The Health Blog

After delivering the baby, the perineum must be kept clean. Lochia may drain for up to four weeks, so pads should be changed frequently.

• Do not use tampons after delivery. Tampons may cause an infection.
• Take a bath or a shower once or twice daily. A sitz bath should be used after every bowel movement. A sitz bath involves sitting in shallow water, only deep enough to cover the hips and buttocks.
• Urinating can be painful after delivery. Squirting warm water over the perineum during urination may ease the pain. When finished urinating, gently pat the perineum dry.
• Cold sitz baths help reduce swelling and discomfort after delivery. Sit in a lukewarm or room temperature bath, and then gradually add ice cubes to the water. This prevents the uncomfortable, sudden sensation of ice water on the skin. Soak for 20 minutes at a time, up to three to four times a day. After the first two to three days, warm sitz baths will improve blood flow to the perineum. Check with your physician before adding medications such as epsom salts to the bath.

The FDA has recently approved Lybrel, the first low-dose contraceptive pill that gives women an option to stop their menstrual cycle for an indefinite period of time.

About Lybrel:
It is the newest form of birth control approved by the FDA. The drug is developed by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, which contains 90 micrograms of levonorgestrel and 20 micrograms of ethinyl estradiol, a combination similar to that found in other low-dose oral contraceptives.

It differs, however, with other contraceptive pills because it replaces the four- to seven-day placebo pill with continuous daily dosing for nonstop birth control with no menstrual periods.

What is a contraceptive patch?

A contraceptive patch is a transdermal patch applied to the skin that releases synthetic estrogen and progestin hormones to prevent pregnancy. They are thought to have the same effectiveness as the combined oral contraceptive pill. Currently the only publicly available contraceptive patch is marketed under the brand name Ortho Evra. Contraceptive patches are often referred to by the slang term “the patch”.

How does it work?

The Health Blog launches its new blog feature which tackles on family planning. Basically, it will give information about the current methods of family planning, its advantages and disadvantages, etc. This is to help families to decide on which family planning methods to use.

Planning for your family basically means you love them. It means you are planning for their future. Further, you value the health of the mother. Through using contraception, a woman could avoid high-risk pregnancies thereby improving her health by making it possible for her to have children when she is physically and mentally prepared for it. Proper birth spacing allows the mother to have sufficient time to recover her health. Maternal risks related to pregnancy and child delivery are greatly reduced. At the same time, the baby is given enough care, attention, and nourishment before another child is born.

So you have just given birth and are currently nursing your newborn child when suddenly an old familiar feeling starts to creep in. It might start as a fleeting, barely noticeable craving that slowly or suddenly turns into a gnawing desire. Before you know it, your sex drive is in high gear once again. You might feel that your body is not up to it yet, but your libido surely is. So what does one hot mama do when she starts to long for some loving?

Mothers need to let their body heal after giving birth before engaging in sex whether they have given birth normally or by C-section. Medical experts suggest that new moms wait for six weeks from giving birth before having sexual intercourse again. Ultimately though, it is up to the woman to decide whether she is already ready to sex or not. If you have just given birth but feel ready to get into some bedroom action, there are smart and safe ways to have sex again.

A study published in the New England Journal found out that the same virus that causes cervical cancer, which is the human papillomavirus or HPV, increases the risk of throat cancer for both men and women engaging in oral sex.

The study involved 100 patients with throat cancer and 200 without it, found that those infected with the human papillomavirus (HPV) were 32 times as likely to develop one form of oral cancer than those free of the virus. This makes it clear that oral HPV infection is a risk factor for throat cancer. The research suggests that unprotected oral sex is a major reason people are contracting throat cancer — not just smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, as previously believed.

A German study found out that natural family planning method is as effective as the contraceptive pill provided it was taught properly and carried out correctly. The symptothermal method (STM) assesses fertility levels during the monthly cycle by measuring body temperature, and observing cervical secretions.

Oftentimes, the major reason for not having family planning, especially in developing countries, is financial constraints. The efficacy of natural methods is oftentimes questioned, even by health professionals, so many mothers wouldn’t resort to it.

Yahoo Health News - A chemical in male sweat can boost mood, brain activity and sexual arousal in heterosexual women, according to a new study released just in time for Valentine’s Day.

The study offers the first direct evidence that humans secrete a scent that can affect the physiology of the opposite sex, said researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. Their findings were published this week in The Journal of Neuroscience.

“This is the first time anyone has demonstrated that a change in women’s hormonal levels is induced by sniffing an identified compound of male sweat,” said study leader Claire Wyart, a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley. “There is much more going on than we think when we are smelling body odor.”