Let ClubAlthea be your partner in providing Fitness and Wellness in your WorkPlace
Fitness and Wellness in WorkPlace contribute to productivity, creativity and loyalty For bay area companies: Contact Connie of ClubAlthea at motherhealth@gmail.com if you want to add fitness programs in your workspace, with at least a minimum of 50 employees and a 2000 sq ft hardwood floor space. Managing Fitness in Your Work Space   Employee wellness and good health includes regular exercise. Many employers now encourage wellness by offering weight rooms, exercise bikes, aerobics classes, and other formal fitness activities to employees and their families. Like any activity, there are risks involved. You can either plan around those risks now, or risk translating a person’s health program into a wealthy injury.   When a fitness program is purely voluntary and occurs outside work hours and premises, there is little risk you will be responsible for any injuries, accidents, or harm that strikes down any participant. When you allow or encourage employees to participate in any fitness program, even a quick jog up the stairs during breaks can cause an injury and a workers’ compensation claim. Anyone using your fitness equipment or facilities on your premises may sue you for any harm that befalls him or her. Even if you did not cause or contribute to the accident, you can run up a large attorney bill to prove your innocence. If you are found responsible, you will be asked to pay the claimant’s medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering. All of those costs eventually turn up in your premium assessments.   Reduce Your Risk of being named in a workers compensation claim or third party liability suit by minimizing your agency’s participation in organizing and operating a fitness program. Encourage employees to sponsor the fitness activities instead of you. Suggest interested employees review their own homeowners insurance for possible liability protection. Better yet, suggest they build their own fitness club and: seek their own legal counsel to establish a non-profit corporation or association, formalize bylaws, rules, and the process to police participants, and contact an insurance agent to arrange commercial liability insurance. Move fitness activities off premises. Call your Risk Management Consultant. We can put you in touch with others who set up independent fitness clubs. Control Your Risk. If you decide to allow fitness activities on your premises spell out your expectations of the sponsored activity in a lease. Limit your control over the sponsor by identifying: Who may use the facility. Will you only allow employees? What about other family members over 18, friends, children? Days and times facility may be used. If office security arrangements are necessary, say so. Who is responsible for keys, after hours lock-up, light and equipment checks? Allowed activities such as aerobics, weightlifting, stationary cycling. Conditions of use such as maintenance of equipment and periodic clean up. Fee or rent for using premises. Require all participants to sign a release of liability. Releases cannot relieve you of all responsibility, but they demonstrate the participant was informed of the risks, conditions, and expectations you have for the activity. We recommend you exclude children as participants. However, if you decide to allow children to participate, both the minor and their guardian must sign any release. The release may not be honored by a judge. The minor may come back to sue you after reaching age 18 even if a release was signed. Decide whether you will accept responsibility for sponsor’s property and equipment while on your premises. Clarify your limits in the lease. If you agree to cover the property for loss, require sponsor to give you a list of the property and its approximate value. Include property you agreed to cover in the Annual Risk Report. Sample premises and participant agreements are attached. They have been approved by the attorney general. We recommend you share your specific fitness program plans with your legal counsel and have these samples tailored to fit your program.   Your success in avoiding a claim or lawsuit rides on how well you anticipate harm to participants and precautions you take to minimize the risk or warn participants of risks you foresee. The ultimate cost of a claim is impacted by others you required to share in possible claims costs. Reduce your share of the burden by transferring risks to the sponsor or property owner. Require insurance for participants. Inform participants of risks and require participants to assume the risks involved in the program.

Dear Friends,

What if you are one of the owners of Club Althea
(founding/ownership members needed for $10k & charter memberships for $3K)?
A gym and dance club that you have been searching for.
Where members actually use the place for family, fun and meeting others.
Where new things are learned, where you lose weight with fun and gusto.
Where you can relax and renew.
Where you can get all health information onsite and online as answered
by various fitness experts, pro and newbies.
Where you can feel your sweat for the first 15 minutes inside Club Althea,
healing, dancing and fitness to the max in the heart of Silicon Valley.

Please contact Connie for more info.
Blessings,
Connie Dello Buono motherhealth@gmail.com
c408-854-1883
mailing: 5770 Winfield blvd #166 San Jose CA 95123
Motherhealth Inc 501c(3)

 

Connie Dello Buono, BS Math, Dance Fitness Instructor, author and entrepreneur for 15 yrs in Silicon Valley is founding a unique center that embodies wellness and fitness with variety of gym , dance and wellness ways.
Club Althea will serve all of Silicon Valley’s population since drop-in members are allowed with lots of free seminar open to public. It will have a variety of fitness and wellness consultants, trainees, volunteers and students.  It will collaborate with hotels and other health and service industries.  All forms of collaborations with other businesses in the valley will be exploited in the areas of marketing and service that are common to all and will benefit both parties.
It will have monthly dance and fitness competitions, weekly themes and lessons to serve all the cultural needs in the areas of leisure, fitness and healing.

Walking, Food, Massage, Back Pain , Anemia, History of Women’s Health , Heartburn, nausea, constipation, Poem for grandma Claudia…

 

Other details on the results:

• Biking generated the least force, producing impact of about 1.3 times the person's body weight.
• Treadmill walking was next best, producing forces of 2.05 the body weight.
• Walking on level ground generated forces of 2.6 times the body weight.
• Tennis produced forces of 3.1 to 3.8 times the body weight, with serving producing the highest impact.
• Jogging produced forces of 4.3 times body weight.

Modification of certain high-impact exercises could help, he said. For avid golfers, "it's possible you could modify your swing," D'Lima says. Golfers could get a high-tech evaluation of their swings, offered by many golf club makers, or ask their pro about modifying the swing to exert less force on their knee, D'Lima suggested.

However, for more strenuous high-impact pursuits such as jogging, people who've undergone knee replacement should make a permanent switch to another form of exercise, the expert said.

 

Biking, Walking Best for New Knees
Tennis, jogging and even golf are tougher on replaced joints, study finds

 

The thousands of Americans who undergo knee replacement surgeries each year may want to put away their tennis rackets and get back on their bikes, a new study shows. Biking and treadmill walking appear to be two of the gentlest exercises for those who have had a knee replaced with an artificial joint, researchers found, while higher impact sports such as jogging and tennis generated higher forces on new knees, according to study author Dr. Darryl D'Lima, director of the Orthopaedic Research Laboratory at Scripps Clinic, in La Jolla, Calif. More surprisingly, golf swings were also tough on the knees, although D'Lima was quick to point out the swings make up just part of the exercise in a round of golf. He is scheduled to present his research Thursday at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeon's annual meeting in San Francisco. The study was initiated by Dr. Clifford W. Colwell, director of the Shiley Center for Orthopaedic Research & Education at Scripps. An estimated 478,000 total knee replacement surgeries, called total knee arthoplasties (TKAs), are done in the United States each year, according to the researchers. In the surgery, the original joint is replaced by one made of various materials, such as plastic and metal. Surgeons typically advise patients to resume physical activity when they are able. But advice about which activity is best has been subjective, D'Lima said. So, his team decided to measure forces on the knee while patients took part in a variety of exercises. In the study, D'Lima's team measured forces on the tibia, or shinbone, in four patients who had undergone TKA. These four patients had a specially designed joint that allowed forces to be measured from inside the implant. A year after their surgery, each of the four patients jogged, played tennis, did golf swings, walked (on a treadmill and on level ground) and biked while the forces to their knee area were measured. Golf swings produced forces of 4.5 times body weight on the forward knee and 3.2 times body weight in the opposite knee, the researchers found. D'Lima noted that the forces produced by the golf swing, however, occur in an instant, while the forces produced by jogging are constant. "I think golf should be OK," he said. "It's more of scientific interest." There were some other surprises, D'Lima said. "We expected that walking on a treadmill, which is more controlled, would be better than biking [in terms of low impact to the knee]," the researcher noted. But biking actually won out, he said. Other details on the results: Biking generated the least force, producing impact of about 1.3 times the person's body weight. Treadmill walking was next best, producing forces of 2.05 the body weight. Walking on level ground generated forces of 2.6 times the body weight. Tennis produced forces of 3.1 to 3.8 times the body weight, with serving producing the highest impact. Jogging produced forces of 4.3 times body weight. Modification of certain high-impact exercises could help, he said. For avid golfers, "it's possible you could modify your swing," D'Lima says. Golfers could get a high-tech evaluation of their swings, offered by many golf club makers, or ask their pro about modifying the swing to exert less force on their knee, D'Lima suggested. However, for more strenuous high-impact pursuits such as jogging, people who've undergone knee replacement should make a permanent switch to another form of exercise, the expert said. Dr. Daniel Oakes, a staff orthopedic surgeon at Santa Monica-UCLA & Orthopaedic Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif., said the study confirms advice he generally gives to his knee-replacement patients. "We strongly dissuade [them from] jogging," he said. "I tell them activities that are OK are walking, biking, hiking, riding an exercise bike, riding an elliptical trainer and walking on the treadmill." He suggests doubles tennis, not singles, since it is not as aggressive. He generally allows downhill or cross-country skiers to resume that sport when they are healed. And he thinks golf is fine. While the study confirms the experts' suspicions about which activities are more stressful on the new knee, it can't be determined from the study if the increased forces will lead to a higher failure rate in the joint, said Oakes, who is also an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery and chief of the joint replacement service at the University of California Los Angeles' David Geffen School of Medicine.

Foods to Calm You Down Fast

Holiday to-do list expanding too fast? Work pressures got you tearing your hair out? No date for the season’s festivities? Regardless of the cause, when we’re stressed we often counterintuitively turn to diet-busting goodies for comfort. Instead of soothing our frayed nerves, many of them ultimately make us feel worse.

Take the classic, curling up with a pint of ice cream. It's a total backfire. Why? Sweets are insidious: After the initial rush, the body's insulin response kicks in, causing a sudden blood-sugar drop that triggers the release of stress hormones. Soon you're feeling more jangled than you were before you inhaled that whole container of Chunky Monkey. And alcohol, of course, is a wolfish stimulant in calm sheep's clothing.

But true comfort foods do exist:

• Berries, any berries. Eat them one by one instead of M&Ms when the pressure's on. For those tough times when tension tightens your jaw, try rolling a frozen berry around in your mouth. And then another, and another. Since the carbs in berries turn to sugar very slowly, you won't have a blood-sugar crash. The bonus: They're a good source of vitamin C, which helps fight a jump in cortisol, a stress hormone.

• Guacamole. If you're craving something creamy, look no further. Avocados are loaded with B vitamins, which stress quickly depletes and which your body needs in order to maintain nerves and brain cells. Plus, their creaminess comes from healthy fat. Scoop up the stuff with whole-grain baked chips -- crunching keeps you from gritting your teeth.

• Mixed nuts. Just an ounce will do. Walnuts help replace those stress-depleted B vitamins, Brazil nuts give you a whopping amount of zinc (which is also drained by high anxiety), and almonds boost your E, which helps fight cellular damage linked to chronic stress. Buy nuts in the shell and think of it as multitasking: With every squeeze of the nutcracker, you're releasing a little tension.

• Oranges. People who take 1,000 milligrams of C before giving a speech have lower levels of cortisol and lower blood pressures than those who don't. So lean back, take a deep breath, and concentrate on peeling a large orange. The 5-minute mindfulness break will ease your mind, and you'll get a bunch of C as well.

• Asparagus. Each tender stalk is a source of folic acid, a natural mood lightener. Dip the spears in fat-free yogurt or sour cream for a hit of calcium with each bite.

• Chai tea. A warm drink is a supersoother, and curling up with a cup of aromatic decaf chai tea (Tazo makes ready-to-brew bags) can make the whole evil day go away.

• Dark chocolate. Okay, there's nothing in it that relieves stress, but when only chocolate will do, reach for the dark, sultry kind that's at least 70% cocoa. You figure if the antioxidant flavonoids in it are potent enough to fight cancer and heart disease, they've got to be able to temper tension's effects.

Our bodies need massage as my mom would massage herself when she feels that her body is stuck and needing a boost of energy and be replenished.

Massage restores energy from a depleted state by stimulating circulation and bringing tension to rest.

Massage can ease the stress on weight bearing joints and help release postural strains.

It is not indicated when someone has a fever or infection, swollen vein, inflamed joint, vomiting or diarrhea or if the care giver advised against it.

Do keep your movements smooth and rhythmic, paying attention to our bodies’ nonverbal cues. You can apply light oil of her choice and keep your fingers together when you knead and stroke.

Massage scalp, around eyes, and around legs and buttocks to release exhaustion and help keep your bottom loose.

For back pain, apply pressure on the lower back to relieve a low back pain. Press hands (or arm or feet) in a V shape on the sacrum (lower back). Press outward from sacrum into buttocks.

A warm water bottle covered with cloth can also be pressed on the lower back.

The following massage strokes can be effectively applied to many areas of the body:

• Effleurage is long, full handed strokes that apply broad, firm pressure in one direction and a softer resting pull back to the beginning of the stroke. Begin and end with an Effleurage.
• Petrissage is a kneading stroke using the following techniques: hands kneading alternately, hand over hand as in pulling up through the sides of the receiver's torso, hands flat and pulling opposite to cause light friction and hands stroking apart like breaking bread is useful on the feet, hands and limbs.
• Friction is moving in circles with one of two thumbs. One thumb circulates while the other hand rests nearby on mom's body. This massage is useful in tension spots around the joints or in the muscle bellies.
  Open Fist is applying pressure using the backs of the fingers in a long stroke down and away along the spinal muscles, harmstrings and side of the legs.
• Nerve Strokes are soft strokes that are nice to end with on the whole body at the end of the massage.
• Other famous strokes include rocking, drumming and holding points.

When to supplement with iron 
written by Connie Dello Buono BS , pharmacy tech instructor and zumba dance fitness instructor

Anemia is defined as a hematocrit <30, and Hemoglobin <10g. These indicators reflect the oxygenation of the tissues of our bodies. This varies with practitioners, however. Before the hemoglobin (Hgb) in the blood dips down to 10.5 grams and hematocrit value of less than 32% (Hct). Add raisins in your oat meal for breakfast. 

Eat at least five servings of colorful fruits and vegetables a day, multivitamin and mineral supplement are recommended. 

Iron supplements are best absorbed in chelated form and in combination with folic, vitamin C and B12. Medications taken before or during pregnancy can interfere with the way our body absorbs, utilizes, and excretes micronutrients.

For example, antibiotics can hinder the availability of some B vitamins, vitamin C, potassium and calcium.

And because they can destroy bacteria in the intestines, antibiotics also interfere with the synthesis of vitamin K, an important vitamin that helps in blood clotting.

Hormone-containing drugs like birth control pills appear to lower levels of some vitamins, including vitamin B6, folic acid and vitamin C. Caffeine containing foods such as coffee inhibit the body’s ability to absorb iron by as much as 85%; drinking more than two cups of coffee a day has been implicated in calcium imbalance as well.

A mild diuretic, caffeine can also cause you to lose potassium, magnesium and other minerals through your urine. Smoking or inhaling secondhand smoke interfers with your metabolism of B vitamins and more than doubles your vitamin C requirement.

Blessed Be My Grandmother

She said that she sometimes shows moments of strength whenever she is cared for by her family. Her family has grown to more than 36 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren.

Blessed be my grandmother for she has endured the test of time. Many years ago she would blow air on my head and utter prayers and blessings before I had to go to another island. I remember now why I value the old and hand made things in life.

 She would smile and proudly present to me her only hand-made quilt blanket and tell me that she will make pillow cases for my family. We did use her pillows and pillow cases for a long time.

Blessed be my grandmother who takes care of the old and used and made them into valuable items. She would sleep with me and give me a massage whenever I had a fever. That may be the reason why I don’t have to take medications when I have a fever now. She wets me with warm compresses all over my body and massaged me with coconut oil. For different kinds of ailments she would use boiled herbs, chewed plants, incense, chants and prayers. For hours she would stir coconut juice into oil in a hot burning wooden stove.

Her strongest potion was her loving hands that would knead and roll my body and heal me like no other. Like a salesperson for many afternoons she would bring breads and snacks to the farmers in the fields. Blessed be my grandmother who heals and makes every time an important value never to be lost.

Her laboring hands and feet are strong, short and old. She was an apprentice midwife whenever any one of her daughters and daughters-in-law were having a baby. With her strong and commanding voice, she would coach them to bdear down and push their babies. She was there to wash them and their babies after birth. Her healing hands provided infant massage and postpartum bliss for a new mother. She was their teacher in the first few years of mothering. Blessed be my grandmother who values herself as a woman and mother.

 It took 40 years before her younger son left her to marry. But even then, her younger son would always see her everyday and give her bread and snacks. Blessed be my grandmother for her caring ways.

Maybe she was the other mother who mothered us when our mothers were busy. She was there when we are young and helpless. Blessed be my grandmother who taught us how to kneel and pray and sing vespers.

Back Pain

Maintain a correct posture with the abdomen drawn in and the back and knees straight. Lifting heavy or awkward objects should be avoided during pregnancy if at all possible. When lifting, the objects must be held close to the body with the knees bent and the back kept straight to put the strain on the thigh muscles and not those of the back.

Pelvic rocks which combines hip movement and rocking the pelvis in back and forward motion helps tone the muscles and improve circulation. Pelvic tilts are also good for toning the muscles and ligaments that support the internal organs and easing tensions.Pelvic tilts are done by lying on your back with knees bent and feet flat. Tighten the abdominals and buttocks and press the small of the back down or scoop the sacrum into the floor repeatedly at least for 6 times or more and breathe. It can be done by either sitting, standing or lying.

Massaging the lumbar region of the spine using long, deep and downward strokes eases low back pain. Most back tension releases really well by working the thumbs slowly and deeply along the long muscles of the spine, over the sacrum and through the buttocks.

Sleeping on your sides provides relief for your back. Swimming during the last trimester especially offloads your body with the growing weight of the baby.

In most countries in the Far East, women tend to spend more time squatting as they do their daily chores. Squatting, swimming and walking are good exercises. Massage is as common as bathing. A stroke or massage in the lower back with massage oil such as olive, calendula, almond or coconut oil helps backache problems. Check your doctor or care giver for kidney problems.

"If back pains increase or get worse, or you are experiencing kidney pain, check with your health care providers. Sometimes women have kidney stones or muscle spasms during pregnancy. And of course, any sort of persisitent or intermettent low back pain could indicate preterm labor, or possibly an infection." Pat Sonnenstuhl, CNM

Universal Herbs for Back Pain: Minerals such as Calcium (Chamomile, Fennel), Cobalt (Dandelion, Red Clover), Iron (Yellow Dock, Rosemary, Ginseng, Burdock), Magnesium (Alfalfa, Catnip, Red Clover, Valerian), Vitamin K (Rose hips, Cayenne), Zinc (Licorice, Sarsaparilla) and Vitamin C (Bee pollen, chickweed, comfrey, echinacea, garlic, juniper berries, peppermint, Saluyot in the Philippines and rose hips). Check your doctors for any herb interaction when taking other medications.

Nausea and Vomiting

Extreme nausea of pregnancy seems to be related to the very high levels of the pregnancy hormones some women experience during the first few months of pregnancy. And these hormones maintain their proper balance by about the fourth month of pregnancy.  For adults, some medications can cause nausea and vomiting so consult your doctor.

A light full body massage oxygenates the body. I experienced nausea and vomiting during my second pregnancy with my daughter.

Taking ginger capsule and eating crackers early in the morning before getting up from my bed helped me. The combination of walking, fresh air, avoiding greasy or highly seasoned foods, using the power of the mind, and relaxing also helped in controlling nausea and vomiting.

Eat small, frequent meals and dry foods with fluids between meals.  My 72 yr old wants to eat small meals every 2 hrs since her body cannot ingest a heavy meal anymore.  Snack with granola breakfast cereal with almond nuts (rich in Vitamin E) that you can find a health produce store bulk section.

I know of a friend who took birth control pills for a long time and then experienced extreme nausea and vomiting during her pregnancy. Sometimes taking birth control pills before pregnancy can deplete a woman of the B vitamins, so these need to be added to the diet .Vitamin B6 100 mg can be very helpful taken two or three times a day. My midwife's advice is to eat nuts since they stay longer in the stomach because of their high protein content.

In Europe, mothers apply ice cold washcloth to their eyes when nauseous. Drinking lots of water and eating something (in small amounts) every two hours also prevents nausea and vomiting. In China, acupuncture points on the wrists (or sea bands) can help in nausea. If vomiting persisits longer than 24 hours be sure you discuss this with your health care provider. They might have other suggestions, or might want to do some specific tests to rule out more serious conditons.

Universal Herbs for Nausea: Ginger and Vitamin B6 (Hawthorne, Licorice, Papaya), peach leaf, blackberries, red raspberry, peppermint, wild yam, anise, cinnamon, cloves, oregano. The lemon scent sometimes helps women get through this difficult time.

Heartburn and Gas

Eat small, more frequent meals. Lie down and do abdominal breathing. Try some pelvic rocks. Pay attention to which foods and spices bring on heartburn and gas. Check your food combination (fruit with heavy protein is not good) and avoid overeating. Avoid offending foods such as fatty and friend foods, beans, tofu, carbonation, etc. Eat papaya. If you get pain after eating spicy foods, perhaps your gallbladder is acting up. Again, persistent pain of any type needs to be reported to your health care provider.

Universal Herbs: Angelica, borage, cayenne, peppermint, valerian, wintergreen, holy thistle, papaya

Constipation

Caused by decreased motility of the digestive system, drinking lots of fluids and eating lots of fiber can help prevent constipation. Avoid laxatives. Try prunes, prune juice or carrot juice. Eat plenty of raw greens and bran which are high fiber foods and any fresh and dried fruits.

Eat banana in moderation. Drink a lot of fluids especially water. Exercise daily. Squat on the toilet or use a box or stool for elevating feet to facilitate bowel movements. Develop regular bowel habits.

Hemorrhoids

Closely related to constipation is hemorrhoids. Some of the same suggestions apply: Rub Vitamin E oil directly on the anus. Eat lots of fruits.

A mother in the Far East cautions from over eating spicy foods, intoxicating liquors, white bread, sugar, fried foods and all acid-forming foods which cause fermentation. Drink at least a pint of fresh fruit or vegetable juice each day.

Avoid taking ordinary purgatives that are on the market as they irritate the membranous lining of the bowels and intestines. Drink more fluids.

Put feet on a small stool while sitting on the toilet for bowel movement. Do pelvic rocks and lots of pelvic floor exercises.

Take sitz baths (shallow and hot for the parts of you where you sits). Apply witch hazel or a commercial preparation and rectal poultice of chamomile leaves and white oak bark powder.

Try to lie down or at least get off your feet part of the day. Gently tuck the hemorrhoid back up into the rectum with a lubricated finger for instant relief.

Herbs: ginger, witch hazel (external), burdock, plaintain, yarrow

For external suppository, mix the following with glycerine, stiff enough to form suppository and insert it into the rectum at night and leaving it:

2 oz of powdered Hemlock Bark, 1 oz of Golden Seal, 1 oz of powdered wheat flour, 1 oz of Boric acid, 1 oz of Bayberry bark

Bleeding Gums

Be certain you are not anemic, and be very gentle on your gums. Use a soft toothbrush. Increase your intake of Vitamin C and calcium. Floss regularly and see your dentist. Try applying white oak bark powder to your gums or use white oak bark tea for swishing around on the inside of the mouth. Brush with equal parts of golden seal and myrrh three times a day.

Herbs: Shepherd’s purse and wild alum root.

Mild Blood Pressure

Lie on your left side and have someone massage you with slow, firm hand. Relaxation can help lower an elevated blood pressure. Eat foods containing garlic, ginger and onions.

Swelling/Ankle Edema

Lying on your side or elevating your feet can help relieve swelling and edema. Sitting or standing for long periods of time can promote edema. Drink lots of fluids to promote good tissue balance. Soaking in the bathtub can help relive the edema too.

Putting your feet up, high fluid intake. Eating plenty of protein rich food. are important. Consult your health care provider if you have sudden edema, blinding headaches or there is protein in the urine coupled with a high blood pressure and swelling.

Insomia

Do a facial (around the eyes, the jaw and the top of the neck beneath the occiput), head and neck massage before going to bed. Drink chamomile tea and use lots of pillows.

Eat some protein and avioid sugary foods at bedtime. Some women find a cup of hot chocolate milk helps them sleep.

Keep food at the side of your bed should you be hungry in the middle of the night.  Calcium and magnesium with Vit C , relaxes the nerves and can promote sleep when taken the afternoon or evening.

Leg Cramps

Press the point in the center of the calf for relief. Also, flex the foot towards you with hard pressure or dorsiflex foot to stretch affected muscle. Eat calcium rich foods and take a calcium/magnesium supplement before going to bed. Sleeping on the right or left side helps (with lots of pillows for support) prevent leg cramps and doesn't impede the blood vessels responsible for baby's oxygenation.

Varicose Veins

Do not massage directly and deeply on a swollen vein. Superficial, general massage toward the heart is helpful and preventative. Red spiderlike veins are broken blood vessels not varicose veins and can be massaged. If the area becomes painful, tender or swoolen, notify your health care provider. Some women with varicose veins in the vaginal area are helped by wearing knit bicycle pants which provide good support for the vaginal area. Arrange frequent opportunities to put your legs up to promote improved blood flow.

Urinary Frequency

Continue to drink at least 8 glasses of water, and go to the bathroom frquently. Frequency is caused in early pregnancy by the uterus pressing on the bladder with a growing fetus. Towards the end of pregnancy, it's usually the baby's head

Dyspnea/Shortness of breath

This is usually related to the increased levels of fluids your body is producing. At mid pregnancy you are carrying about 50% more fluids than when you are not pregnant. Some of this is within your body tissues, and some are contributed by your amniotic fluid. Maintain proper posture when sitting and standing.

When sleeping on either sides, prop up on pillows on both sides. If you smoke, decrease or stop smoking, as this decreases good oxygenation to you and your baby.

History of Women's Health

Important Events in the History Women’s Health, Midwifery (helping pregnant mothers and delivering babies) and the Politics of Women’s Health

The following information is based on the September 1998 California Association of Midwives tape of Raven Lang on the History of Women’s Health, text from Unit 2 of Oregon School of Midwifery Distance Learning Program, and the book of Jessica Mitford - The American Way of Birth.

Further Reading: