Adenomyosis is a prevalent, benign gynecologic condition in which endometrial tissue invades the myometrium, causing myometrial inflammation and hypertrophy. Although some women with adenomyosis are asymptomatic, the condition often causes menorrhagia and dysmenorrhea. This article provides women's health providers with a review of causes and risk factors for developing adenomyosis, clinical presentations of women with the condition, diagnostic modalities and criteria, and medical and surgical treatment options.

In 1944, the Medical Mission Sisters opened the Catholic Maternity Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico, primarily to serve patients of Spanish American descent. The Maternity Institute offered nurse-midwifery care and functioned as a school to train nurse-midwifery students. Originally planned as a home birth service, the Catholic Maternity Institute soon evolved into a service in which patients chose whether to deliver in their own homes or in a small freestanding building called La Casita. In fact, despite their idealism about home birth and strong feelings that home birth was best, the sisters experienced significant ambivalence concerning La Casita. Births there met many of the institute's pragmatic needs for a larger number of student experiences, quick and safe transfers to a nearby hospital, and more efficient use of the midwives' time. Importantly, as the sisters realized that many of their patients preferred to deliver at La Casita, they came to see that this option permitted these impoverished patients an opportunity to exercise some choice. However, the choice of many patients to deliver at La Casita--which was significantly more expensive for the Maternity Institute than home birth--eventually led to the demise of the Maternity Institute.

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