The human heart is an intricate organ. Its right side receives blood flowing from the body and pumps it to the lungs to receive oxygen, while the left side receives the oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and pumps it into the body. Your unborn...
Miscarriage is a devastating emotional event, and traumatic both mentally and physically to a woman. It is an event that no woman wants to experience, and to worry if a miscarriage is happening or not makes the entire process more difficult. There...
A pregnancy test that diagnosed pregnancy the morning after conception would make a fortune. Whether they're hoping for a "yes" or a "no" answer, millions of women each year anxiously await the answer results of a test that tells them whether or...
There is no specific test to diagnose polycystic ovary disease. This disorder, also called polycystic ovary syndrome, is believed to be linked to genetic causes and high insulin levels. The illness is often identified via a process of...
A woman's pregnancy is typically dated in weeks, with the start date at her last menstrual period. The weeks up to the 12th week are typically known as the first trimester. The process begins with a sperm penetrating the egg, forming a zygote. The...
There are a number of reasons why a female would opt for artificial insemination. One such cause is if the woman's partner suffers from mild infertility (a condition in which the male has either abnormally low numbers of sperm, or if the sperm...
Spotty bleeding after menopause may indicate a serious health problem. It is critical to seek immediate medical care for this problem. The American College of Gynecologists states: "Spotting after menopause is often a symptom of endometrial or...
Bleeding after menopause can be alarming. It's very common, though, and the good news is that, in most instances, it doesn't signal a serious condition. Don't panic if you see bleeding or spotting after your periods have stopped for 12 months, but...
Detection of a normal heartbeat in an unborn baby is one measure of the overall health of the pregnancy. An unborn baby has a heartbeat very early in the pregnancy, when the fetus is still in the embryonic stage. Exactly when a doctor can detect a...
One of the most exciting moments of pregnancy for parents-to-be, is the sight or sound of the beating fetal heart. By the time the heart is able to be heard when amplified by fetal Doppler, around nine to ten weeks of pregnancy, says the Dr. Spock...
Clomid is the mildest of fertility drugs, given to women who have been having difficulty conceiving. Clomid stimulates ovulation in women who don't ovulate on their own. It also works for women who do ovulate, but have low hormone levels that are...
Because it's socially unacceptable for women to have facial hair, they often try different removal methods. If you notice an increase in facial hair growth and a change in texture of the hair, consult your doctor to figure out what is causing the...
Many new parents anxiously await the chance to hear their baby's heartbeat for the first time. Although the heart develops fairly quickly after conception and can be visibly detected, it takes several weeks to be able to hear it. The age of your...
One method of treating breast cancer involves the use of treatments that affect the actions of hormones. One such treatment is tamoxifen. However, because tamoxifen has effects throughout the body, this form of treatment is not without its side...
Your baby's placenta attaches to the inside of your uterus early in pregnancy. As the uterus grows, the placenta attachment site typically moves away from the cervix, or opening to the uterus, and toward the top, or fundus, of the uterus. However,...
Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) tend to have certain symptoms in common. All women with polycystic ovary syndrome will have irregular menstrual cycles. They may miss their periods occasionally or frequently and they may have no...
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a medical procedure in which eggs and sperm are fertilized in the laboratory and the resulting fertilized eggs or embryos are returned to the mother to establish a pregnancy. Physicians use variations on this...
Also called polyfollicular ovarian disease or Stein-Leventhal Syndrome, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) refers to a condition in which several small cysts in the female reproductive organs called ovaries affect a woman's chances of getting...
The Fallopian tubes are organs in the female reproductive system that connect the uterus to the ovaries. The ovaries store eggs that are then released into the tubes during ovulation and then either fertilized or leave the body during...
At six weeks, some doctors perform a sonogram, also called an ultrasound, to determine the health or viability of the developing embryo. This is generally the earliest that anything is visible on an ultrasound, although at this point it will not...
Every woman is born with a set supply of eggs. Each egg is contained within a structure called a follicle, which is comprised of layers of ovarian cells surrounding fluid which provides nutrients for the egg. Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FHS) is...
Once menopause occurs, vaginal bleeding normally ceases. Any type of vaginal bleeding that occurs in the postmenopausal period is abnormal and fits into a category sometimes known as dysfunctional uterine bleeding, or DUB. Postmenopausal bleeding...
Pregnancy levels are measured by testing blood or urine levels of beta hCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin, which is produced by cells that form the placenta. Only blood tests give an exact reading of hCG levels, and are often done serially to...
As an expectant mom, one of your early concerns during the first trimester will be, 'When can I hear my baby's heartbeat?' In previous decades, a stethoscope-like device was the only available tool, and only the doctor could actually hear the...
You've got a new life growing inside you. Though you cannot see your baby, he is growing and changing day by day and week by week. Your baby grows from the size of a pinhead to somewhere between 19 and 21 inches. She starts out as a group of...
The National Cancer Institute estimates that in 2009 more than 20,000 American women were diagnosed with, and over 14,000 women died from, ovarian cancer. Because of the difficulty in detecting ovarian cancer, this disease is known as a "silent...
The National Institutes of Health suggests that up to 10 percent of women experience vaginal bleeding at some point during pregnancy. The bleeding most often occurs during the first trimester. Bleeding in the first half of pregnancy can often be...
There are several different types of signs and symptoms that can indicate pregnancy. They are called presumptive, probable and positive signs. Presumptive signs are symptoms that could be caused from pregnancy, but could also be caused by another...
Overview An intrauterine pregnancy is a “normal” pregnancy. That is, a fertilized egg implants itself in the wall of the uterus, where the placenta can develop and the fetus can grow. Fertilized eggs that implant themselves...
Uterine Sarcoma is a malignant tumor in the uterine wall. Get expert tips and advice on preventing, diagnosing, and treating uterine cancer in this video.
Symptoms of ectopic pregnancies. Learn about obstetrics from a doctor in this video on understanding pregnancy.
