While men and women often suffer from the same health conditions, the fact is that many affect women differently. For instance, heart disease in women tends to manifest in different ways than in men. On the other hand, there are many medical concerns that women have that men simply do not; more to the point, women have to deal with issues concerning their reproductive systems, specifically pregnancy and cancer, that men never will.
Consider, 4 million babies are born every year in the United States. 3% of those children will be born with a birth defect, and, as the Centers for Disease Control states, those birth defects will account for nearly 20% of the infant mortality rate in this country. These are just two issues that women alone must combat with doctors specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. Cervical cancer, a disease affecting more than 11,800 and killing nearly 4,000 women every year, according to the CDC, can also be prevented, detected, and treated with the help of OBGYN doctors.
Prenatal Care
The benefits of prenatal care cannot be overstated. Subsequently, the average American woman will have 15 visits with her OB GYN doctor for prenatal care. PregancyCorner.com writes that during prenatal care your obstetrics and gynecology doctor can help you devise a healthy diet, prescribe medications, including prenatal vitamins, and do prenatal testing to check for any birth defects ahead of time.
Plan for Possible Birth Defects
One of the most important services obstetrics and gynecology doctors offer is education. Especially when prenatal testing has revealed a possible problem, your OBGYN can help educate you on what you can expect and may be able to help you reduce the impact of any birth effects on both you and your child. For example, did you know that taking too much vitamin A during pregnancy can cause and exacerbate defects in the head, heart, brain, and spinal cord? This is just one bit of information your OBGYN can provide on preventing and managing birth problems.
Cervical Cancer
Of course, pregnancy is not the only condition that is uniquely a women’s issue. Cervical cancer rates have increased at an alarming rate over the last 40 years, according to WebMD. As with any type of cancer, detection is the best line of defense any of us have. Obstetrics and gynecology doctors can use a pap smear to check for changes in cervical cells. The cervix is the lowest part of the uterus which opens into the vagina. Doing this test along with those for HPV, according to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, is the best way to detect cervical cancer early.
For every way they are alike, men and women are equally different. Specifically when it comes to reproductive issues, women need to find specialized medical care that can protect them through pregnancy, child birth, and female-only cancers. For this, obstetrics and gynecology doctors are the only choice. More: www.thegroupforwomen.com