written by Sharon Lenton,CNM

Having fewer periods per year has been proven to provide great benefits to some women. Scientific research has shown that continuous cycling of birth control pills can decrease your risk for ovarian and endometrial cancer. If you have painful, heavy periods or suffer from PMS this method can help to reduce these symptoms.

Normally women have a period (or vaginal bleeding) for one week each month, as a result of the breakdown of the lining of the uterus because a pregnancy did not occur. During a woman's reproductive life, there are approximately 450 periods or 13 per year. Birth control pills can affect this process by preventing the lining from building up and suppressing ovulation (the release of an egg). The period that they have, called a withdrawal bleed, is the result of hormone levels dropping during the "pill free" or placebo week. Placebos are also commonly known as "sugar pills" because they are unmedicated and used to help you to keep track of where you are in your birth control pill cycle.

What are teens thinking, saying and doing? We realize that talking to your teen about sex is not easy and that is why we want to help lay down the foundation you need as a parent to educate and communicate with your teen regarding sex. The goal of this seminar is to help give mothers and/or fathers the tools and information that will help your kids make the right decision.

Rita-Marie Goudreau, CNM will be our speaker. This seminar will be held in our Stafford office on Tuesday, June 21, 2005 from 6:30pm-7:30pm. Be sure to bring a friend!

Light refreshments will be served.

written by Mariel Barrios-Riebe

It was a cold, icy night in late January 2004. We finally made it to Potomac Hospital around 8:00pm after a slow drive in the ice and a quick trip by KFC's drive- thru. My labor contractions had started around 3:00 that afternoon. At 5:00pm my water broke and then I knew for sure that our baby was coming. I called my husband to come back home and started to get my bags packed in our van.

As we did for our first birth experience with our little Noah, now 3 years old, my husband and I studied, talked, read, practiced relaxation techniques, we did all we could including taking the Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth classes in order to have a natural birth. We were trying to avoid all medication and have little or no intervention if possible. We had discussed our plans in depth with Dr. Adler and all the midwives throughout the pregnancy so that everyone would be on the same page. Dr. Adler has always been very supportive of natural childbirth. With my firstborn I had endured a 21-hour labor from the time with water broke so we were certainly ready for a long night this time too.

In case you haven't heard, for our patients who have Internet access, we'd like to introduce you to a wonderful new service that will make your life easier. Now if you need to contact our office for non-urgent requests for appointments, prescription renewals, test results, and quick non-medical questions (such as "Do I need blood work before my next appointment?"), you can go to our website at www.adlercenter.com and send us your request.

This process allows our patients to send us messages anytime, day or night, however please keep in mind that we only respond to messages during our regular business hours. Also, remember that this service is for messages that can wait at least 24 hours for a response. If you need a response in less time than that, you should use the telephone. You'll find that contacting us has never been easier when you use our website instead of the phone for your non-urgent requests. This is a major convenience, so don't forget to bookmark this site when you use it.

We look forward to your comments and suggestions.

The service that provides us this capability, www.MDhub.com is secure and encrypted, and even though all your information will be kept confidential as part of your medical record, you should never discuss confidential medical problems over the Internet.

I have been a medical assistant with the Adler Center since the summer of 2002. I'm hispanic, and fluent in Spanish. My family is from Columbia, South America. I am the first generation of my family to grow up in the United States. I've lived in Virginia all of my life. My husband, James and I were recently married in October 2004.

Someone once gave me a plaque that said the name Sandra meant "helper of mankind" and I really do believe that. I enjoy patient care and take a lot of pride in my work. Working as a medical assistant has been very fulfilling - so much so that I am now in nursing school. I'm lucky because I enjoy my work and not many people in this world do.

What is a baby story? Well, it's a story that is written by a new mom which tells about her experience with delivering her baby through the Adler Center. By sharing these stories, new patients can see what delivering with the Adler Center is like, family and friends can read about your birth and see pictures on our website, you can brag about your experience through labor and help other mothers prepare by allowing them to read about your experience.

We encourage moms that have delivered not only recently, but even if they delivered with us several years ago to share their story(s). It's always interesting to see what other people go through during their pregnancy and delivery. Click here to read some of the baby stories already published in our E-Newsletters and on our website.

So far, our subscribers have loved reading our baby stories each month. Many people have told us that they can't wait until the next E-Newsletter to read another! If your baby was delivered by The Adler Center, and you would like to share your experience on our E-Newsletter and website, we urge you to write an article and email it to us. Don't forget to send a picture to go along with the article!

What topics would you like to learn about? We select topics for this E-Newsletter based on concerns we hear about in the office and the latest medical news. If you have a health issue you'd like to read about, a seminar topic you'd like to hear about, or any suggestions about how to better our practice - please let us know. We welcome your suggestions and comments!