Welcome to Women’s Health

Here’s something to think about: evidence shows that a woman’s account of pain is more likely to be discounted by medical professionals than that of a man. In an example of gender bias at its worst, the female sex is more likely to be deemed hormonal, prone to histrionics or exaggerating – fantasists, even. Because of this, millions of women are putting up with debilitating conditions; suffering in silence because internalised misogyny, the medical profession, or both, have them convinced that their daily pain is acceptable; or shouting loud but not being heard. All are enduring life-altering symptoms because they can’t get the help they need. Perimenopausal and menopausal women are being prescribed antidepressants because some doctors are failing to link their low moods with dropping oestrogen levels; women with endometriosis are being sent away with paracetamol for their ‘period pain’; chronic inflammatory conditions like fibromyalgia are brushed off as mental health conditions. The broader issue stands that GPS, much like your average patient, are time-poor and often demoralised, so everyone gives up and the damaging cycle of misinformation, pain and distress continues. This has to stop. At Women’s Health, we’re committed to writing about the plight of female health, the type

that isn’t ‘sexy’ enough to be highlighted broadly in the media. That includes conditions you can’t see, or are hushed up, but sure as hell exist. Last year, we published an award-winning feature on the pelvic mesh scandal (April 2018 issue), detailing how thousands of women were left in agony after inadequately tested devices, in hindsight not fit for purpose, were used to treat pelvic-floor problems. And, in autumn, we ran a feature on the perimenopause (October 2018 issue), inspired by my own experience of having menopausal symptoms at the age of 39, but having no idea what was happening due to the lack of widely available information. In this issue, one woman bravely details her experience of post-partum psychosis. It’s a distressing read, but an essential one if we’re going to support each other, when, seemingly, it’s difficult to find experts who will. It was as a result of features like these, produced by my outstanding Features Editor Nikki Osman and Commissioning Editor Roisín Dervish-o’kane, that I found myself sitting in a conference room at the Department of Health and Social Care earlier this year with some of the country’s leading medical experts in female health. I was invited to be part of the government’s Women’s Health Taskforce by under secretary of state for health Jackie Doyle-price MP and her committee co-chair Lesley Regan, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Our aim is to significantly improve health outcomes for women and girls. I’m the only media representative on the taskforce, which will meet regularly throughout 2019, and it’s an absolute honour to be in the company of such brilliant women, including chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies, the government’s most senior adviser on health matters. These women and men are dedicated to improving the lives of the female population and pushing for procedural change. If ever there was evidence that Women’s Health is so much more than a fitness brand, then the fact that I’m part of this taskforce is it. I’m witnessing and helping to instigate change at the most senior level – for my benefit, yours and our future generations. Let’s talk openly and forcefully about our health – push for answers when we’re fobbed off with substandard advice or confronted with closed doors. Insist that you know your body and deserve to be respected; to be heard. That shocking fact I shared at the top needs to change. Let’s be instrumental in shifting mindsets. It starts here. Until next month…