Loose Women air ‘women’s health special’

Today on Loose Women, Charlene White, Olivia Attwood-Dack, Janet Street-Porter and Denise Welch were on the panel for a special show dedicated to women’s health…

During the lunchtime episode, the ladies discussed if incontinence is still a taboo topic and opened up on the impact menopause can have on women’s lives and careers. Discussing the statistic that 84% of women feel they’re not listened to by healthcare professionals, Denise shared: “I think the time I remember vividly of being most let down by a doctor was when I was severely poorly with post-natal depression about the birth of Matty, which I’ve spoken about extensively and to Dr Rosenna when we first met, I’ve spoken extensively about on this show.

“My mum took me to the doctor and I was apparently catatonic, on the verge of a purple psychosis, I was very, very, very poorly and my mother was kind of talking for me and the GP, a woman in her mid-60s, probably not far from my age now, leant forward and said to me, ‘Well, I had 5 children dear and I just didn’t have time to get depressed’ is what she said to me and that’s what I was faced with a lot. Also, because my depression was either hormonal or chemical, it was endogenous, it wasn’t necessarily based on trauma, I have spent all of the time over my life, trying to convince people that this comes on of its own accord.”

Following this month’s Vogue cover star Bella Hadid, who suffers with polycystic ovary syndrome and endometriosis, sparking a debate around women ‘having time off work when on their period’, OIivia shared her thoughts:

“I think it’s a really fine line that we have to tread really carefully because we don’t want to walk into the hands of misogynistic creators that we have in our space now, who like to basically deem women incapable to do certain jobs or fill certain roles in society and they disregard us and go, ‘Because she’s menstrual’. I think sometimes those kinds of narratives are going to push us back and we’re playing into the hands of those misogynistic people when women are more than capable of managing their menstrual cycle and showing up in society just as well, if not better than men.”

She explained however, that’s ‘one end of the scale’ and acknowledged those suffering with conditions like endometriosis, including her sister, saying: “I think when you have an endometriosis or polycystic ovaries type of situation, your periods and the way they show up very different and that will affect your ability to work.”

Loose Women: Health Special / ITV

In a conversation about incontinence, Denise said: “I have used this show as one of many  platforms to talk about incontinence because I’m not embarrassed by it but having talked openly… So many people have either got in touch online or come up to me and said thank you so much for talking about it, I’ve dealt with this for years. We assume it’s often post-childbirth but actually there are people in their teenage years that for all sorts of reasons suffer from incontinence and because it’s ’embarrassing’, people don’t talk about it and don’t look for help. There are lots of ways we can help ourselves…”

Olivia explained: “When I was making a documentary I was making about plastic surgery and we did a vagina episode, seeing those women and their striving for surgery, whether it was cosmetic or functional, my eyes were opened up to, ‘Is incontinence something that we all need to think about?’. Me in my early 30s, not had kids, I hadn’t thought about it.”

Sharing the advice given to her by her own gynaecologist: “So, that was something I was educated to and I was with my gynaecologist one day and he put his hands there on my stomach and he said, ‘Can you sit up?’ and he was checking my core.” She admitted she wasn’t doing ‘pelvic floor exercises’ and asked him if she should be, to which he responded: “Yes, if you want to have kids in the next couple of years, start now.”

Having shared her professional advice on some of the topics discussed in the show so far, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan also joined the ITV1 and STV panel to answer some all-important questions around women’s health during the dedicated show, including the HPV vaccination, skin cancer, dementia and weight-loss jabs.

Dr Rosena also told viewers: “One thing people say so often is, ‘I feel stupid going to the doctor and saying, I’ve got this dot on my hand, or this dot on my face, or dot on my arm. Just go, it is literally our job as doctors to support you if you’re worried about something so no one should ever be turning you away or that you’re not welcome to come there if there’s something you’re worried about.”

Fitness coach Javeno McLean also shared some words of motivation during the show: “I think sometimes, especially women, we forget how amazing we are. Just because you get a bit older, doesn’t mean you have to forget your body. I train some of the strongest women on the planet and they show me that, if you put your mind to it, you can do anything you want despite your age.” Before showing viewers at home some simple moves to improve mobility later in life, using the Loose Women to demonstrate.

Catch up with Loose Women on the STV Player and ITVX

Loose Women airs weekdays from 12:30pm on ITV, ITVX, STV and STV Player