Hesperian, 2012. — 600 p.
Where Women Have No Doctor - A Health Guide for Women by A. August Burns,
Ronnie Lovich, Jane Maxwell and Katharine Shapiro acknowledges that when a woman is healthy, she has the energy and strength to do her daily work, to fulfill the many roles she has in her family and community, and to build satisfying relationships with others. In other words, a woman’s health affects every area of her life. Yet for many years, ‘women’s health care’ has meant little more than maternal health services such as care during pregnancy and birth. These services are necessary, but they address women’s needs only as mothers. In this book we offer a different view of women’s health. First, we believe that every woman has a right to complete health care, throughout her life. A woman’s health care should help her in all areas of life—not just in her role as a wife and mother. Second, we believe that a woman’s health is affected not just by the way her body is made, but by the social, cultural, and economic conditions in which she lives.
This updated printing features updated antiretroviral information based on new World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines to treat HIV and prevent mother-to-child transmission. Other updated topics include: treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STI's); family planning; cervical, breast and other cancers; eclampsia; care for women who have had abortions; and medicines. All Hesperian books are regularly updated and reprinted to reflect accurate medical information. Where Women Have No Doctor has been written to help women care for their own health, and to help community health workers or others to meet women's health needs problems that affect specifically women, or that affect women in different ways from men. It combines self-help medical information with an understanding of the ways in which poverty, discrimination and cultural beliefs may limit women's health or access to care. Developed with community-based groups and medical experts from more than 30 countries, this book aims to help anyone understand, treat and prevent many of the health problems that can affect women. Topics featured in the book include: how to solve health problems; ways to stay healthy; understanding the reproductive parts of women's bodies; sexual health; HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases; pregnancy, birth and breast feeding; mental health; health concerns of women with disabilities, girls, older women and refugees; the politics of women's health; rape and other violence against women; and the use of medicines in women's health.
Contents
Thanks
How to use this book
Chapter 1: Women’s Health Is a Community Issue
What is women’s health?
Women are more at risk for disease
Causes of poor health in women
Working for change
Chapter 2: Solving Health Problems
Juanita’s story
What is the best treatment?
Working for change
To the health worker
Chapter 3: The Medical System
The medical system
How to get better care
If you need to go to the hospital
Working for change
Chapter 4: Understanding Our Bodies
A woman’s reproductive system
A man’s reproductive system
How a woman’s body changes
Monthly bleeding
Chapter 5: Health Concerns of Girls
Changes in your body (puberty)
Changes that can lead to a better life
Deciding about boyfriends and sex
Pressured or forced sex
Getting help from adults
Chapter 6: Pregnancy and Childbirth
Staying healthy during pregnancy
Common problems of pregnancy
Risks and danger signs
Prenatal care
Preparing for labor and birth
Giving birth
Difficult births
Danger signs for the baby at birth
Caring for the mother and baby
Women with extra needs
To the father
Working for change
Chapter 7: Breastfeeding
Why breast is best
Why other feeding can be harmful
HIV and breastfeeding
How to breastfeed
Advice for the mother
When the mother works
Removing milk by hand
Common concerns and problems
Special situations
Babies with special needs
When the mother is sick
When a woman becomes pregnant
Working for change
Chapter 8: Growing Older
The end of monthly bleeding
Taking care of your health
Sexual relations
Chapter 9: Women with Disabilities
Self-esteem
Taking care of your health
Sexuality and sexual health
Personal safety
Working for change
Chapter 10: Staying Healthy
Cleanliness
Community sanitation
Special needs of women
Working for change
Chapter 11: Eating for Good Health
Main foods and helper foods
Eating better for less money
Harmful ideas about eating
Poor nutrition can cause disease
Ways to work toward better nutrition
Chapter 12: Sexual Health
Sex and gender roles
How gender affects sexual health
How to improve your sexual health
Working for change
Chapter 13: Family Planning
Benefits of family planning
Choosing to use family planning
Choosing a family planning method
Barrier methods of family planning
Hormonal methods
The IUD
Natural methods of family planning
Traditional and home methods
Permanent methods
Emergency methods
Choosing the best method
Working for change
Chapter 14: Infertility
What is infertility?
What causes infertility?
Dangers at work or at home
that can hurt fertility
What to do for infertility
Losing a pregnancy
Living with infertility
Working for change
Chapter 15: Abortion and Complications of Abortion
Why some women have abortions
Safe and unsafe abortion
Deciding about an abortion
Safe methods of abortion
What to expect from safe abortion
What to expect after an abortion
Family planning after abortion
Complications of abortion
Preventing unsafe abortion
Chapter 16: Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and Other Infections of the Genitals
Why STIs are a seriousproblem for women
How to know if you are at risk for an STI
What to do if you have signs of an STI
Taking medicines to treat STIs
Abnormal discharge
Growths (warts) on the genitals
Sores on the genitals
Complications of STIs (PID)
Other STIs (HIV infection andHepatitis B)
How to feel better
Working for change
Chapter 17: HIV and AIDS
What are HIV and AIDS?
Why HIV and AIDS are different for women
Preventing HIV
The HIV test
Living positively with HIV infection
Pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding
Care for persons with HIV or AIDS
Staying healthy as long as possible
Common medical problems
Caring for someone near death
Working for change
Chapter 18: Violence Against Women
The story of Laura and Luis
Why does a man hurt a woman?
Kinds of violence
Warning signs
The cycle of violence
Harmful effects of violence
Why women stay
What to do
Working for change
To the health worker
Chapter 19: Rape and Sexual Assault
Kinds of rape and sexual assault
How to avoid rape
Self defense for women
If you are sexually assaulted
What to do if you have been raped
Health problems of rape
Working for change
Chapter 20: Sex Workers
Violence
How to protect yourself from STIs
Working for change
Negotiating condom use
Why women become sex workers
Health problems of sex workers
STIs, including HIV infection
Pregnancy
Chapter 21: Pain in the Lower Abdomen
Sudden, severe pain
Kinds of pain in the abdomen
Questions about pain in the abdomen
Chapter 22: Abnormal Bleeding from the Vagina
Problems with monthly bleeding
Bleeding during pregnancy or after childbirth
Bleeding after an abortion or miscarriage
Bleeding after sex
Bleeding after menopause
Chapter 23: Problems of the Urine System
Infections of the urine system
Blood in the urine
Need to pass urine often
Leaking urine
When you have problems passing urine or stool
Chapter 24: Cancer and Growths
Cancer
Problems of the cervix
Problems of the womb
Problems of the breasts
Problems of the ovaries
Other common cancers
When cancer cannot be cured
Working for change
Chapter 25: Tuberculosis
What is TB?
How TB is spread
How to know if a person has TB
How to treat TB
Preventing TB
Working for change
Chapter 26: Work
Cooking fires and smoke
Lifting and carrying heavy loads
Work with water
Work with chemicals
Sitting or standing for a long time
Repeating the same movement
Crafts
Unsafe working conditions
Sexual harassment
Migration
Workers in the informal sector
Working for change
Chapter 27: Mental Health
Self-esteem
Common causes of mental health
problems in women
Common mental health problems for women
Helping yourself and helping others
Mental illness (psychosis)
Ways to improve your community’s mental health
Chapter 28: Alcohol and Other Drugs
Use and misuse of alcohol and drugs
Problems from alcohol and drugs
Overcoming problems with alcohol and drugs
Problems from tobacco
Living with someone who has a drinking or drug problem
Preventing drug and alcohol abuse
Chapter 29: Refugees and Displaced Women
Flight and arrival
Basic needs
Reproductive health
Mental health
Women as leaders
Chapter 30: Female Genital Cutting
Types of female cutting
Health problems from cutting
What to do for health problems
Working for change
Chapter 31: Use of Medicines in Women’s Health
Deciding to use medicine
How to use medicine safely
Using the medicines in this book
Table of Medicines: Green pages
Health Care Skills
Preventing infection
How to take temperature, pulse, respiration, and blood pressure
How to examine the abdomen
How to examine a woman’s genitals
Caring for burns
How to give fluids to treat shock
How to give an injection
Acupressure massage
Vocabulary: List of difficult words
Where to get more information
Index: Yellow pages