Hysterectomy shown on TV for first time
A WOMAN undergoing a hysterectomy will be shown on television for the first time this week as part of a series on women’s health.
Channel 5 will show retired teacher Gillian Libretto having the operation without sedation.
Ms Libretto suffered a prolapse following three complicated pregnancies between the ages of 34 and 42, when she was deemed to be a ‘geriatric mother’.
In Women’s Health: Breaking The Taboos, which is on from Tuesday to Friday at 7pm, viewers will watch her having the procedure to remove her womb at the New Victoria Hospital, Kingston, Surrey.
Afterwards, she is filmed holding the organ, which she says made her feel ‘emotional.’
Mrs Libretto, 75, says she wanted to take part in the show to educate younger women about the risks of having babies later in life. She told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The cameraman was going, “Oh my God, wow”. It was an education for him to see this and that interested me a lot.
‘I find that so many people, and particularly women who are going into childbirth, are so ignorant about their bodies and I feel very guilty as an educationalist.
‘I hoped that by being on the programme I might not only help educate women but be a source of information for women who might be going through it right now.
‘Also, I was having babies at an age when I probably shouldn’t have been. Women are having babies later in life, and they need to be warned that the older they are, the tendency is for more gynaecological problems.
‘It’s about, giving women the information they need to make correct decisions about their body.’
Other issues discussed in the series, hosted by Cherry Healey, include the removal of fibroids, incontinence and perimenopause.