A woman who experienced debilitating pain for nearly two decades after a medical procedure said she felt her concerns were not believed by healthcare providers until her husband intervened. Donna Davies, 56, is now facing the removal of her large bowel due to complications from a vaginal mesh device, which was initially implanted to treat stress urinary incontinence.
Davies shared her experience at a women's health summit in Wales, an event that addressed the tendency for women's pain to be dismissed as "normal" within the healthcare system. She is among an estimated 100,000 women in the UK who received similar procedures for incontinence or prolapse, a practice that has since been paused by the National Health Service (NHS).
"The mesh was leaving me in daily pain - the only way I can explain it was that I was being cut by glass every time I moved," Davies stated. "I didn't feel as if I was believed and I didn't feel my pain was acknowledged until my husband spoke up about an incident we had and then I felt that the surgeon believed my husband."
After the mesh device was removed, a "sling" constructed from her own muscle tissue was created during a total hysterectomy. Davies reported that she has not recovered from the operation and continues to experience constant, neuropathic pain. She is now awaiting the removal of her large bowel and the creation of a permanent stoma.
Davies also expressed concern over the lack of specialized services for women with her condition in Wales, contrasting it with the nine specialist centers available in England. "I feel that women in Wales are being forgotten," she said.
Delyth Jewell, the women's health minister in the Senedd, addressed these concerns at the summit, advocating for strengthened rules to ensure health boards involve women in the design of services intended for them. "I am determined to strengthen women's voices so that women will be believed about their bodies," Jewell stated. She questioned the normalization of phrases like "this might hurt" in medical consultations, asserting that such dismissiveness should not be accepted.
Jewell emphasized the need to re-prioritize women's health services, moving them from an "should" to a "must" status, and improving the training provided to healthcare professionals. "We need to make sure that in theatre space they are prioritised more, we need to be making sure that training is improved," she added.