Today, Dr. Gloria Halverson, shared some helpful information regarding women's health issues. She began her presentation with these words from the book of Luke...."For onto us, a child is born". She then preceded to talk about the amazing journey from conception to birth. Did you realize that a child's DNA and genetic characteristics were determined 4 months before his/her mother was born. Yes, that's right, I said mother. What an incredible miracle! She also shared that she believes life begins at the moment of fertilization and that there is scientifically no question about that. After fertilization, the embryo has to travel 3 inches (to implant in the uterus) in a week. In the first month alone, the fetus grows 10,000 times its size from the time of conception. By the 3rd month of pregnancy, the baby weighs only an ounce, but is already fully formed with fingers, toes, teeth buds, organs, etc. WOW!!
Dr. Halverson also spoke about some of the emotional changes women can experience during pregnancy. Not all women are "ecstatic" for the whole 9 months of their pregnancies. There are many physical and emotional changes to process and deal with. During pregnancy, many moms are worried about miscarriage, their health, the baby's health, birth defects, labor pain, etc. Even after your baby is born, you may find that people no longer want to talk to you about "world affairs", but rather diapers and feedings! She reminded us that God is in control and he will go through everything with you.....You are NOT alone!
Another insight was that the "true labor" comes after the baby is born, when you immediately encounter a whole new set of problems, like how to raise the child.
Following her presentation, she allowed for some Question and Answer time. Topics covered included the importance of Vitamin D, the HPV vaccine, and breast cancer. We discovered that just about all women (especially those living in cold-weather states...like Wisconsin) are Vitamin D deficient. Her recommendation for women was 1000 mg of Vitamin D per day. The best source is sunlight, but you can also get Vitamin D from milk and in a pill/vitamin form.
HPV causes cervical and many other cancers and 80% of women will contract it within the fist 3 years of sexual activity. Some things discussed regarding the HPV vaccine were that it is a preventive vaccine (it will prevent, but not cure HPV), it is recommended for women between the ages of 11-26, and that it is safe and can be life-saving. The controversy over the vaccine comes because we are vaccinating young women and some groups believe this advocates early sexual activity.
We also learned that breast cancer has genetic, as well as environmental links. The medical field does not know all of the causes of breast cancer yet, but it is believed that diet, exercise, and maintaining a healthy weight can reduce your risk.
This blog is dedicated to the Moms of Influence group at Northbrook Church in Richfield, WI.
