Before Pregnancy:

Females should make sure that vaccinations are up to date and be screened for all sexually transmitted diseases.

A complete physical examination and nutritional counseling will help ensure that the woman is in good physical condition to carry a pregnancy to term. During a preconception visit there are a few things that should be discussed including exposure to Rubella, your vaccination history, toxoplasmosis screening, controlling any chronic diseases like diabetes or epilepsy, managing any medications taken, assess any occupational risks, and assess any substance risk.

Prepregnant and pregnant women should always ask any physician prescribing medications to check to be sure they are safe to be taken by pregnant women. She should also carefully read all over the counter medications before taking them and also run them by her obstetrician or midwife before taking any over the counter medications.

Women who suffer from diabetes, epilepsy, are obese, have lupus or other medical conditions deemed risky by your physician should be addressed at your preconception appointment.

Folic acid is vital for pregnancy and women should start taking supplements that contain folic acid before they become pregnant. The neural tube must close by about 4 weeks of post conception which is before most women know they are pregnant so it is important that all women who have any chance at all of becoming pregnant should be taking 400 mcg of folic acid each and every day.

If the woman or her partner have any medical history for birth defects or are in a high-risk group due to age, ethnic background or medical history a genetic appointment should be made prior to pregnancy to access your risk factor. Genetic testing and gene therapy are two popular aspects of prepregnancy planning. During the genetic appointment you can learn about prenatal testing that can be done to alleviate any concerns about possible birth defects.

During Pregnancy:

The most important things that all pregnant women can do during pregnancy to prevent birth defects is to take really good care of their body during pregnancy. Here are some healthy habits:

Avoid smoking and secondhand smoke

Avoid alcohol

Avoid illicit drugs

Eat a healthy diet

Take prenatal vitamins that include folic acid

Exercise

Get plenty of rest

Get early and regular prenatal care

Follow the advice of your prenatal care team and ask questions about any aspects of your pregnancy that concern you.

Women need to be especially careful when it comes to hormones. They plan an important role in when it comes to speeding up or slowing down certain chemical reactions within your body on a cellular level. Hormones affect metabolism, your sexual drive, and your fertility. for women, the three main hormones are: estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. You may hear them referred to as the "steroid hormones" because they regulate certain aspects of your growth. These three hormones influence your sexual drive. As women age the levels of these hormones decreases

Having AIDS disease, will have an affect on your body's ability to not only produce these hormones but to regulate the levels of these hormones. When these hormones are out of whack, your body does not function properly.

A woman can experience the following as a result of a hormonal imbalance:

Irregularieties in her menstrual cycle.

Weight loss

Your mood and or behavior by undergo change

Your normal sleep pattern may also change

You may experience a decrease in bone density

Feel fatiqued

Feel depressed

Have a decreased sexual drive

difficulty having orgasms

Your vagina may become thin, dry or may easily tear

You may experience difficulty conceiving a child

You may have a difficult pregnancy

A woman's body is very sensitive to any drop in testosterone level. A drop may cause the woman to experience weight loss, muscle loss, feelings of depression, moodiness, increase your feeling of being tired or fatigued. Your doctor may perform two different testosterone tests: Total testosterone and free testosterone. If these levels are abnormal your doctor may prescribe testosterone or anabolic steroids to help with weight loss, your lowered sex drive and any other HIV-related symptoms that may be related to your testosterone levels. Your doctor may refer you to a endocrinologist, a specialist to assist in handling your testosterone replacement therapy. Testosterone supplements come in a variety of forms: injectibles, creams, gels, patches, and tablets. Your levels will need to be monitored as too much testosterone can cause mood changes, your clitoris to become swollen and even facial hair.

Your levels of estrogen and progesterone will also be checked to see if they are normal for HIV positive women. Progesterone is what some call the "feel good" hormone because it has an effect on your mood, your sex drive and how your metabolism functions. It is an important hormone during pregnancy. Some contraceptives like the popular Norplant and Depo-Provera and progesterone-only birth control pills contain progesterone and eh HIV positive woman should use caution when using these for any length of time. Speak with your doctor if you are taking any of these and you are missing periods, or if your cycles become shorter or longer or you experience increased pre-menstrual symptoms. Your doctor will want ot check your estrogen level if you are experiencing bone density changes.

Light meals boost your metabolism without making you feel as slow or sluggish as a heavier meal can. A light chicken salad will keep you alert for the rest of your work day, where a cheeseburger and fries will have you wanting a nap a few hours later.

Also, light meals and snacks make it easier for you to lose those pesky pounds. Though it seems counter-intuitive, eating more frequently can help you lose weight. When you're not going through long stretches of hunger, you have less urge to stuff yourself when you finally find food.

It can be hard to get away from infrequent, heavy meals. Fast food restaurants and vending machines make it all too easy to snack whenever we get hungry and at nicer establishments, the portions tend to be large.

There are lots of tips to eating lighter meals, and the ones below can help you get started.

* One major step towards lightening your meals (and you weight!) is to plan your meals. If you make a list of the groceries that you need, you can combine the ingredients in new ways to make altogether new meals. One real convenience available to the modern busy person is the internet; some services will deliver your groceries to your door for a small fee. Save time and money, and eat better as well!

* Salads! Forget your iceberg lettuce disappointments. Salads are versatile and can be complete meals on their own if you get creative. Sprinkling some shredded chicken can make a salad more filling and if you skip the French or Thousand Island and replace it with a healthy vinaigrette, you add zest and lose calories.

* Bread! Using starch as a basis of a meal gives it some heft without making it as heavy as using pasta or noodles. Small loaves of bread rather than sliced loaves make for an interesting change and buying wheat and wholegrain instead of white cuts a surprising amount of sugar out of your diet.

* Don't forget dessert. There is no reason to remove healthy sugars from your diet; in fact, it can be harmful. Even for those of us who don't have a die-hard sweet tooth, the urge to reach for a candy bar can be pretty overwhelming. Finishing up your meal with a fruit cup or a granola bar can help you satisfy that sweet craving without breaking out the Twinkies.

- In the year of 1958, the disease known as AIDS struck its first victim. A man by the name of David Carr began to become very ill, expressing mysterious symptoms such as pneumocystis carinii. The following year, he died. The disease was still unknown at that point, and tissue samples from Carr showed to be HIV positive when tested in 1990.

- 1959 also showed the first active HIV infection. A man in the Congo proved to be positive for two of six of the genes that make up the AIDS disease. His blood was preserved and later tested. Consequently, the first case of AIDS in America occurred in 1959. A Haitian man in New York City died of pneumocystis carinii, a common problem for those with AIDS. Dr. Gordon Hennigar examined the man's corpse and believed AIDS was responsible for the death.

- 1969 was the next time that AIDS would show itself in America. A teenager in St. Louis was found to have died of an illness that left his doctors clueless. In 1987, tests confirmed that the boy had indeed died of AIDS.

- In 1975, symptoms of AIDS began to appear throughout Africa. In the following few years, the disease would begin to find its way around the world. In 1976, a Norwegian sailor died of AIDS that he likely contracted in Africa in the 1960's. In 1977 a man from Denmark and a woman from San Francisco were found to be infected with the disease, with both cases coming from the African continent. The woman in San Francisco had given birth to three children who also carried the disease.

- HIV-2 was first diagnosed in 1978, occurring in a Portuguese man who claimed he probably got infected in Guinea-Bissau.

- In 1980, a man named Gaetan Dugas traveled to the bathhouses of New York and likely introduced the disease to America in a major way. He became known as "Patient Zero" due to the wide spread of the infection that he caused.

- In 1984, the HIV virus as we know it became officially recognized by the United States. Dr. Robert Gallo was credited with discovering the virus as well as stating his belief that the virus was what was actually causing AIDS. Until this point, there were suspicions that various activities common in the homosexual community were responsible for the contraction of the disease, such as the use of amyl nitrate 'poppers'. Robert Gallo would be instrumental in further pushing our understanding of the disease later on, as he discovered that a compound known as chemokines can be helpful in slowing the progression of the disease in the year of 1996.

These are just a few of the landmark moments in our understanding of AIDS. As our knowledge continues to grow, we gain more and more hope that the disease is something that we will eventually be able to conquer.

The American Massage Therapy Association found in 2001 that massage clients have doubled since 1997. Healthcare professionals are recognizing the value of massage therapy and recommending to their patients to include massage therapy as part of their pain management treatment plan. As much as 54% of healthcare professionals, are in favor of using massage therapy, in additional to more traditional treatments. There was a study on back pain and massage therapy conducted in 2001 at the University of Miami that found that massage does lessen lower back pain, depression, anxiety and improved sleep. It also showed that massage improved range of motion and improved serotonin and dopamine levels (as reported in the International Journal of Neuroscience, 106, 131-145).

Research shows that massage has the following benefits to those who suffer from back pain:

> It improves blood circulation, which aids in the relief of sore muscles from physical activity

> It relaxes muscles so that range of motion can be improved

> Relaxation also improves sleep, which can be a problem for those who suffer from back pain

> It increases endorphin levels. These endorphins are chemicals that the body produces to make you feel good, which helps to manage pain

The massage therapy that has been the most beneficial to lower back pain sufferers has been "neuromuscular therapy". This therapy is also called "trigger point myotherapy". This is useful for those who suffer back pain as a result of muscle strain.

The technique uses alternating levels of concentrated pressure for the areas of spasming muscles. The therapists uses the fingers, knuckles and elbow to apply the pressure. The pressure should not vary for ten to thirty seconds, once applied to a spasm. When someone is suffering from back spasms the muscles are painful to the touch. The muscle is lacking in blood flow, which causes the pain. The blood brings oxygen to the muscle and without proper oxygen the muscle produces lactic acid. The lactic acid makes hte muscle feel sore after physical activity. Massage relaxes the muscle which in turn, releases the lactic acid from the muscle. Now the muscle should be receiving more blood and thus more oxygen.

This massage will feel painful at first until the lactic acid is released from the muscle. The therapist will respond to the physical level of pain as experienced by the client. The therapist will adjust the pressure based on what the client tells them. The massage should never be overly painful. The client will usually describe the pain as being a "good pain" when describing the pressure. The saying, "it hurts so good" comes to mind. The client should experience a fading of soreness following the therapy after 24 to 36 hours has passed. Muscles should remain relaxed following therapy for 4 to 14 days, depending on the amount of muscle stress experienced, your activity level and the severity of your pain level prior to the massage.

The different aspects that make up Chinese medicine all basically rely on the same principle, Yin and Yang. This is basically opposites attract, such as night and day, cold and warm, inner and outer. The basis behind it is to restore harmony and peace to the mind and body; the Chinese believe that by doing so we can eliminate many diseases and illnesses.

Qi is the life force that flows uninterrupted throughout the body, similar to blood throwing throughout the veins. It is when there is a disruption in this Qi that problems and illness occurs; restoring the flow of the Qi restores harmony and dissolves the symptoms of illness.

The two main components of Chinese medicine are acupuncture and herbal remedies.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture focuses on the Qi that flows throughout the body; it flows through points known as meridian points. While it is flowing freely we are healthy and happy, but if the channels should become blocked then the Qi stagnates and this leads to symptoms of various illnesses depending on where the Qi is blocked. It works by the acupuncturist restoring the normal flow of the Qi by stimulating certain points on the body.

Herbal medicine

Chinese herbal medicine is usually dispensed after acupuncture treatment although it can be used as a standalone. There are over a thousand common herbs that are used in combinations for various problems and illnesses. There are two main types of herbal remedies that are commonly used, these are "food herbs" and are generally eaten as part of the diet and are mainly used for prevention of disease and illness and maintenance. "Medicinal herbs" are usually prescribed by a Doctor of Chinese medicine and are specially prepared for the patient based on the individuals needs. The formula is made up from the patient's medical condition, the environment and the constitution of the person. Medicinal herbs are usually given alongside acupuncture treatment and used in conjunction with the "re-balancing" effects of acupuncture treatment.

The benefits of Chinese medicine are numerous and is has been thought to have helped many physical conditions along with affective disorders and increases mental clarity, here are just a few of the conditions it has been known to successfully treat.

* Sinusitis, bronchitis and asthma
* Conjunctivitis and cataracts
* Stroke, sciatica and osteoarthritis
* Faster recovery from injury
* Improved circulation
* Relief from stress and anxiety
* Relief from pain
* Strengthening of the immune system
* Addictions, phobias and eating disorders

One single cigar, depending on the type, contains as much tobacco as entire package of cigarettes. The average smoker smokes fourteen cigarettes daily. Yet, smoking one cigar can mean that the smoker gets more tobacco and the unhealthy ingredients in it, than the average smoker. For those who think that cigars are not addictive they should compare the amounts of nicotine found in a cigar to that in a cigarette. The average cigarette has only eight milligrams of nicotine while a cigar usually has no less than one hundred milligrams and can have anywhere from two to four hundred milligrams of nicotine. As well, the way a cigar is made it has in it more alkaline. This allows for more absorption of the nicotine making it that much easier for the smoker to become addicted to their cigar habit.

Most cigar smokers think that their habit is a healthier one because a larger portion of them are only periodic smokers. But, twenty five percent of cigar smokers are regular smokers and for those who enjoy their cigars regularly they should realize that even one cigar a day increases the chances of a variety of cancers including mouth, throat and lung cancers. The increased oral cancers are caused by the fact that most cigar smokers do not inhale. Therefore the smoke sits in the mouth longer. Those who enjoy up to two cigars daily double their risk factor, but those who smoke as many as four cigars daily increase the risk by eight times for oral cancers. Oddly those who smoke cigars are at a higher risk of early tooth loss. Another side effect of cigar smoking is a loss of function in the bedroom. This is often linked to the havoc that cigar smoking plays with a man's hormonal system, his circulation and nervous system. Impotence is a very real possibility for cigar smokers.

.Cigar smokers are also more likely to have to live with heart disease, chronic bronchitis and risk emphysema. Although the risk is slightly lower than a cigarette smoker because the cigar smoke is not inhaled it is still nearly fifty percent higher than the risks to a non-smoker. Too many men who smoke cigars believe that the fact that they do not inhale protects them from harm's way. They must realize that the health risks are very real and the secondhand smoke issues also put those at risk around them for diseases they do not deserve to be exposed to. If you are a cigar smoker quitting is the best thing you can do for your health.

Visit your dentist: If you are like most people, you stay on the go all the time. Your priority may not be going to the dentist. However, you should make it a priority. Not only can your dentist clean your teeth to make them look clean, your dentist can also perform x-rays and exams to determine whether or not you have other dental issues that need to be addressed. In addition, you can do something about those brittle and cracked teeth. Your dentist can repair those and it will give you the healthy smile you want.

Brush and floss: Your mother was right. You should brush and floss your teeth everyday. Most people brush at least twice a day, but you should also take the time to floss each day. When you brush and floss each day, you are removing tiny food particles that get stuck between your teeth and in the tiny crevices of the tooth's surface. If you don't take the time to remove these particles, it can cause plaque, which leads to tooth decay and cavities. In addition, brushing and flossing is very important to the health of your gums. You need healthy gums to keep your teeth in place. If your gums bleed or hurt, that is not normal and you should see your dentist.

Avoid sticky foods: Sticky and sweet foods are good to eat, but they are certainly not good for your teeth. When you foods that are laden with sugar, or are sticky, they can contribute to plaque and tooth decay. Even foods that are relatively healthy such as raisins and crackers can become stuck in your teeth. When you do eat these foods, make sure you brush.

Drink water: Water is healthy for your whole body. When you stay hydrated with water, it also benefits your mouth and your teeth. You need the fluoride that water has, too. Fluoride fights tooth decay. In addition, avoid beverages that are known to stain the teeth. Red wine, coffee, dark colored sodas and tea stain your teeth. If you drink these beverages on a regular basis, then you need to take extra care to brush your teeth and to have your teeth cleaned by your dentist on a regular basis.

Avoid tobacco: Tobacco will also stain your teeth and tobacco use and cigarette smoking leads to gum disease and tooth decay. It is very hard to remove the stains caused by smoking, so it is best to just not do it. When you use tobacco, you are also at a much higher risk of developing oral cancer. If you smoke then you should be aware of the symptoms of oral cancer. Check for swollen and bleeding gums, lesions in the mouth that do not heal, white or yellow patches in your mouth and loose teeth. If you exhibit any of these symptoms, you need to see your doctor or dentist.

When used as a spice in foods it is mild and has a sweet and aromatic bouquet. It tastes very similar to anise only very much milder and the seeds are long, thin and curved with color variation from light green to brown. Fennel seeds can either be crushed in a spice mill or used whole, in the past puritans would chew it during the long church services they held.

Culinary uses

Fennel when used as an herb has many culinary uses, with the leaves being used as a favorite in Italian and French cooking with its main use in sauce for fish. It is also used throughout the world to flavor bread, confectionary and cakes and is used in several liqueurs. It is also one of the main ingredients in Chinese five spices and is used as flavoring in curries. It is without a doubt one of the most versatile plants known to man and along with its uses in the food industry is also an ingredient in many over the counter herbal remedies.

Medicinal uses

If you have problems with sore or tired eyes then you could try fennel, it has long been used as an eyewash. It is thought to help with irritations of the eye and to bring immediate relief from eyestrain.

Fennel is often sold as a remedy for babies and children, who are suffering from colic problems and is used as a drink to bring immediate relief. While if you are suffering from strep throat or laryngitis then gargling with fennel can help to reduce inflammation and ease the croakiness of your voice. If you suffer from respiratory problems such as coughs and bronchitis then fennel could help to ease your congestion and is a useful remedy for catarrh. The seeds of fennel have been used in the treatment of heartburn, bloated feeling and indigestion quite successfully and currently trials are being undertaken into its usefulness for regenerating the liver.

In renaissance Europe it was used to keep hunger at bay and was thought to be helpful in curing obesity. While studies are currently taking place at the other end of the scale as fennel is being tested in trials as a possible treatment for the disease anorexia nervosa.

Fennel is considered to be a cure for many stomach related problems, particularly effective in reliving gas and cramps. It is also used to relive high fevers and is a natural pain reliever, many of the over the counter herbal remedies that you buy contain fennel as it is used as a flavoring agent.

If you suffer from painful swellings or gout then fennel seed could be your answer if other more traditional drugs have failed, making this one of the most versatile and most useful plants around.

Eligibility- an employee who is working either part time or full time is subjected to either paid or unpaid leave if: if she has continuously given 12 months of service and if she informs her employer in writing prior to the leave period.

Notification- the employee has to notify her manager and the Human Resource Department of her Pregnancy in written about her maternity leave. If she wants to make changes in the leave dates, notify this to your manager atleast 28 days before.

Application of the Maternity Leave- after you submit your notification to the manager, you will receive a maternity leave application form for the necessary details. Fill this form completely mentioning the dates clearly. Forward it to the Manager, who will forward it to the Human resource Department 28 days prior to her leave.

Form MATB1- Medical certification of the expected date of the birth of the child has to be given in the form of a maternity certificate. You can get this from the doctor after completing about twenty-six weeks of pregnancy.

Commencement of Maternity Leave- the employee can begin her maternity leave after the 11th week before the expected week of the child birth. She can also, if she wishes work till the expected date, if she has no health or safety risks noticed during the risk assessment period.

Sickness during Pregnancy- the maternity leave starts immediately from the day she remains absent on her work due to some illness related to pregnancy. If the sickness is not linked with her pregnancy, she can receive the sick pay till the date of birth of the newborn for satisfying the regulations related to the sick pay. Other days of illness due to pregnancy will not be considered in this period, if the employee is going to continue to work upto the maternity leave starting date by previously informing the employer.