Happy New Year 2023! Over the years, we’ve posted many greetings in this space suggesting healthy resolutions to start the year. The typical list includes weight-loss, smoking cessation, exercise, preventive healthcare, and so on—worthwhile goals for any new year.

This year we decided to change it up a bit. We begin 2023 with resolutions to make you happy. While none of these “resolutions” can minimize the burden of life’s serious challenges, they might offer you a few more smiles, moments of fun, chances to relax, or personal satisfaction over the next twelve months. Our list got…

The holidays bring a dramatic change in our usual routines. For most of us the festivities include more food and perhaps alcohol, travel, large gatherings of friends and family, more stress, and less rest. We wouldn’t have it any other way! But if you are pregnant, many holiday traditions require some special consideration. Here are a few tips to help our expectant moms enjoy the holidays safely…

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Are you planning to become pregnant?
Will you have contact with an infant this year?
Are you attending college?
Have you reached age 60?
Are you planning foreign travel?
Most of us are very aware that children need immunizations to protect them from contagious diseases and to enroll them in school. Each summer, moms plan visits to the pediatrician to update the important blue slip, the Alabama Certificate of Immunization. But our need for vaccinations extends beyond childhood. The questions above are reminders of just some of the situations for which adult women need to consider their immunizations.
We know…

On average, an American woman in 1970 was 21.4 years old at the birth of her first child. By 2006 a woman’s average age at her first delivery had risen to 25. And by 2014 it had crept up further to just over 26. During that same period the percent of first births to women over 35 increased from 1 in 100 to 1 in 12! The average U.S. woman giving birth (any child) is now 30 (2019), compared with 27 in 1990. As women choose more and more frequently to postpone childbearing, many of them begin…

All the physicians at Sparks & Favor welcome birth plans. Whether you have a written plan or just a mental note of a few items, it helps us to know what is important to you.
A True Birth Plan Story
Many years ago, Dr. Sparks and his wife looked forward to the birth of their first child. Dr. Sparks, an army physician, had just received his new duty assignment to the 130th Station Hospital in Heidelberg, Germany. They would travel over a month before the baby’s due date, get settled, and then spend some time enjoying this beautiful city…

We hope you will register for our Patient Portal if you are not yet registered. It gives you a secure, reliable way to reach us. (Example: In the event of phone service interruptions). It also gives us a reliable way to communicate Personal Health Information to you. Our PORTAL is HIPAA compliant, so your privacy is protected. We cannot use regular email (outside of the PORTAL) to send you personal information about your care.

We may not be able to reach you by phone in timely circumstances, and normal SMS (text) messages containing Personal Health Information are prohibited. We do…

We understand that, through a large part of her life, her gynecologist may be the only physician a woman sees every year. While our focus is your reproductive health, we want you to be well-informed about other health issues you may face now or in the future. Colorectal cancer is one of these risks.
Despite the fact that these cancers are highly preventable and very treatable in earlier stages, they are the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. for both men and women. Factors that increase your risk of colon cancer include:

Age
Personal and…

Many of our patients know that Dr. Favor loves tennis! Her enthusiasm for a competitive game led her to high school and college state tennis championships. In 1972, when Dr. Favor was still in grade school, Hall of Fame player Chris Evert began her professional tennis career. Evert’s talent and, above all, her mental toughness inspired a generation of women players including young Judi Favor.

Last week, Chris Evert announced that she has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The road ahead will surely test that mental toughness. But by sharing her difficult personal story, she is again able to…

What Is Pre-Diabetes? Take the One-Minute Test…