Health During Midlife Archives - Page 6 of 14

Fertility Eating on the Road

by Cindy Bailey

It can be especially rough trying to stick to a fertility diet (or any diet, for that matter) when you’re travelling. You may not have access to a kitchen, and depending on where you go, you may not be able to find your usual healthy foods or know where to go to get them. Here are some tips to help:

Do the best you can with what you got. If you go out to a restaurant, try to make it one that serves salads or vegetables. Even if these items are not organic, you’ll still get the nutritional value, and they’re a whole lot healthier than eating pizza, sandwiches or cream- (and wheat-) laden pasta. Plus, you can eat as much of it as you want. […]

Redefining Beauty and Brains (as a Middle-Aged Hippie)

by Beverley Golden

When I was much younger people saw me as being so beautiful or so smart. Some who knew me very well, actually saw both. I strove at all costs to have my intellect be recognized as my principle asset and, heaven forbid, someone would relate to me as “just another pretty face.”

To some degree that worked. I left high school early and went to play with a large group of boys at university, who were all eager to make their mark in the big bad world of business. On graduation, I was awarded the gold medal as the outstanding graduate from a class of 400 business students. Not bad considering only ten of us were women. […]

Old Enough for Gratitude

by Andrea Lynn

My mother just dodged a cancer scare. My uncle is in the middle of one. My brother is having heart problems, and on Sunday I rushed my 2-year-old into the ER with an allergic reaction, that, thank God, resolved itself in a few hours without much medical intervention. So far, fingers crossed, everyone is fine. But it is that time of life when I’m feeling like we’re living on very shaky foundations, and no one should be taking anything for granted. […]

Midlife Mothers, Teenage Daughters, and Prenatal Care

by Stephanie Tillman (a.k.a. the Feminist Midwife)

As a healthcare provider, my work is to listen to the unique experiences of people throughout their lives. My favorite visits lately have been witnessing teenage daughters attend the prenatal visits of their midlife mothers. I have spent some time trying to figure out what makes this experience so special for myself and for the other women in the room, and I share a bit of that thought process here.

I am a midwife, serving women in an inner city. Many of my patients are non-English speaking, birthing in a new country and living at a crossroads between teaching family tradition and learning new approaches as their children grow. […]

Top 10 Natural Herbs for Relieving Menopause Symptoms

by Kris Smith

The most effective way to manage the pain and plight of menopause are Kris’s top 10 natural herbs for relieving menopause symptoms. Menopausal symptoms can at times be extreme, and definitely hamper a productive and comfortable life routine. Most women find it easy to turn to hormone based medication, that some experts suspect, is likely to harm the body in an attempt to control this natural part of a woman’s fertility cycle. The best alternative to such hormonal therapies are natural and herbal therapies. […]

Myths About Donor Egg and Donor Sperm

by Amy Demma

Myth: It isn’t your baby.

Busted!: I hear this worry from more prospective recipients of donor gametes (and donor embryo) than just about any other concern. I first address this matter in a legal context and discuss with clients that any donor (sperm, egg, embryo) should be expected to relinquish all rights to the gametes (or the embryos) as well as explicitly relinquish parental rights to children resulting from the donation. With sperm donation, this relinquishment is typically done through consents at the cryobank. With egg and embryo donation, it is recommended that relinquishment of donor rights be memorialized in a direct contract between the donor and the recipient.

Of equal concern, though, is whether or not the parent who lacks in a shared genetic connection with the child will feel a parental connection, while this should be explored with a mental health professional experienced in collaborative reproduction …the best response I have to offer is the following quote from a parent of a donor conceived child: “The child who came into my life is the most beautiful, spirited child…he is the child I was meant to have and he fills me with love every minute of the day.” […]

Facts and Myths About Infertility (from RESOLVE – the National Infertility Association)

Myth: Infertility is a women’s problem.

Fact: This is untrue. It surprises most people to learn that infertility is a female problem in 35% of the cases, a male problem in 35% of the cases, a combined problem of the couple in 20% of cases, and unexplained in 10% of cases. It is essential that both the man and the woman be evaluated during an infertility work-up.

Myth: Everyone seems to get pregnant at the drop of a hat.

Fact: More than five million people of childbearing age in the United States experience infertility. When you seek support, you will find that you are not alone. Join RESOLVE, a support group, or talk with others who are struggling to build a family, so that you won’t feel isolated. […]

Is Infertility Awareness Week for Me, Too? (Infertility Awareness Week – 4/21 – 4/27/2013)

by Jenilyn Gilbert LCSW

The 28 year old woman who is told ‘adoption is your only option’; the mother who wants to add another child to her family but feels guilty that others don’t have their first child yet; the 42-year-old woman who questions whether the diagnosis of infertility even applies to her, are all women who belong to this club of wanting to be mothers, but within this reluctant membership, there are subcultures, divided by age and diagnosis. In an already isolating experience, is it healthy to divide ourselves further? […]

Make a Wish for Awareness of Women’s Sexual Health

Actually, do more than wish. Be active.

Sign this online WISH petition to add your voice to others advocating for greater attention to women’s sexual health needs. The WISH petition is sponsored by the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH), which is a professional organization for those of us who work in the field of women’s sexual health.

The petition supports ISSWSH’s position that “female sexual disorders are valid conditions that warrant assessment, diagnosis and appropriate therapeutic intervention.” […]

Five Whole Foods to Help Banish Wrinkles

by Kris T. Smith

Who wants to look years younger than your actual age? Most of you do, admit it. It’s hard keeping up with all these magic creams, night serums and day serums. Besides, are they really good for your skin? And do they really work as well as the manufacturers advertise? If you read the labels on a lot of them, they are filled with harmful chemicals that you should be avoiding anyway. What you need to be doing is protecting your skin from the free radicals floating around in the environment and bombarding your skin.

What if there was a way to get rid of those pesky wrinkles naturally? If you increase your intake of foods filled with natural anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory agents, you will find you have better results. Would you be able to follow a diet like this? Here are five foods you can eat that will help banish those wrinkles and give you younger looking skin.

1. Blueberries

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says that blueberries are higher in anti-oxidant properties than strawberries by approximately 40 percent. Remember the anti-oxidants protect your skin from the free radicals from the environment that are constantly attacking your skin. They are also full of vitamin C, which encourages the growth and formation of collagen. Collagen renewal helps keep the skin looking younger and also decreases the effects of aging. […]