Women's Health (cont.)
Motherhood
A woman who has children devotes a large proportion of her life to
motherhood. Although a woman's fertility is limited roughly to a 40
year period, her mothering responsibilities may last considerably
longer -- 60 years or so. And most mothers never cease being
concerned about the health and welfare of their children (and
grandchildren), no matter what their ages. A mother is a mother
forever.
During the
time of motherhood, a woman is responsible not only for maintaining her own
health but also for maximizing the health of her family. Roughly one-third of
all children in this country (19 million) live apart from their fathers, which
means that society still relies on mothers to protect and nurture their
children.
Menopause
The term
menopause is used to describe an event or a period of time in a woman's life. In
some contexts, it is used to designate a period of a number of years, typically
the time when a woman is in her 40's through the decade of her 50's and beyond.
Strictly speaking, menopause is the date of a woman's last menstruation and is
associated with the cessation of ovulation. A woman is said to have experienced menopause when she has had 12 consecutive months without a menstrual period. On the average, menopause occurs
around 51 years of age. The menopausal process,
however, actually begins in the early 40's or earlier. Diminishing
sex hormone levels can be measured in a woman in her mid-30's.
"Menopausal" women represent a major component of the population.
There are 30 million menopausal women in North America and 21 million
baby boomers will reach menopause in the first 10 years of the new millennium.
Menopause
has often been referred to as "the change of life" because it is a time in a
woman's life when menstruation stops and she can no longer bear children.
Symptoms of menopause may include:
Until the 1950's, society's attitude was that menopause is a woman's destiny and she should just accept it. Now there are many medical strategies to cope with the symptoms of menopause. Women are encouraged to think of menopause not as a cataclysmic event in life, but merely as a time of transition.
Next: The Mature Woman - Post Menopause »
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