I have a question for all you moms out there: what did you get for Mother’s Day? Well, I certainly hope you were treated right, because you’ve earned it all: Flowers, the opportunity to sleep in, go for a bike ride, and hopefully even get a few hours to get to do a little binge watching of your favorite show on Netflix.
Mothers are just one of the focuses during the month of May. So is their health. The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDoH) this May was a proud participant in Women’s Health Week, sharing messages all week on the necessity of New Mexico women focusing not just on their families, but also themselves.
Making time to take care of ourselves is no small task, no matter who we are, but not doing so often comes at a price. For example, for women in New Mexico, the Department of Health reports that breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the state. It has been for years. The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that 1,450 New Mexico women were diagnosed with breast cancer in New Mexico in 2014. More than 200 died.
That’s just one of many reasons why the NMDoH and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health encourage women in May to schedule their annual well-woman visit.
A well-woman visit is a checkup – the time to see your doctor or nurse to get the preventive care you need, including screenings. Screenings can find diseases early, when they are easier to treat. Screenings can also identify other problems and help lower your risk for many conditions, such as cancer or heart disease.
In addition to screenings, preventative care items can include counseling, interventions (such as for smoking or other tobacco use), and contraception.
Because to the Affordable Care Act, it’s considered a preventive service and must be covered by most health plans at no cost to you. And if your doctor or nurse says you need more than one well-woman visit in a year, the additional visits may also covered.
In addition to scheduling a well-women visit, the NMDoH and Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend moms do the following:
Stay Active:
Get out and about and enjoy the spring and summer weather. Physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health and has many benefits including lowering your risk for heart disease—the leading cause of death for women nationwide. Get at least 2 hours and 30 minutes each week of aerobic physical activity that requires moderate effort as well as strengthening activities at least 2 days a week. Strength training can help reduce the chances for falls which means fewer fractures. Fall-related fractures among older women are more than twice those for men.
Eat Healthy:
With all of the information about nutrition, food choices, and recipes out there, it's easy to have a healthy eating plan. Don’t forget: every woman needs folic acid every day for the healthy new cells the body makes daily – like skin, hair, and nails. It's also important to help prevent major birth defects when pregnant. Almost everyone needs to eat more fruits and vegetables and avoid drinking too much alcohol. Binge drinking for women is 4 or more drinks in a single occasion.
Prioritize Your Mental Health
There is emerging evidence that positive mental health is associated with improved health outcomes. Get enough sleep. Adults need 7-8 hours of sleep each night. Find healthy ways to cope with stress through diet, exercise and more.
For more information visit www.womenshealth.gov.