Archive for January, 2008

Nepalese Wives Send Condoms To Husbands Overseas

Women who live in a village in Nepal have been taking their husband’s health into their own hands. They have been mailing condoms to their husbands who are working overseas. They are attempting to protect their husbands from sexually transmitted diseases. In Pang, a small village town in Nepal, wives generally believe the best in their husbands. In this country, there are about three million people who are working overseas and sending money back to their families. Most of these are husbands, who are sending the money back to wives and their children.

Most of the men work as manual laborers, and send the money home to support their families. During the same time that the men have been overseas working for money, social workers have been visiting the mountain towns. This is part of the goals of the government of Nepal, which include education about sexually transmitted diseases. The social worker’s goals are to educate women and teenagers in small mountain towns that have little access to any other types of sexual education.

As they have been educating the woman, they have been teaching them the dangers of having unprotected sex. The education of the women has led to a landslide of letters being sent to the husbands who are currently working overseas. It seems that the more the women learn about sexually transmitted diseases the more that they want to protect themselves and their husbands. They have been sending their husbands regular letters which urge them to not have unprotected sex with others.

However, they have been including condoms in the letters, just in case. Laxmi Sunar, who is one of the village wives, says that as she started to learn about how you could get HIV from unsafe sexual practices, she wanted to make sure that her husband had the same knowledge, and that he would be protected.

She sent the information that she had learned to her husband in a letter, but also included a condom in the letter, just incase he decided to have sexual relations. With so many husbands working overseas, the idea has become more of a way to educate the women in order to have them educate their husbands. This is becoming the best way of cutting back on sexually transmitted diseases within the country, but also abroad, as the men are getting the education from their wives in the letters, and are hopefully thinking twice if they decide to have sexual relations while they are working abroad.

It might not be the most traditional way of providing sex education, but it seems to be working for the most part. The biggest problem with sexually transmitted diseases in Nepal has thus far been lack of education. The people living there simply don’t know that it is dangerous, and are therefore more likely to engage in activities that might be harmful to them. The social workers are hoping that by educating the women, the knowledge will spread, and hopefully they will be able to curb the rise of sexually transmitted diseases in that area.

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Filed under Womens Info : Comments (0) : Jan 24th, 2008

Loud Snoring During Pregnancy

Lack of sleep and an irregular sleep pattern are both known causes of snoring. Women who do not normally suffer from loud snoring may find themselves suddenly doing so during pregnancy. Most pregnant women will suffer from either or both of these causes during pregnancy, particularly in the later stages of pregnancy.

During the third trimester, the frequent trips to the toilet and the limited sleeping positions decrease the amount of deep sleep a pregnant woman needs.

Studies show that 30% of pregnant women find themselves snoring during pregnancy. Pregnancy itself may result in snoring. As a mother-to-be’s abdomen grows, the uterus presses on the diaphragm making it difficult to breath. This is particularly the case during sleep and will cause snoring. Of course nasal congestion is also a prime contributor.

The Danger of Snoring

Although usually dismissed as an annoyance, loud snoring can be dangerous, especially in pregnant women. It may be a warning sign that there is a larger problem at hand. If her loud snoring is coupled with sleepiness during the daytime, headaches and swollen legs, she could be suffering from hypertension, preeclampsia, and intrauterine growth restriction.

Snoring can also starve the fetus of oxygen. Snoring during pregnancy could result in the growth retardation of the fetus, or worse, maternal death. Snoring is a real danger to both mother and child during pregnancy. Pregnant women who discover they are snoring are advised to tell their doctor. Not only for the baby’s safety, but her own, as well.

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Filed under Woman Health : Comments (0) : Jan 16th, 2008

Menopausal Women In Rural Areas

Well, there’s an assumption that women who live in the countryside suffer from menopause more then others. Let’s have a look whether it is wrong or right.

Menopause is a special time for any woman and it can be physically and psychologically unsettling in a woman’s life. It is a time of hot flashes, night sweats, poor sleep and ever-changing mood shifts. These debilitating symptoms can significantly interfere with family life, close or distant relationships and work. And the fact is that the impact of menopause often depends on where a woman is in her life. And in rural areas it is much harder to cope with menopause. Why? Let’s see.

First of all, there’s the lack of female rural doctors. You can’t deny it. But country women want better medical expertise on the subject of menopause. They need better healthcare support that is impossible in rural areas at present. As a result, lack of access to health care and support groups make menopausal experience especially stressful for such women.

Second of all, there’s lack of psychological support. Country women (and all women, beg your pardon) entering menopause seek some sympathy. But, unfortunately, countryside can’t provide them with reliable information and mere human understanding. Of course, there such thing as Internet, TV and mass-media, but, to tell you the truth, I personally don’t believe that these things can give you comfort and consolation in such issues as menopause. They just give a certain amount of conflicting information. Hence, country women are left alone in their confusion and distress.

Third of all, country women have to perform multiple care-giving roles. You can deny it, but this is true, they have much more occupations and responsibilities than other women. Having no time and to think and care about such things as menopause, country women are often deeply surprised by the intensity of the psychological, physical and social consequences of menopause when it strikes them.

What can be done about it? Actually I can see at least two options here. One of them is to offer holistic care and comprehensive support to rural women going through the menopause. I believe, it would enhance the women’s well-being as they go through menopause and enable them to optimize their health. Another option would be to train female community leaders to deliver local information sessions and help to set up support groups.

And last but not least. Menopause is a significant life event affecting millions of women globally. And women living in rural communities should not be forgotten.

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Filed under Sexuality : Comments (0) : Jan 6th, 2008