Improving the health and life chances of women and their babies are issues very close to my heart, so it was a real honour to launch the new Barts Research Centre for Women’s Health earlier this month.
Each day in the UK, two women lose their battle with cervical cancer, the most common cancer in women under 35, yet new statistics reveal almost half of women don’t know what the cervix is.
Obstetric fistula is one of the most serious and tragic injuries that can happen to a woman during childbirth. It occurs when prolonged obstructed labour without medical intervention causes a hole between the vagina and rectum or bladder. In 90% of obstetric fistula cases, the baby is stillborn, while obstructed labour accounts for 6% of all global maternal mortality. This devastating condition affects more than two million women worldwide, with up to 100,000 new cases occurring each year, yet is largely preventable.
It is shocking that one in three women around the world experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. Research suggest that these women are more than twice as likely to have an abortion and almost twice as likely to experience depression compared to women who have not experienced partner violence.
Today marks the first World Menopause Day since the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published its first guideline on the diagnosis and management of the menopause nearly one year ago.
September marks Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month; a UK-wide initiative led by women’s cancer charity, The Eve Appeal. The campaign aims to encourage more women to be aware of the signs and symptoms of the disease, and to feel comfortable speaking about them without shame or embarrassment.
The stark and honest descriptions of the challenges faced by healthcare professionals in South Africa when providing safe abortion care and postpartum family planning.
On Tuesday 3 November, we officially launched Leading Safe Choices at the House of Lords. This incredibly exciting project, under the directorship of RCOG Vice-President for Strategic Development, Professor Lesley Regan, presents an opportunity to confront two major issues that have persistently hindered progress in women’s health: contraception and abortion.
Women need clear, evidence-based information to break through the conflicts of opinion and confusion about the menopause. This is all about informed choice.
An article in The Obstetrician & Gynaecologist (TOG) published today (21 October 2015) reviews the current state of obstetric care for women who are asylum seekers and refugees in the UK.
I am very pleased to announce the publication of the revised RCOG Green-top Guideline Female Genital Mutilation and its Management (no. 33) last Friday. It has been around two years in the making and I would like to acknowledge the hard work of our guideline authors and contributors.
Every year between 50,000 to 100,000 women worldwide are affected by obstetric fistula and more than two million women are currently living with untreated obstetric fistula in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
It has been over 10 years since the UNFPA and its partners, of which the RCOG is one, launched its global Campaign to End Fistula in 2003.