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It’s time to recognise that “all women’s healthcare is in crisis”, said Everyday Sexism founder Laura Bates . In an exclusive by The Independent earlier this month, leading health experts warned that “threadbare” NHS maternity care is leaving new mothers dangerously at risk, as mental health and community services are being slashed. The first UK inquiry into birth trauma was published last week, with its authors calling for a system where “poor care is the exception rather than rule”.

The inquiry encountered incidents where women had experienced birth injuries so severe they had been forced to stop working, as well as accounts of babies that were stillborn or born with conditions that were caused by mistakes and failures, many of which were covered up before and during labour. Speaking on a panel at Hay Festival , in partnership with The Independent , Bates said that “anything that affects women is low priority”. “We need investment, we need care, we need to actually do some research into women’s health, and into the impact that all of this has,” she continued.



“We do a huge amount more research and put loads more funding into Viagra than we do into issues affecting women – go figure. “So it’s a crisis. We need to recognise it’s a crisis, we need to recognise it’s a gendered crisis, and we need to invest.

” Bates also spoke of a “forgotten generation” of women during Covid, who were “forced to give birth alone while pubs were heavi.

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