CAPE GIRARDEAU DOCTOR IS WOMANCARE WINNER

Riding on the team bus to and from softball games, Connie Simmons had a dream. Sitting in medical school classes at the University of Columbia, she had a dream. Waiting in St. Louis traffic during her internship and residency, she had a dream of returning to Southeast Missouri to practice medicine.

Simmons, a Cape Girardeau pediatrician, realized her dream and Friday was honored for her contribution to the community. She is the 1997 recipient of the Womancare Award, presented at the 11th annual Womancare Conference, sponsored by St. Francis Medical Center.

Edythe Davis, who presented the award, said the best testimonial Simmons receives is from the children she treats. "I've been told her little patients just love her," Davis said.

Simmons thanked the women in her life who offered her support and guidance as she pursued her dream to become a doctor, especially her mother, Hermine Simmons.

Simmons graduated from Oran High School, attended Mineral Area Junior College and graduated with a bachelors degree from Southeast Missouri State University. She earned her M.D. degree from the University of Missouri School of Medicine. Her internship and residency were both served at the St. Louis University School of Medicine. She is board certified in pediatrics and is a member of Physicians Associates Group in Cape Girardeau.

While at Southeast, Simmons was captain of the softball team. She serves as the team doctor for the entire Southeast women's athletic program.

Previous recipients of the award were Linda Godwin, astronaut; Judith Farris, opera singer; Judith Wilferth, Cape Girardeau businesswoman; Judith Crow, local journalist and civic leader; Patricia Washington, Southeast Missouri State University regent; Jean Bell Mosley, author; and last year's recipient, Georgeanne Syler, university professor.

Syler was the keynote speaker for the conference luncheon. Syler, a nutritionist and assistant professor in the Human Environmental Studies department at Southeast, discussed the importance of breastfeeding.

Women of any age, she said, can offer support and encouragement for young women to breastfeed their children. The benefits are many.

Breastfeeding costs less and can be more convenient. There is no fumbling in the middle of the night to make formula, Syler said.

Breastfed babies have fewer ear and urinary tract infections, allergies and asthma.

Adults who were breastfed have less diabetes, less cardio-vascular disease and fewer allergies and asthma.

Women who breastfeed has less breast and ovarian cancers and less likelihood of osteoporosis.

"If it's so good, how in the world have we ever gotten away from this?" Syler asked. She blamed misunderstanding and changes in society, then asked women in attendance to offer support for breastfeeding whenever and where ever possible.

The Womancare Conference theme was "A Time For Us." Several hundred women from throughout the region participated in educational seminars, health screenings, beauty treatment and entertainment.