your Telephone Call

In order for the staff and physicians of Women’s Health to assist you in your need, please have the following information prepared prior to your call.

1. Correct spelling of your first and last name as well as your date of birth
2. A brief description of your problem
3. A phone number where we can reach you
4. For prescription refills, please call during normal business hours. Please have the pharmacy phone number and name and dose of medication needed.

How to Reach Us After Hours

If you need to reach our office after normal business hours, please leave a message with our answering service, and the on-call physician will get back to you.

If you are pregnant, and you have an emergency or think that you are in labor, proceed to Labor and Delivery on the 4th floor of the Memorial Campus which is located on 119 Belmont St., Worcester MA, 01605.

We ask patients to please call us at least 24 hours in advance if you need to cancel an appointment. This makes it possible to give your time to another patient who might need it.