Category Archives: Primary Care

Cervical cancer vaccine approved

By The Midwife | Published: June 19, 2006

The FDA has recently approved Gardasil, Merck’s vaccine that helps prevent cervical cancer caused by Human Papilloma virus (HPV) strains 6, 11, 16 and 18. This is incredibly exciting news, since this is the first vaccine to target cervical cancer, and the first ever vaccine for cancer, period (amazing! a vaccine for cancer!!!). The vaccine [...]

Also posted in Gynecology, New Products, STIs, Women's Health | Leave a comment

Contra-contraception

By The Midwife | Published: May 11, 2006

Better late than never: check out this article from the New York Times magazine last weekend, which featured a long, in-depth look at the growing anti-contraception movement in America. A few highlights includes a detailed description of the entire Plan B over-the-counter approval-process debacle which happened last year, culminating in the resignation of Susan Woods, [...]

Also posted in Choice, Contraception, Feminism, Politics, Sex and Sexuality | Leave a comment

New treatments for menopause: still not that helpful

By The Midwife | Published: May 4, 2006

Interesting article in the New York times on new therapies for menopause, including anti-depressants, anti-hypertensives, and anti-seizure drugs. While these drugs seem to show some promise when it comes to helping hot flashes, none of them come close to hormones. How frustrating! What are we supposed to offer to women to help them? Especially when [...]

Also posted in Menopause, Women's Health | 2 Comments

Reassuring women with abnormal paps

By The Midwife | Published: May 2, 2006

My friend and I spent a fair chunk of time this morning going over the management of abnormal pap smears. How ironic, then, to come home and turn on my computer and find this story on the BBC website about the high levels of anxiety women feel when they’re told they have an abnormal pap [...]

Also posted in Gynecology, Research, Women's Health | 1 Comment

The anti-birth control/anti-abortion band wagon

By The Midwife | Published: March 23, 2006

Seems like ever since the FDA announced that two more women have died after taking RU-486, one of the drugs used during a medical abortion, the abortion debate has reached a new pitch as pro-lifers have eagerly added this news to their arsenal and pro-choicers have feverishly girded themselves for pitched battle. Naturally, this has [...]

Also posted in Choice, Contraception, Feminism, Politics | 1 Comment

Ovulating while breastfeeding

By The Midwife | Published: March 6, 2006

A friend of a friend recently asked me a question that I couldn’t answer. She is in her late 30s, has a two year old daughter, and has been breastfeeding on demand for the past two years. She and her husband have been trying to have another child, but she just recently learned that she [...]

Also posted in Breastfeeding, Fertility and Conception, Menstruation, Miscarriage, Questions | 8 Comments

IUD Insertion!

By The Midwife | Published: February 24, 2006

I inserted my first IUD today! I did it mostly on my own, with my preceptor checking my sounding and talking me through the procedure, and I was amazed by how simple it was. After learning all of the steps in school, and being tested on them during our IUD check-outs, it seemed like a [...]

Also posted in Clinicals, Contraception, Education | 1 Comment

The Keeper

By The Midwife | Published: February 9, 2006

We’ve been talking so much about menstruation lately that it seems only natural that the subject of alternative menstrual gear would come up at some point. In fact, just last week we were talking about it after class one day, and I ended up bringing my Keeper to school with me to show to a [...]

Also posted in Feminism, Menstruation, New Products, The Soapbox, Women's Health | 7 Comments

FemSpec and Beyond

By The Midwife | Published: January 26, 2006

Our midwifery department arranged a special treat for us today: a demonstration of the brand new speculum that’s out on the market, FemSpec. Looks pretty strange, doesn’t it? Has anyone ever used one of these things? Supposedly it works much better than a regular speculum because it doesn’t allow the vaginal walls to collapse inward [...]

Also posted in Gynecology, New Products, Women's Health | Leave a comment

Lions and tigers and tenaculums, oh my!

By The Midwife | Published: January 24, 2006

The IUD, I’m beginning to learn, is a much maligned form of contraception. It got a terrible reputation in the US because of all of the furor surrounding the Dalkon Shield in the 1970s, however, the two modern versions of the IUD (ParaGaurd, aka The Copper-T, and Mirena, aka The Hormonal One) are actually safe, [...]

Also posted in Academia, Contraception, Education | 9 Comments