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Found 814 results
  1. News Article
    Tens of thousands of women in the UK may be experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after miscarriages each year, a leading researcher warns. Prof Tom Bourne estimates the number affected could run to 45,000 annually. But he says most are not given prompt psychological support that could help prevent PTSD developing. The Miscarriage Association says there is an urgent need for better access to talking and other psychological therapies for those affected. At present, most women have to ask for help themselves rather than support being in place. Prof Bourne believes there needs to be more research into other ways of helping people experiencing loss. His team is trying out a variety of new approaches - including virtual reality - to help address the issue. One idea his team is experimenting with is offering women virtual reality headsets during miscarriage procedures. It builds on previous work that shows VR headsets can help reduce pain during some medical procedures. Researcher Dr Nina Parker says the aim is "to transport them to sort of a more calm, virtual reality world for distraction from the pain and anxiety during the procedure". She adds: "There is nothing that we are ever going to be able to do that takes away from the loss and the trauma of losing pregnancy and having a miscarriage. "But if we can do everything that we can to minimise any additional trauma we might be adding to in the interactions that are had within the hospital, then we are obligated to do that." Read full story Source: BBC News, 8 April 2022
  2. News Article
    Gynaecology waiting lists in England have risen by 60% during the pandemic - more sharply than any other specialty. Across the UK, more than 570,000 women are waiting for help. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) said patients were "consistently deprioritised and overlooked". NHS England says hospitals are making progress on dealing with the Covid backlog and average waiting times for elective treatment are coming down. The RCOG is calling for much greater attention to women's views, and for care to be designed around their needs. Chetna Mistry says she is a "prisoner" to endometriosis, a painful condition in which tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places, like the ovaries. She described it as "a whole-body disease which affects you physically and mentally". It has left her infertile, and, at 42, she needs a hysterectomy. Chetna said she was referred to a specialist in June 2020, but 21 months later still does not have a date for surgery. RCOG president Dr Edward Morris said he felt helpless not being able to speed up access to care for women and people on his waiting lists. "There is an element of gender bias in the system. I don't think believe that we are listening to voices of women as well as we should be. The priority they urgently need is not being given to them." The Royal College asked 830 women on waiting lists about the other impacts on their lives. Read full story Source: BBC News, 4 April 2022
  3. News Article
    Doctors too often "ignore" women's pain, Sajid Javid said as he called for change in the wake of the Shrewsbury maternity scandal. Writing for The Telegraph, the Health Secretary said the wider NHS needed to do much more to listen to women, adding that too many are left in pain and ignored by clinicians. On Wednesday, the Ockenden report revealed that the deaths of 201 babies and nine mothers at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust could have been avoided, citing a failure to listen to women. Mr Javid wrote: "This week we have seen the tragic reality of what can happen when women's voices are not listened to when it comes to their care. "Donna Ockenden's report into maternity failings at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals raises specific concerns for maternity services, but more widely we must address issues across the whole of the health and care system when it comes to listening to women's concerns and recognising their pain." In the joint piece with Maria Caulfield, the minister for women’s health, Mr Javid welcomed a "shift in the way we talk about women's health", with more open discussions about areas once seen as taboo. But the pair said more needed to be done – specifically to improve the treatment of endometriosis, an extremely painful gynaecological condition. "We must ensure all women feel confident in going to their GP when they experience symptoms of endometriosis and, when they do, that they are listened to," they said. Too many were "spending too long in pain waiting for a diagnosis, often feeling ignored by clinicians", they warned. Later this year the Government will publish a women's health strategy, which will examine issues including fertility, menopause, and prevention and treatment of diseases. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 31 March 2022
  4. News Article
    The government must stop treating women “like children” and permanently allow at home early medical abortions, MPs and health professionals have said. Abortion rules changed after Covid hit the UK in March 2020, with the government allowing abortion pills to be sent via post to be taken at home after a phone consultation. The new system - referred to as “telemedicine” - was due to run out on 25 March but the government declared a six-month extension for at home early medical abortions earlier in the month. MPs are now set to vote on whether to make telemedicine abortion services permanent on Wednesday. Clare Murphy, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), told The Independent: “We welcome the vote. MPs have the opportunity to prevent the recriminalisation of women who use Stella Creasy, a Labour MP and campaigner for abortion rights, is one of many MPs calling for telemedicine abortion services to be made permanent. “Despite the best attempts to scare, telemedicine has been shown to be safe, secure and preferable for many patients for a variety of reasons - it’s time to trust women and ensure they can make the right choices for themselves when it comes to their own medical care”, she said. Read full story Source: The Independent, 29 March 2022
  5. News Article
    Pregnant women with suspected pre-eclampsia will now be offered a test on the NHS to detect the condition. Pre-eclampsia affects some women, usually during the second half of pregnancy or soon after their baby is born. It can lead to serious complications if it is not picked up during maternity appointments, with early signs including high blood pressure and protein in the urine. In some cases, women can develop a severe headache, vision problems such as blurring or flashing, pain just below the ribs, swelling and vomiting. Tests have been available to help rule out the condition but midwives will now use tests designed to pick up a positive diagnosis. In new draft guidance, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said midwives could use one of four blood tests to help diagnose suspected preterm pre-eclampsia. Jeanette Kusel, the acting director for medtech and digital at NICE, said: “These tests represent a step-change in the management and treatment of pre-eclampsia. New evidence presented to the committee shows that these tests can help successfully diagnose pre-eclampsia, alongside clinical information for decision-making, rather than just rule it out. “This is extremely valuable to doctors and expectant mothers as now they can have increased confidence in their treatment plans and preparing for a safe birth.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 25 March 2022
  6. News Article
    Tens of thousands more women tested themselves for autism last year with numbers seeking tests now far outstripping men, new data shows. Statistics seen by The Independent show around 150,000 women took an online test verified by health professionals to see if they have autism last year, up from about 49,000 in 2020. Health professionals said the increase was a consequence of women not being diagnosed with the neurodevelopmental disorder as children and teens due to autism wrongly being viewed as a male disorder. Experts told The Independent autistic women and girls are routinely overlooked and neglected by health services due to them being more likely to conceal or internalise symptoms. Data from Clinical Partners, one of the UK’s leading mental health care providers which works closely with the NHS, shows women made up 56 per cent of those using their autism tests last year. This is substantially higher than the 46 per cent of women testing themselves for autism in 2020. Hannah Hayward, neurodevelopmental specialist at Clinical Partners, who provided the exclusive data, explained: “Diagnosis is crucial – without which, women and men can be susceptible to symptoms of mental health conditions including anxiety and depression and it is common for them to be misdiagnosed with or develop other conditions such as anxiety, anorexia, depression or Borderline Personality Disorder,” Read full story Source: The Independent, 23 March 2022
  7. News Article
    Banning home abortions could increase risks to women and waste NHS resources, leading doctors have warned. The “pills by post” system is set to be dismantled in England by September, having been introduced as a temporary measure at the start of the pandemic. However, the plans, disclosed by The Telegraph last month, have sparked outrage from medical organisations and women’s groups. The decision by ministers to return to pre-pandemic abortion systems in England has sparked fierce debate and could be subject to a vote in Parliament on Wednesday. Writing for The Telegraph, the leaders of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists have urged ministers to reconsider their intentions. They said that the current system has meant terminations take place earlier in the pregnancy, reducing the risk of complications, and that the most vulnerable women, including domestic abuse victims, are able to get help. Baroness Sugg of Coldharbour, a former operations chief to David Cameron, said that the UK should “stand strongly against the rollback of women’s rights”. She has also tabled an amendment to the Health and Care Bill seeking to maintain the current system in England. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 15 March 2022
  8. News Article
    Women and NHS staff have warned that mothers are being “forgotten” after giving birth, with a staff crisis only making matters worse. Kate, a 32-year-old from Leeds, says she has been left in “excruciating” pain for nine years after horrifying postnatal care. Other women have told The Independent stories of care ranging from “disjointed” to “disastrous”. It comes as midwives warn there are “horrendous” shortages in community services, which have prevented women from accessing adequate antenatal and postnatal care. Mary Ross-Davie, the Royal College of Midwives’ director for professional midwifery, said that with each Covid wave midwifery staffing has been hit worse than the last. To provide safe care during labour, antenatal and postnatal care, teams are sent into wards putting “huge pressure on care”. She said this could mean clinicians end up “missing things”, such as women struggling emotionally after birth. The warnings over poor antenatal and postnatal care come after experts at the University of Oxford said in November there were “stark” gaps in postnatal care, despite the highest number of deaths being recorded in the postnatal period. Dr Sunita Sharma, lead consultant for postnatal care at Chelsea and Westminster Trust, said that when NHS maternity inpatient staffing overall is in crisis “often the first place staff are moved from is the postnatal ward, which is clinically very appropriate, but it can come at a cost of putting more pressure on postnatal care for other mothers”. Dr Sharma said postnatal teams were doing their best to improve services but need national drivers and funding to sustain improvement. Read full story Source: The Independent, 16 March 2022
  9. News Article
    Pregnant women should be asked how much alcohol they are drinking and the answer recorded in their medical notes, new "priority advice" for the NHS says. The advice, from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), is designed to help spot problem drinking that can harm babies. Infants with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) can be left with lifelong problems. The safest approach during pregnancy is to abstain from alcohol completely. The more someone drinks while pregnant, the higher the chance of FASD - and there is no proven "safe" level of alcohol. But the risk of harming the baby is "likely to be low if you have drunk only small amounts of alcohol before you knew you were pregnant or during pregnancy", the Department of Health says. An earlier draft of the recommendations for NHS staff in England and Wales suggested transferring data on a woman's alcohol intake to her child's medical notes - but this has now been dropped, following concern women who needed help might hide their drinking. The Royal College of Midwives spokeswoman Lia Brigante said: "As there is no known safe level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy, the RCM believes it is appropriate and important to advise women that the safest approach is to avoid drinking alcohol during pregnancy and advocates for this. "We are pleased to see that the recommendation to record alcohol consumption and to then transfer this to a child's record has been reconsidered. "This had the potential to disrupt or prevent the development of a trusting relationship between a woman and her midwife." Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 March 2022
  10. News Article
    The NHS has publicly recognised that chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs) exist and has updated its advice for patients following pressure from campaign groups. For many patients who develop a UTI, their experience is extremely painful but short-lived. But for thousands of others, a one-off acute attack turns into a chronic infection that dominates their lives and lasts for months or even years. NHS Digital updated its website to last week to provide information around chronic bladder infections where previously there was none. Campaigners say this is a “huge step forward” but there is still a long way to go in improving testing and treatments for the condition. Chronic UTI sufferer Leah Herridge has been pushing for the change alongside Chronic Urinary Tract Infection Campaign (CUTIC) and Bladder Health UK. The NHS website’s Cystitis page has been updated to include mentions of chronic UTI and to acknowledge that current tests may not pick up these infections. Previously, the NHS made no mention of chronic UTIs, meaning GPs and even consultants would often default to misdiagnosing patients with interstitial cystitis. Specialists say the infections, which often begin as an acute bout of cystitis, can occur when bacteria become embedded within the bladder wall and become difficult to treat with short courses of antibiotics. “People tend to think chronic means really bad. What it means is everlasting,” said Carolyn Andrew, from CUTIC. In August 2021, Ms Herridge sent a letter to NHS Digital demanding the web page be updated. The campaign was backed by CUTIC and Bladder Health UK as well as 100 other chronic UTI sufferers who also wrote letters. “NHS Digital has actually been really, really fantastic at working with us and I do feel like they have really co-produced, certainly the interstitial cystitis page with the leading professionals in the area, the charities and myself,” said Ms Herridge. Read full story Source: iNews, 14 March 2022
  11. News Article
    Less than half of women are being seen following an urgent breast cancer referral, as NHS performance drops to a new low. ‘Alarming’ new NHS figures have shown just 47% of women in England referred “urgently” for breast cancer symptoms were seen by a specialist within two weeks. For women without symptoms but referred urgently to see a specialist, just 49% were seen within two weeks. In both cases this is the first time since records began that less than 50% cent of women were seen. Within some trusts less than 10% of women referred with symptoms were seen within two weeks, with less than two per cent of women referred to United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust being seen within this time frame in January. Wes Streeting, Labour shadow health secretary said: “I know from experience the importance of an early cancer diagnosis and quick treatment. It is appalling that most suspected breast cancer patients are left waiting so long before being seen, with the insecurity of not knowing." Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive at Breast Cancer Now, said: “It’s alarming that in January, for the first time, less than half of women 47.5 per cent in England who were urgently referred with potential breast cancer symptoms, were seen by a specialist within two weeks." “...the government must consider what immediate steps it can take to reverse this rapid decline. Agonising delays must be replaced with prompt diagnoses for all women – and the sooner breast cancer is diagnosed the greater the chance of treatment being successful.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 11 March 2022
  12. News Article
    It has been nine years living “like a prisoner” in “excruciating” pain and Kate is still facing a wait for surgery to tackle the horrifying mistakes in her postnatal care. Despite a difficult birth at Leeds General Hospital, Kate described the atmosphere at the trust’s labour ward as “lovely”. However, her experience quickly deteriorated into “hell” after she was told she had third-degree tears and was admitted to a postnatal ward, describing the care she received as “awful”. A few days following her discharge, which occurred before she’d had a bowel movement, Kate said she was left “screaming in pain” at home, “bleeding a lot from the back passage” and “incontinent”. Despite reporting these symptoms to the maternity department, Kate was told it was a “normal” experience. “I felt like nobody was listening to me,” Kate said. After six months, living in “intense pain”, with “flooding diarrhoea” and not able to leave the house, she was told by the NHS her symptoms were down to postnatal depression. She was referred to a colorectal surgeon, who found her anal sphincter was “fully open almost as if it wasn’t ever stitched”. Following an operation in 2015 to fix the issue, Kate developed sepsis, nearly losing her life and meaning it took 18 weeks for her wound to heal. However, her ordeal did not stop there. She had developed nerve damage, chronic pelvic pain, incontinence, coxalgia and a prolapse as a result of her problems being neglected for so long. By 2022, nine years later, she is now waiting for a colostomy bag operation – the only option to address her pain. Kate told The Independent: “Everywhere I go I have to plan the full day. I need to know where the toilets are. I don’t go out of the house. I’ve felt like a prisoner in my own home for nine years. “It makes me so emotional thinking about everything they have put me through. It hasn’t just affected my life, it’s also affected my partner and family. I have lost so much time that I’ll never get back. I couldn’t enjoy life and do the things that all mothers do with their babies. “There was no care, no sympathy, nothing. Nobody cared for me apart from my surgeon at Sheffield. I’ve forgotten what it feels like to feel normal. I can’t remember life without pain." Read full story Source: The Independent, 13 March 2022
  13. News Article
    Delays in being able to get contraception and abortions can wreck women’s lives. It’s time women ignored the stigma and started complaining more loudly, writes Nell Frizzell in the Guardian. "When a friend recently told me that there was a 10-week waiting list to have a copper coil fitted, my shock turned quickly into anger. Ten weeks is a hell of a long time to wait for adequate, hormone-free, affordable contraception. We are experiencing a quiet crisis in contraceptive care in this country. According to a report by the Advisory Group on Contraception: “Going into lockdown, services had faced years of budget cuts by the government, leading to an 18% decrease in real-terms contraception spend since 2015.” The same report points out that there has also been a huge reduction in sites commissioned to deliver contraception (26% of local authorities cut sites in 2018-2019), meaning people are having to travel further to get the medical help they need, simply not to have an unplanned, unwanted, unaffordable or unsafe pregnancy. Unfortunately, the stigma still attached to contraception and reproductive health means people are less willing to complain publicly about the huge waiting times, the travel costs and the difficulty they face in accessing contraception and abortion. Subtly and overtly, we are told that this is our lot and we must bear it. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 9 March 2022 "
  14. News Article
    The World Health Organization has published new guidelines on abortion aimed at tackling the unsafe care that leads to up to 39 000 maternal deaths and millions of women being admitted to hospital with complications every year. When carried out using a method recommended by WHO, abortion is a safe procedure. Tragically, however, only half of all abortions take place under such conditions, with unsafe abortions causing around 39 000 deaths globally. Most of these deaths are in lower-income countries – with over 60% in Africa and 30% in Asia – and among those living in the most vulnerable situations. “Being able to obtain safe abortion is a crucial part of health care,” said Craig Lissner, acting Director for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research at WHO. “Nearly every death and injury that results from unsafe abortion is entirely preventable. That’s why we recommend women and girls can access abortion and family planning services when they need them.” Evidence shows that restricting access to abortions does not reduce the number of abortions that take place. In fact, restrictions are more likely to drive women and girls towards unsafe procedures. In countries where abortion is most restricted, only 1 in 4 abortions are safe, compared to nearly 9 in 10 in countries where the procedure is broadly legal. “It’s vital that an abortion is safe in medical terms,” said Dr Bela Ganatra, Head of WHO’s Prevention of Unsafe Abortion Unit. “But that’s not enough on its own. As with any other health services, abortion care needs to respect the decisions and needs of women and girls, ensuring that they are treated with dignity and without stigma or judgement. No one should be exposed to abuse or harms like being reported to the police or put in jail because they have sought or provided abortion care." “The evidence is clear – if you want to prevent unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions, you need to provide women and girls with a comprehensive package of sexuality education, accurate family planning information and services, and access to quality abortion care,” Dr Ganatra added. Read full story (paywalled) Source: BMJ. 9 March 2022
  15. News Article
    A painful infection that mainly affects women is too often dismissed as "women's problems". One in every two women suffer a urinary tract infection (UTI) and they are the second most common infection globally. Among those affected is Hannah Hanratty, 36, who suffered months of agony despite multiple negative tests. During her pregnancy, Mrs Hanratty felt the "razor-blade burning pain" when passing urine. It soon developed into a constant pain. Two weeks after giving birth she needed antibiotics following a routine procedure and said the pain immediately went. "It was a UTI all along that just hadn't been picked up by the tests," she said. Now Dr Emma Hayhurst, a senior lecturer in Molecular Biology at the University of South Wales, has developed a device to improve testing and said the current system is "50 years out of date". At the moment a UTI patient may be asked to provide a urine sample which is sent for analysis, with tests back in two to three days. "That's not good enough, we need to make it quicker," said Dr Hayhurst, explaining that the device she's working on would reduce that. "Within 30 minutes the clinician will be able to say what bacteria is causing the UTI and indeed whether there is a UTI in the first place." Dr Hayhurst has received a £50,000 Women in Innovation Award to further her work, but also in recognition of her position as a female role model in the field of science, technology, engineering and medicine - or STEM subjects, as they're also known. "We should be listening to the women who are telling us this is a problem in their lives, but we know many feel like they are being dismissed," she said. Wales' Health Minister Eluned Morgan is due to publish a quality statement on women's health in the summer, and has announced funding for each health board to have a specialist endometriosis nurse. "I feel I have particular responsibility, as the first woman health minister in a long time, to make sure we look at the issue of women's health in a lot more detail," she said. "There are clearly some gaps, certainly when it comes to research, but also in terms of where people are concentrating their efforts and investment. "Quite often, women are not heard in the same way as men are heard and we've really got to make sure we are rebalancing that unconscious bias." Read full story Source: 7 March 2022
  16. News Article
    A Scottish hospital has become the first in the UK and one of the first in the world to pilot using artificial intelligence (AI) in its cervical cancer screening programme. University Hospital Monklands has increased capacity by around 25% and improved analysis turn-around times with the measure, which experts said could “revolutionise” the screening process. The system, from medical technology company Hologic, creates digital images of cervical smear slides from samples that have tested positive for Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). These are then reviewed using an advanced algorithm, which quickly assesses the cells in the sample and highlights the most relevant to medical experts, saving them time in identifying and analysing abnormalities. “Preliminary results from the pilot are promising, as the team at University Hospital Monklands has increased capacity by around 25 per cent in the slide assessment and improved analysis turn-around times, as well as allowing screeners to dedicate more time to training on the latest technologies and dealing with difficult-to-diagnose cases,” says Allan Wilson, consultant biomedical scientist at NHS Lanarkshire who is leading the pilot. "Through AI and digital diagnostics, we have the potential to improve outcomes for women not only in Scotland, but around the world.” Samantha Dixon, chief executive of Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, welcomed the pilot. “Catching cervical cell changes means they can be treated to prevent them from developing into cervical cancer,” she said. Read full story Source: The Scotsman, 4 March 2022
  17. News Article
    Women who have the HPV vaccine may need only one smear test to prevent cervical cancer in their lifetime, according to a leading scientist. Women are currently invited for screening every three to five years in the UK. But Prof Peter Sasieni said the vaccine was leading to such dramatic reductions in cancer that the screening programme would need to change soon. The NHS invites women, and people with a cervix, for regular screening. Swabs of the cervix are used to check for signs of abnormalities using a microscope (the traditional smear test) or more recently to test for the virus itself. However, a seismic shift in preventing cervical cancer started in the UK in 2008 with the introduction of the HPV vaccine. It is offered to girls (and boys since 2019) aged between 11 and 13. Research published in December shows the vaccine is cutting cervical cancer by nearly 90% in those who choose to have the jab. "This is really exciting," Prof Sasieni, the director of the clinical trials unit at King's College London, told Inside Health on BBC Radio 4. His modelling suggests between one and three checks a lifetime would be appropriate for people who have been immunised. "There's a new vaccine which will be used in the UK from the next school year, which protects against even more types of the virus, and I think with that probably one screen would be enough, maybe two, over a lifetime." However, the Department of Health and Social Care said one in three people do not come for screening when invited, and a spokesperson added: "The NHS Cervical Screening programme remains an important way of protecting the population - including those who have not been vaccinated - from developing cervical cancer." Read full story Source: BBC News, 2 March 2022
  18. News Article
    Tens of thousands of new mothers have been left feeling “hopeless” and “isolated” during the pandemic, with the NHS seeing record numbers of referrals to mental health services. Requests for help from new, expectant and bereaved mothers jumped by 40% in 2021 compared with 2019, analysis by The Independent has revealed. NHS data shows mental health referrals hit an all-time high of 23,673 in November last year, with average monthly referrals for the whole of 2021 running 21% higher than the year before, jumping from 17,226 to 21,990. Among those affected when support systems were “suddenly” removed in March 2020 was Leanne, a woman who had her second child just before the pandemic and experienced a mental health crisis. She told The Independent how she had struggled following the first lockdown. “I just thought, Oh God, my recovery is going to stop, how am I going to get better now because I’ve got no support – I’m on my own with it,” she said. “I was [also] anticipating the lockdown … in addition to the nursery closing, and I was getting quite anxious about that, and feeling quite hopeless. The pressure piled on me was enormous, and I had no one who could see me or support me." Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP, the shadow minister for mental health, said the figures uncovered by The Independent were “extremely concerning” and that pregnant women had been “forgotten about through the pandemic”. The Royal College of Psychiatrists’ lead for perinatal mental health services, Dr Joanne Black, said the NHS pandemic recovery plan had lost sight of women in pregnancy and children under two years old, who have been “disproportionately affected”. Read full story Source: The Independent, 28 February 2022
  19. News Article
    A new pregnancy screening tool cuts the risk of baby loss among women from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds to the same level as white women, research suggests. The app calculates a woman's individual risk of pregnancy problems. In a study of 20,000 pregnant women, baby death rates in ethnic groups were three times lower than normal when the tool was used. Experts say the new approach can help reduce health inequalities. The screening tool is already in use at St George's Hospital in London and is being tried out at three other maternity units in England, with hopes it could be rolled out to 20 centres within two years. Researchers from Tommy's National Centre for Maternity Improvement, led by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Midwives, developed the new tool. Professor Basky Thilaganathan, who led the research team at St George's Hospital, said the new approach could "almost eliminate a large source of the healthcare inequality facing black, Asian and minority ethnic pregnant women". "We can personalise care for you and reduce the chances of having a small baby, pre-eclampsia and losing your baby," he said. The current system of a tick-box checklist to assess pregnancy risk has been around for 70 years, and is limited. The new digital tool, which uses an algorithm to calculate a woman's personal risk, can detect high-risk women more accurately and prevent complications in pregnancy, the researchers say. Both pregnant women and maternity staff can upload information on their pregnancy and how they are feeling to the app during antenatal appointments and at other times. Dr Edward Morris, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said it was "unacceptable" that black, Asian and minority ethnic women faced huge inequalities on maternity outcomes. "The digital tool provides a practical way to support women with personalised care during pregnancy and make informed decisions about birth. Read full story Read Tommy's press release Source: BBC News, 28 February 2022
  20. News Article
    The symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) became so difficult for one woman, she did not want to live. Angharad Medi Lewis from Carmarthenshire said "embarrassing" heavy periods and excess facial hair made her not want to leave home. "I was having very heavy periods, I was in serious pain for a whole week every month, growing hair on my face, I was anxious, so worried about going out because of the heavy periods that it was actually embarrassing," she said. According to Neuroendocrinology expert Prof Aled Rees, the condition and its link with mental health side effects "isn't appreciated enough". "Patients often come to us at the clinic, and it's obvious from the symptoms they describe, that it's going to have an impact on their mental health." He said there was a "gap" in the general conversation with PCOS patients. "There needs to be greater emphasis for patients and doctors that any consultation they have includes a discussion about mental health because there is an effective treatment available". The charity Fair Treatment for Women in Wales has called on the Welsh government to put women's physical and mental health at the top of the agenda. Julie Richards, a consultant with the charity, said the mental health impacts of conditions like PCOS and endometriosis, are often forgotten. "We need specialist clinics in Wales, and when it comes to women's health generally, we're lagging behind in all areas," she said. The Welsh government said women's wellbeing was a priority and it would publish plans on how to support women. Read full story Source: BBC News, 25 February 2022
  21. News Article
    Breast cancer screening uptake fell to its lowest point ever during the pandemic, as the numbers of women seen dropped by more than one third. Just 1.19 million women aged 45 and over were screened for breast cancer in 2020-21, while the numbers of women who actually took up their invitation for screening dropped to 61%. Analysis by Breast Cancer Now, of the new NHS figures published on Thursday, found that uptake during the first year of the pandemic was the lowest it had been since records began. The number of women who had cancer detected through screening decreased by almost 40 per cent, although rates when calculated per 1,000 women were up by 8.4%. The news comes after NHS figures revealed that half of patients in October waited more than two weeks following an urgent breast cancer referral. According to analysis from the Labour Party in January, breast cancer patients faced the longest waits when compared to all other cancer referrals. Breast Cancer Now chief executive Baroness Delyth Morgan said: “Screening uptake has hit its lowest point in history, with less than 62% of women invited being screened, despite NHS staff working tirelessly, in the toughest of circumstances, to restart and continue breast screening services after they needed to be paused in March 2020. “The human cost behind these figures is stark, with an estimated 8,870 women in the UK living with undetected breast cancer as a result of the pandemic – a significant number of which would have been detected at routine screening. Tragically, research suggests that up to an additional 680 women could die from breast cancer in the next decade due to impacts of the pandemic on screening.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 24 February 2022
  22. News Article
    A London mum says she has been left in "agony" and only able to walk 10 minutes at a time after a transvaginal mesh implant perforated her organs. Anna Collyer, 53, had a transvaginal mesh fitted in 2015 at St. Helier hospital in Sutton. The mesh is a net-like implant and aims to give permanent support to the weakened organs and to repair damaged tissue. The mesh implants are designed to be permanent, but last April, Anna started to experience severe pain when the mesh cut into her organs leaving her "unable to live any sort of life anymore," she said. Even when doctors partially removed the mesh last June - her symptoms persisted. Anna, who lives in Morden, told MyLondon: "I could feel something sharp inside me. The pain relief tablets were not touching it. I was in agony. "It's got to the stage now where 10 minutes is all I can walk, because the pain is excruciating. I have pain in pelvis, groin, hips, back and shooting pains in legs. The level is horrendous. I have to lie down all the time. The vaginal mesh procedure was once common place in the UK, with more than 92,000 women receiving one between April 2007 and March 2015 in England alone. But the treatment was “paused” and The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review was ordered by the then health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, in 2018 amid mounting safety concerns. Women told the review team of “excruciating chronic pain feeling like razors inside their body" and felt dismissed when reporting complications including “unacceptable labelling of so many symptoms as ‘normal’ and attributable to ‘women’s problems’”, the report says. The new review accuses medial professionals of displaying “an institutional and professional resistance” to changing practice. The report concluded that “those harmed are due not only an apology, but better care and support through specialist centres”. Read full story Source: MyLondon. 22 February 2022
  23. News Article
    Pregnancy-related deaths among US mothers climbed higher in the pandemic’s first year, continuing a decades-long trend that disproportionately affects Black people, according to a new government report. Overall in 2020, there were almost 24 deaths per 100,000 births, or 861 deaths total, numbers that reflect mothers dying during pregnancy, childbirth or the year after. The rate was 20 per 100,000 in 2019. Among Black people, there were 55 maternal deaths per 100,000 births, almost triple the rate for white people. The report from the National Center for Health Statistics does not include reasons for the trend and researchers said they have not fully examined how Covid-19, which increases risks for severe illness in pregnancy, might have contributed. The coronavirus could have had an indirect effect. Many people put off medical care early in the pandemic for fear of catching the virus, and virus surges strained the healthcare system, which could have had an impact on pregnancy-related deaths, said Eugene Declercq, a professor and maternal death researcher at Boston University School of Public Health. He called the high rates “terrible news” and noted that the US has continually fared worse in maternal mortality than many other developed countries. Reasons for those disparities are not included in the data, but experts have blamed many factors including differences in rates of underlying health conditions, poor access to quality healthcare and structural racism. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 23 February 2022
  24. News Article
    A taskforce has been set up to tackle disparities in maternity care experienced by women belonging to ethnic minorities and those living in deprived areas. Black women are 40% more likely to miscarry than white, studies suggest. Maternal death rates are also higher among black and Asian women. Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists head Dr Edward Morris told BBC News implicit racial bias was affecting some women's care. Patient Safety and Primary Care Minister Maria Caulfield said: "For too long disparities have persisted which mean women living in deprived areas or from ethnic minority backgrounds are less likely to get the care they need and, worse, lose their child. "We must do better to understand and address the causes of this. "The Maternity Disparities Taskforce will help level-up maternity care across the country, bringing together a wide range of experts to deliver real and ambitious change so we can improve care for all women - and I will be monitoring progress closely." Chief midwifery officer Prof Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, who will co-chair the taskforce, said: "The NHS's ambition is to be the safest place in the world to be pregnant, give birth and transition into parenthood - all women who use our maternity services should receive the best care possible." The taskforce will meet every two months and focus on: improving personalised care and support plans addressing how wider societal issues affect maternal health improving education and awareness of health when trying to conceive, such as taking supplements and maintaining a healthy weight increasing access to maternity care for all women and developing targeted support for those from the most vulnerable groups empowering women to make evidence-based decisions about their care. Read full story Source: BBC News, 23 February 2022 Source: BBC News,
  25. News Article
    GPs and women are still ignoring key symptoms of ovarian cancer despite better awareness of the disease, a charity has warned, prompting fears that yet more patients will be diagnosed late and “die needlessly”. Symptoms include frequently having a swollen tummy or feeling bloated; pain or tenderness in the tummy or the pelvis; having no appetite or feeling full quickly after eating, and an urgent need to pee or needing to pee more often, according to the NHS. However, Target Ovarian Cancer is concerned that despite successful campaigns to boost awareness of the disease, many are still failing to act on the vital signs. “Key symptoms are being ignored – both by those experiencing them and their GPs,” a spokesperson said. A poll of 1,000 women for the charity found 79% did not know that bloating was a symptom, while 68% were unaware abdominal pain was a sign, and 97% did not know feeling full was another. Most women (99%) did not know that needing to pee more urgently was also a sign, while evidence suggests women can often be told by their GP that their symptoms are more a symptom of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Target Ovarian Cancer said. Ovarian cancer kills about a third of women with the disease in the first year after diagnosis, and is often diagnosed in the late stages. There are about 7,500 new ovarian cancer cases in the UK every year. “These figures are incredibly disappointing,” said Annwen Jones, the chief executive of Target Ovarian Cancer. “We know we’ve shifted the dial in the past 10 years through the dedication of thousands of Target Ovarian Cancer’s campaigners, but it is not enough. Knowing the symptoms is crucial for everyone. “We need to make sustained and large-scale government-backed symptoms campaigns a reality. Progress is possible. If we do this, fewer people will be diagnosed late, fewer will need invasive treatment, and, ultimately, fewer will die needlessly from ovarian cancer.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 22 February 2022
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