Valley Health Magazine

By Patty Neufeld

The general public tends to believe that pregnancy and having a baby is a time of emotional wellbeing for women and their families. Celebrity images, advertising campaigns, movies, our mother’s and other women's experiences' all contribute to our ideas about what birth and pregnancy is (and should be) like. Although it's true for many women that birth is a joy unlike any other, a substantial number of women experience depression and anxiety symptoms that can make pregnancy and motherhood one of the most stressful times in their lives. Recent studies indicate that during pregnancy and the year after giving birth, about one in eight women will experience significant levels of depression.

By Kaye M. Riolo M.D., and John F. Burnett M.D.

Breast reconstruction is usually thought of in conjunction with mastectomy, or removal of the breast, for breast cancer. While this is by far the most common underlying reason for reconstruction, there are also partial defects, deformities and imbalances caused by cancer treatment, as well as  congenital asymmetry (breasts of different shapes/sizes), underdevelopment or even absence of the breast that can be improved or corrected by breast reconstruction.

By Mikell S. Parsons, D.C.

We live in a world of microscopic organisms. There are literally BUGS (bacteria, yeast, parasites and viruses) everywhere, inside and outside of our bodies. We are crawling with critters. Sounds like a horror film, right? Yet, they are supposed to be there, and they do very specific things (like make vitamin B12).