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A significant investment of $793 million in women’s health has been warmly received, although there are concerns due to the absence of a mention of a condition that impacts numerous women.
This condition is frequently omitted from conversations regarding women’s health, despite its disruptive and occasionally debilitating nature.
“I’d leave the house only to have to return and change because of flooding,” shared Michelle Watts, reflecting on a ski outing — just one instance where she bled through multiple layers of clothes.
“I’d find myself in tears, thinking, ‘I can’t keep doing this,’ as it was affecting every single part of my life,” the 60-year-old expressed.
For a period of 18 months starting in 2021, Watts endured heavy menstrual bleeding, which the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) describes as excessive menstrual blood loss that disrupts a woman’s quality of life.
“I was as down as I could imagine because, in my view, everything was unattainable. I couldn’t join my friends for swimming anymore, and activities like swimming and gym sessions became daunting,” Watts shared.
“Everything I cherished doing was no longer possible for me.”
‘Time to change’ the language
After many failed treatments, Michelle finally underwent a uterectomy, traditionally known as a hysterectomy.
The original terminology for this procedure has some specialists concerned due to
Dr Talat Uppal is a gynaecologist and director at Women’s Health Road and is in the process of changing the language, which she says was inaccurately used to explain women’s emotional and physical concerns.
“Often when I’m using the word hysteroscopy or hysterectomy it brings back that association of centuries-old myth which is something that is important to defuse and re-word to a more anatomical one”, Dr Talat said.
The CSIRO, Australia’s national science organization, is also advocating for changes in medical terminology and plays a role in revising global clinical terminology standards.
Dr Talat Uppal is a gynaecologist and director at Women’s Health Road. Source: Supplied
Katrina Ebril is the Interoperability Lead with the Australian e-Health research centre at the CSIRO and says this change is a first when it comes to women’s bodies.
“It’s definitely time to change … and we do this for other procedures,” Ebril said.
“It is a uterectomy, let’s call it what it is, and start to use that much more positive language and much more language that aligns to what the actual procedure is.”
For women like Watts, removing taboos around menstruation is key to making treatment more accessible, and encouraging others to seek help.
Who suffers from heavy menstrual bleeding?
One in four people who menstruate suffer from heavy menstrual bleeding, according to the ACSQHC, and two thirds of those experience iron deficiency.
Yet the commission notes less than half of women suffering from the condition visit a doctor.
“Traditionally or historically, women have been left out of research, and sometimes even the animals in the labs were male animals,” Uppal said.
“And so this is a long historical background of disadvantage of not including women, and we really want to change that narrative when it comes to heavy bleeding.”
Uppal welcomes a number of measures in, but would like to see more attention given to this issue.
“I think the issue with heavy menstrual bleeding is simply not prioritized, though it’s not intentional, it seems more like a cultural oversight,” she expressed.
Watt believes a lack of awareness is why she struggled to receive adequate care for months.
“It’s just been so normalised … and I don’t think it should be, I don’t think it’s normal,” Watt said. “And it’s really hard to get any information because it’s just taken as: ‘Well, you’re a woman, this is what happens.'”
She can’t imagine what her life would have looked like without undergoing the procedure, now relishing the active lifestyle she was once forced to sacrifice.
“My ability to participate in skiing, running, swimming … all of the things that I wanted to enjoy, that’s all possible again, I never have to worry about that ever again, it’s like an absolute new lease of life,” she said.
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