Our office will be closed Friday, January 10th for winter weather. If you have an emergency call 911. If you have an urgent OB/GYN issue, call to leave a message with the answering service for the on call physician.
Category: Dr. Gregory
5 Toxic New Year’s Resolutions to Avoid in 2024
The New Year and its traditions are upon us. For most of us, the festivities will include some combination of watching football, eating collards and black-eyed peas, attending a party, counting down the ball descent on Times Square, toasting 2024, AND making a New Year’s resolution!
Notice that the last item is not likely to help any of us look forward to 2024 with optimism. The reason is obvious. Experience tells us that most New Year’s resolutions are doomed to fail. So today our New Year’s greeting for patients and friends will not include the typical…
Birmingham ObGyn Dr. Wendy Gregory Explains Menstrual Suppression—Life Without Periods!
Did you know, it is possible to safely lighten or eliminate your monthly period? The use of birth control pills or other hormonal birth control products to control the timing of your period or avoid it entirely is called menstrual suppression. Women can choose to suppress their periods for a short time or even for many months or years.
As a gynecologist for over two decades, I know that a monthly period and the discomfort that often accompanies it never happen at a convenient time in a woman’s life. As a busy mother of two, I understand the frustration…
An Obstetrician’s Reflections on New Dads
One of the great privileges of our work as obstetricians is the opportunity to witness, again and again, the moment when a man becomes a father. During the pregnancy, he waits in a supporting role. He attends prenatal appointments and childbirth classes, assembles a crib, installs a car seat, and offers his partner whatever help and comfort he can. During the first minutes after the birth, he watches his partner hold their tiny infant against her skin while a nurse works to clear the baby’s nose and mouth and dry the skin. Someone calls out a few numbers (the…
Do You Need a Pre-College Women’s Wellness Exam?
For the Class of 2023, graduation events are mostly behind you, and the time until move-in day doesn’t seem like nearly enough for all your summer plans. Whether you are starting college or taking your first step into a career, a wellness exam might be on your summer to-do list.
Colleges and employers vary in whether they require a formal physical exam or other health-related assessments. Most require some health information, but regardless, this is a perfect time to take charge of your own health. Changes in your environment, diet, stress, sleep habits, and exposure to…
5 Heart-Warming Resolutions for the New Year 2023
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…
August is National Immunization Awareness Month
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…
5 Reasons Your OB Doctor Wants You to Think About Your Birth Plan
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…
Preventing Cervical Cancer–We Can Do Better!
This post has been updated:
Only about 60% of American teens (13 through 17) have been vaccinated against HPV. The HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine provides protection against certain viruses that are known to cause cervical cancer. Here in Alabama, the statistics are slightly worse. We remind you that–regardless of whether you have received the HPV vaccine–you should continue to be screened for cervical cancer after age 21 (Pap test/HPV test).
Recently the CDC has added additional guidance for adults over age 26 who have not yet been vaccinated against HPV as follows:
“…some adults age 27…
Episiotomy—A Birmingham Obstetrician’s View
An episiotomy—the small surgical incision made to enlarge the vaginal opening shortly before a baby is delivered—was not a commonly accepted birth procedure until the twentieth century. But by mid-century, over half of vaginal deliveries included an episiotomy. The idea was that making a small incision would reduce the risk of a large spontaneous tear in the tissues surrounding the vagina (the perineum) as the infant’s head delivered.
As physicians, we want to offer our patients only medical interventions that—based on solid evidence—actually benefit them. By the 1980s, we began to realize that the…
Dr. Gregory discusses IUD’s advantages for birth control and other problems
The IUD’s popularity among American women for the prevention of pregnancy has varied greatly over the last four decades. According to the Guttmacher Institute for Reproductive Health, nearly 10% of American women used an IUD in the 1970s, compared to less than 1% today. Back then, a significant number of women using one popular IUD, the Dalkon Shield, developed serious and sometimes fatal infections. The government recalled the Dalkon shield, and the resulting legal actions and negative publicity created business risk for other IUD manufacturers who then chose to remove their products from the market. Remembering these stories, your…