Prevea reaches out to women on Valentine's Day Nurse practitioner Melanie Froling takes a bone density screening reading from the heel of Mickey Ambrosius' foot Saturday during 'A Celebration Of Women' at the Prevea Clinic, 3860 Monroe Road, De Pere (photo by Tina Gohr). By Anna Krejci News-Chronicle Valentine's Day is a chance to show your love for your significant other. The Valentine's event at the Prevea Clinic in De Pere was a chance for women to direct some love toward themselves. The waiting room lobbies at the clinic, located at 3860 Monroe Road, were a source for health and relaxation tips for women. Visitors could attend health seminars and stop at 18 booths offering free services, such as massages, bone density screenings and cholesterol and blood pressure checks. "We designed it so they could come in and relax and be ready to go out for their Valentine's Day," said Kristin Bouchard, a Prevea spokeswoman. At "A Celebration of Women," visitors took advantage of the free food and seminars. The discussions on the hottest topics were offered, including plastic surgery, teen health, body image, fertility and hormone replacement therapy. A line of women formed alongside Melanie Froling, a nurse practitioner who was running bone density tests. She directed women to place their foot on a machine that measured the bone density of their ankle. "We have not been without a person in the chair since 9 a.m.," she said. Concern for osteoporosis is growing, she said. "We are working on prevention a whole lot more than we did in the past," Froling said. She advises people to work calcium into their diets, perform weight-bearing exercises and study osteoporosis in their family history. Smoking is a risk factor, she said. Painting and beading were presented as two therapeutic activities. Carolyn Caffrey, owner of Paintin' Pottery or Bead It, promoted the benefits of painting and beading. At her De Pere business, customers can decorate ready-to-paint pottery, learn how to bead and make mosaics. "You're creating something for yourself. You're building self-esteem," she said. Pearl Pansier of De Pere said she enjoyed the art booth. "I like learning those kinds of subjects," she said. Staff at Prevea presented an eye-opening display on just how much fat some fast-food meals contain. Plastic bags filled with lard represented the grams of fat contained in cheeseburgers, pizzas and tacos. "When you actually see more than just a cholesterol number, it kind of strikes home," said Karla Roth, a physician in Prevea's family practice department who identified super sizing fast-food meals as a health threat. "This tendency to always go larger with sizes is going to markedly increase the fat in each meal," she said. For women considering or entering into pregnancy, Prevea staffers were on hand to answer questions about a midwifery program that has been offered through the clinic's St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center location for one year. The service assists women in having a natural birth experience in a hospital atmosphere. According to Marta Brace, certified nurse midwife, giving birth in a position other than laying on one's back can make delivery easier. Sitting in water, listening to music or watching videos also helps a woman through labor. Patients can be surrounded by family during the birth, she said. Having available in the hospital the alternatives to traditional labor methods gives patients easy access to technology when it is needed, Brace said. "You can have the best of both worlds," she said. In addition to offering relaxation tips and health information to women, Bouchard said Prevea hosted the event to publicize the clinic's location. "Our clinic here is fairly new," Bouchard said of the Prevea Clinic in De Pere, which is 2 years old. "Making it geared toward women was part of the fun," she said.