Sixth Month As mother and the unborn child enter the sixth month the hair is starting to grow longer and the eyelashes and eyebrows are now formed. If baby is born at this time it could live but the lungs are not yet fully formed and the fetus might die. Modern medicine has, however, made [...]

The tiny organ already mentioned, the clitoris, is the most exciting feature of this area. It is the female equivalent of the male penis. It comes, in miniature, complete with an ultra-sensitive head (or glans) and a shaft that is composed of erectile tissue. Under sexual stimulation, it becomes filled with blood, enlarges and stiffens. [...]

How long will I need to be in hospital? This varies from three to seven days and may be extended by a couple of days if complications occur. Why are antibiotics necessary? Doctors in countries such as Australia routinely prescribe antibiotics after surgery to reduce the risk of postoperative infection. Why am I having bowel [...]

Smoking There is so much information out there about the risks you run of getting lung cancer, emphysema and other diseases if you smoke. Thankfully, many people are now aware of the detrimental effects of smoking when a woman is pregnant. Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 compounds and these pass directly into the foetal [...]

We know that our shared goal must be to learn to live as though our cancer will never come back. Surely if we spend our lives struggling with fear and grief, the cancer has won— whether or not it ever recurs. If this is a challenge you must face in the future, you will find [...]

The prospect of undergoing chemotherapy is frightening. Many women are more worried about chemotherapy than surgery. Start by forgetting all the horror stories you have heard. Remember that each person reacts as an individual to treatment; it is also crucial that you realize your oncologist wants to help minimize any unpleasant side effects you may [...]

? There are both advantages and disadvantages to having simultaneous or immediate reconstruction. ? Advantages include having only one surgery, which also means one general anesthesia, one hospitalization, one recovery period, and not ever having to live without a breast. ? Disadvantages include having to make a complicated decision in the middle of a period [...]

Preadolescent children can be tough! Like their younger siblings, they may have many questions—or they may not. You may want to talk with them more than they want to talk with you. As long as you repeat the message that you will be available to talk when your son or daughter is ready, you will [...]

It is unlikely that you can safely assume that your doctors and other health care providers will be well informed about these other options. Western medical training and experience does not emphasize them, and there have not been controlled studies to evaluate their efficacy. Having said this, we note the trend in medical education to [...]

Relationships with peers Comparatively little theoretical attention has been paid to a girl’s relationships and experiences outside the family in this regard. Yet there are a number of theoretical notions, primarily sociological, that implicitly or explicitly deal with these extrafamilial influences. One line of thinking links the development of sexual preference among adolescent girls to [...]