Government launches call for evidence to improve health and wellbeing of women in England

[3beesinmybonnet]

Just had this come up in my newsfeed:

www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-call-for-evidence-to-improve-health-and-wellbeing-of-women-in-england

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

If men got cystitis there’d be a vaccine now😡

If men gave birth, a morphine drip would be standard rather than a fight for painkillers (and then the first thing given being..2 codeine!), and a team of plastic surgeons on tap for any birth related injuries. It would no way be the norm to just get 'oh, many women suffer prolapse, its normal, deal with it until it becomes enough of an issue to severely limit your life!'

@Thimbleberries

Just checked and the government press release also refers to "gender" - 3 times. Whereas the word "sex" only appears as part of "sexual" and "sexuality", not as a standalone word. I think in this case the BBC have just followed the wording on the press release, so I'm going to let them off this time. It'll definitely be in my response to the government though.

@PurpleHoodie
I also intend bumping this thread regularly. I mostly lurk and learn on here, and only really post if nobody else has mentioned something. But I can bump threads and count words so that's what I'll do, and leave the big stuff to the experts, to whom I'm very grateful for all the hard work they do. I'll probably start a thread on one of the more popular boards as well for traffic, but I don't want to be accused of starting multiple threads on the same subject.

Good thread, thank you. Fits nicely with the “reclaiming public spaces” thread, too, in that ability to access leisure resources plays a huge part in well-being.

I have a few personal hobby horses that I’d like to highlight in relation to health. The gold standard treatment for moderate to severe endometriosis is excision surgery, but very few women are able to easily access this.

The second is the disproportionate susceptibility of women to auto immune diseases, particularly after the menopause, and how frighteningly poorly these are understood and treated.

I’ve just started a thread in General Health.

Will also help bump both threads.

to all those who’ve suffered through lack of care from health services.

Headsfucked. If men gave birth there would be no more children!

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

Headsfucked. If men gave birth there would be no more children!

Haha, possibly. At the very least, noone would have more than 1.

Thanks @Leafstamp

The survey is now online with links for private individuals and organisations to respond:

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/womens-health-strategy-call-for-evidence

I will also start a thread with this link in my opening post to make it easier to find.

I've just started a thread in Women's Health with the link to the government page in my opening post. I've no idea if that's a good place to put it for maximum views though. So if anyone has any better ideas of how to ensure as many mumsnetters as possible are aware of this please feel free to suggest or do them - I usually just lurk so lack experience when it comes to getting the best out of Mumsnet. Thanks

@3beesinmybonnet I think we've got all bases covered now really. Have a look at what one posted has commented here:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/4185584-Share-your-experience-to-improve-women-s-health-government-launches-cause-for-evidence

[quote Thimbleberries]Have you seen how this is being reported by the BBC? It's a "gender health gap" (although they do also refer to female and woman in the article). But you'd think the headline might be correct, as this is clearly one area where it's legitimately sex that matters, given that many of the conditions they are talking about are female-only. (The point about 'gender biases' might be different of course; I can see that there could also be issues like bias that affect anyone presenting as female etc).

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-56300404[/quote]
In this case I can sort of see why they'd use that. If you use the phrase 'sex health' it gives the impression you're only talking about STI's and such like. Although many people will see the word gender now and assume it's something to do with trans health. When language becomes a mess it doesn't help anyone!

@Leafstamp I probably am getting over excited about this - ideally I'd like everyone strapped into desks and not released until they've filled the survey in. Multiple times. I need to step away from the interweb thingy and calm down {grin}

I will fill in the survey. Just going through "NHS ping-pong". I had my cervical screening a few weeks ago, but the nurse couldn't get a sample due to polyps. So she said she'd refer me to gynaecology as she wants those polyps checked.
The gyn department said not until after I had a scan and review with the GP. I will have the scan this afternoon, but then it'll be god knows how long until the review with the GP before, hopefully, being referred back to gynaecology.
And of course, I didn't know about that until I received the letter asking me to attend the scan.

It's times like these where I really miss my lovely Gyn in Germany, I went to her once a year for a complete check-up that included a smear test, breast exam and TV ultrasound to check the ovaries. And while I was not a big fan of climbing onto the gynaecological chair, it was helpful as it put you into the right position.

[quote XDownwiththissortofthingX]@sagaLoren

totally agree.

This is slightly off on a tangent, but smacks of the same thing.

I have a close friend who was diagnosed with PCOS many moons ago. She was told in no uncertain terms that because of the state of her ovaries, chances of her conceiving were practically nil. She and her husband habitually used condoms anyway, as neither of them had any wish to be parents anyway. Shortly before her 40th birthday she found out she was pregnant. She did not want to continue the pregnancy, but met with all the same 'are you sure' type questions in the run up to the termination. Afterwards, she was basically taken into a room and given a dressing down for getting pregnant in the first place, then told in no uncertain terms that she wouldn't be leaving the premises without organising some form of contraception. She's no shrinking violet, but genuinely felt bullied and intimidated, so just played along. She explained that hubby was actually on the waiting list for a vasectomy, and while this was met with approval, the issue still wasn't resolved as far as the staff were concerned, so she was booked in to have a coil fitted. Coil was never inserted properly, gave her all sorts of pain and discomfort, her weight ballooned in the space of the two months it was in, her periods went haywire, and she's never been the same since.

It's the belligerence, the shaming for having the temerity to have an unwanted and unwelcome pregnancy, and the railroading to a form of contraception that she had never been comfortable with, even though her husband had taken practical steps to avoid conception himself, and she had previously been told she was practically infertile anyway. So much for pastoral care and empathy.[/quote]
Appalling.
I had hoped things had improved.

Thanks for the thread, OP.

BBC News have still only got their report from 2 days ago tucked away on their Health page, so no update that it's now live, or link to the actual survey. I've suggested they put it on their front page for International Women's Day. Ah well maybe tomorrow.

Disappointing that BBC haven’t updated/made it more prominent.

However, the article discussed here seems to be a good one:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4187060-the-joys-of-being-a-woman-mate-you-ve-got-no-idea

They should have put a link there.

Is MNHQ putting in anything?

@EmbarrassingAdmissions

Is MNHQ putting in anything?

Good point. I've just contacted MNHQ to see if they can highlight it.

@Leafstamp
That's great thanks. I've bumped my thread linking to the actual survey and it's scary how quickly it disappears. TBH I was hoping someone more experienced would come along because I can't even remember how to do smilies atm. I'm blaming menopausal brainfog.

Completed today and bumping

Completed but...does anyone have any evidence that these consultations are anything more than a pat on the back? Though to be fair I was watching on Monday and many female MPs certainly seemed to be standing up for women’s health.

I don't have any evidence @Thecatonthemat. However, I'll put money on the "constructive" feedback answers outweighing the complementary ones so hopefully some sort of message will get through.

@Thecatonthemat I don't know but if the findings never get published or they claim women are overjoyed with the standard of healthcare I for one will not be remaining silent.

Just completed this as sent it by a friend, but I had to do a bit of searching to find a thread on here about it (I was about to start a thread on it and share the link.)

I’d have thought lots of posters would be interested in it...this needs to be on the main page with lots of traffic!

I’ve had so many conversations in real life with women who’ve been infantilised, especially when pregnant, giving birth, immediately postpartum and breastfeeding. I was told I would need physio after I gave birth but due to lockdown (the first one) I never even had a physical 6 week check. My back has never recovered and my whole middle section is weakened by separated stomach muscles.

I agree with everyone that if men gave birth they would not be appeased with a fucking codeine or two over several hours of excruciating pain. Why in this day and age is this level of pain still not taken seriously? (I say this as someone who has given birth twice without any pain relief and I was ok with it but I still believe that other women are entitled to give birth without pain or that my experience is not necessarily the same as others!)

Also, I can’t remember which question it was, but they did use ‘sex’ and not ‘gender’ which was a small plus for me to see.

@hazandduck
"I’d have thought lots of posters would be interested in it...this needs to be on the main page with lots of traffic!"

@EmbarrassingAdmissions
"Is MNHQ putting in anything?"

Glad other posters think this needs to be more obvious.

@Leafstamp
"I've just contacted MNHQ to see if they can highlight it."

Have you heard anything back yet?

[quote 3beesinmybonnet]@hazandduck
"I’d have thought lots of posters would be interested in it...this needs to be on the main page with lots of traffic!"

@EmbarrassingAdmissions
"Is MNHQ putting in anything?"

Glad other posters think this needs to be more obvious.

@Leafstamp
"I've just contacted MNHQ to see if they can highlight it."

Have you heard anything back yet?[/quote]
Nope, not hear anything. I used the report function though, so will try emailing them now instead. Will report back if I hear something.