What happens to my body during this time (20 - 40)?

This is the time in your life when you are most likely to become sexually active, find a partner and possibly even have children. This is also the time that you will study, and choose a career path.

 These things all require a lot of energy and is possibly the busiest time of any woman's life – yours too! Many decisions will be made by you in this stage of your life and these also take energy. Social pressures are high and the effort required to balance a full working life with possible marriage and motherhood is no easy task.

Your body should function at its best during these years. You are through adolescence, and the ageing process only starts setting in a bit later. Your bones are strong, your muscle definition will be at its best, you will be able run further, jump higher and pick up heavier things than you will ever again in your life.

And, if you have children, you will be required to do all of these – that is, after bringing them into the world. And that in itself places quite a lot of stress on your body.

Being pregnant requires you to look after yourself even more scrupulously than usual – no smoking and drinking, healthy foods, regular rest, moderate exercise.

Of course, anything can go wrong with anybody – these things are unpredictable. Common problems during this age will be discussed below.

In order to function at its best, your body needs to be looked after properly. It needs good nutrition, regular rest, regular medical checkups, regular exercise, no smoking and not too much alcohol. This time in your life is stressful and you need to find good stress relieving mechanisms, such as a good social life, activities or hobbies you enjoy, good times spent with your partner/family and, of course, a bit of time on your own.

(Liesel Powell, Health24, July 2003)