To ensure a healthy pregnancy, you must attend your antenatal check-ups regularly. Although most pregnancies proceed normally, these visits and investigations are vital to monitor your progress and spot problems before any harm is done. Women at high risk, and those women with an existing condition such as diabetes or having a Rhesus negative blood group, are carefully monitored so that the baby's welfare is never in jeopardy. You will attend an antenatal clinic at either the hospital where you will have your baby or at your doctor's surgery. Most of the women attend once a month or so up until 7 ...

If it looks as if the baby will be born at home without medical assistance, you should telephone the hospital or the midwife if you haven't done so already. If you haven't got a telephone, on no account should you leave the mother alone. However anxious and overwhelmed you are, you must stay calm and reassure her - she needs to feel confident and relaxed. Encourage her to take up any positions in which she feels most comfortable and to eat and drink if she feels like it. Speak quietly and keep any onlookers at bay. Between contractions Turn up the heating in ...

Human Papillomavirus ( HPV ) is a common virus that affects both females and males. is spread through skin-to-skin contact and infects about alf of all sexually active men and women at some point their lives. There are more than 100 types of HPV, most of which cause infection without any symptoms and will clear. However, some strains of the virus can cause infections with serious consequences. About 30 types of HPV are known as genital HPV since they affect the genital area. Some types can cause cervical cancer or abnormal in the lining of the cervix that could turn into cancer. ...