Greetings!
November is Prematurity Awareness Month. "One in eight babies born in our country is premature. The rate of
premature birth in America is higher than that of most other developed
nations." -March of Dimes Preconception health is very important to the outcome of your pregnancy. There are many things you can do before becoming pregnant that can increase your chance for a healthy full-term birth. Women's Health can help. Call our office today to schedule an appointment with a doctor to discuss your preconception care. 508-755-4861www.whcma.com
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| The Dominican Welcomes Women's Health |
 WHCMA lends a hand in La Romana, D.R.
The Good Samaritan Hospital in La Romana Dominican Republic, warmly welcomed physicians and staff from Women's Health to work in their hospital for a week in early November.
Women's Health sponsored physicians Dr. Peter Davidow and Dr. Abraham Fischer, along with medical assistants Kelly B. and Ellen G. volunteered their time performing needed gynecological surgeries on woman in the local community.
This was the fourth trip by Women's Health physicians to the Good Samaritan Hospital in a little over a year.
The Women's Health physicians brought the equipment and skills to work in cooperation with local doctors to perform these surgeries. Each of these trips involved surgical treatments for women who were evaluated and prepared for their procedures by local physicians. Mostly, the patients are Haitian women living in small, poor villages surrounding La Romana. The needs of the population served by the Hospital are so compelling that the Women's Health physicians felt they need to go back as many times as possible to continue the work.
The WHCMA team accomplished what they set out to do: to provide treatment to women who may not otherwise receive access to care.
Dr. Fischer described the D.R. as being a productive venue for American Ob/Gyn physicians who want to offer their skills when he said...
"Performing needed surgical procedures has a definite impact on the quality of these women's lives. These procedures allow the physicians to come to the D.R. for a short time but leave knowing they had a lasting effect."
Ellen Gosselin describes the hours spent operating on their feet in extreme heat as being "worth the feeling of accomplishment we received knowing that we helped alleviate many women's health problems and allowed them to live a more comfortable life."
The physicians of Women's Health have found this to be such a rewarding experience, that they are considering establishing a non-profit organization to further expand the reach of their efforts. They hope to continue bringing state-of-the-art surgical skills to local doctors and women in underserved regions of the world.
Read more on the physicians of Women's Health >>
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Use of Progesterone in Preterm Birth
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 By: Dina Deldon-Saltin, D.O.
The rate of preterm birth
in the United States has been rising over the last 15 years. Nationally, preterm birth affects 12% of all
babies delivered in the US or approximately 480,000 births. In the last decade, preterm birth has
increased by 27% and accounts for 85% of all perinatal morbidity and
mortality. In 2005, the annual societal
economic cost (medial, educational, and lost productivity) associated with
preterm birth in the US was at least $26.2 billion.
There is increasing
evidence that progesterone supplementation can reduce the rate of preterm birth
in high-risk women. Progestogens are
steroid hormones that induce myometrial quiescence (make the uterus quiet) by
suppressing the contractile genes and promoting relaxation and may suppress
immunity to prevent rejection of fetal cells.
continue reading this article >>
Use of Progesterone to Reduce Preterm Birth: ACOG Committee Opinion: Number 419. October 2008
Preventing Preterm Birth: The role of 17P: ACOG District II: compiled January 2009
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