Makin' Love Without Doin' It?!

Have you thought about what you are doing for Valentine’s Day?

It can be easy to get caught up in the aisles full of chocolates, teddy bears and balloons just like it can be easy to get caught up in the idea that romance=doin’ it. But not everyone has the money to clean out the greeting card aisle and not everyone is doin’ it. For many people “making love” doesn’t mean having sex at all. So what else do people do then? I’m glad you asked! There are many safe, fun things to do on Valentine’s day, or any other day, to show your love to someone special. So with that in mind, I give you…

25 Ways to (safely!) make love without doin’ it (no teddy bears required)
• Share your future goals and dreams
• Hold hands
• Cook dinner together at home
• Talk a long walk together
• Give each other a massage
• Exercise together
• Picnic in your living room
• Write one reason you love that person everyday for the whole month 
• Make the your partner’s favorite meal
• Surprise your partner at work or school
• Leave a handwritten note for them
• Choose a favorite song together
• Give each other nicknames
• Dance together
• Go for a hike together
• Sing your favorite song to each other (or one you wrote)
• Write a poem for your partner
• Watch the sunrise or set together
• Go star gazing
• Make a list of things you like about one another
• Play your favorite board game together
• Program a special ringtone on each other’s phone
• Pick out a book for each other to read (or read one together)
• Do a craft project together, like drawing a picture or making a collage
• Call a radio station and have a song dedicated to your partner

Sex-Care in Schools!?

You heard it right!

Free sexual healthcare is being offered in Scotland for 60,000 public school students. Due to the high rates of sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy, the Scottish Government has endorsed the recommendation made by the National Sexual Health Advisory Committee to provide wide scale sexual healthcare for students. This would include offering pregnancy testing, Chlamydia testing and condoms without parental consent. Up until this point, a large part of the problem was that rural students often lived too far from clinics and couldn’t effectively access sexual healthcare services. The hope is that clinics on school campuses will help to alleviate this problem and allow more students to access healthcare.

Although this seems like a step in the right direction for sexual healthcare, Emergency Contraception or the “morning after pill” still will not be provided in schools, and the types of contraception offered will be left up to individual school policy. Additionally, the Scottish Catholic Education Service will not endorse the mandate so students attending Catholic schools will not be allowed the same opportunity to access sexual healthcare as students in non-denominational public schools.

FYI: In Delaware, many wellness centers at local high schools offer pregnancy testing and STD screening, but cannot give out condoms as contraception or STD prevention.

What are your thoughts on this?


Sources:
Scotland on Sunday
Sex, Etc. magazine Winter 2009

January is National Cervical Cancer Screening Month!

Cervical Cancer, Pap Test, Colposcopy, Human Papilloma Virus, Gardasil…oh my! What does it all mean?!

Let’s decipher these terms together…

Cervical cancer has been linked to a very common STD known as the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which is spread by sexual contact. Unfortunately there is no cure; however, there is a vaccine known as Gardasil which is effective against four strains of the virus, two of which are associated with 70% of all cervical cancer and two of which are associated with 90% of all genital warts. Gardasil is approved for girls and women 9-26 years of age and is available at Planned Parenthood of Delaware.

In order to reduce your risk of getting cervical cancer it is important to have regular Pap tests. A Pap test (also known as a Pap smear) is performed during a routine pelvic exam, when the healthcare provider uses a brush or spatula to collect cells from the cervix and view them under a microscope. If abnormal cells are present, your healthcare provider may recommend a colposcopy. A colposcopy is a procedure that allows a healthcare provider to get a closer view of the cervix in order to determine further testing. Sometimes a colposcopy is done in conjunction with a biopsy, which is the taking of a tissue sample from the cervix.

In celebration of National Cervical Cancer Screening Month, don’t forget to schedule your pelvic exam and Pap test!

For further information regarding cervical health and screening, click here.