![\"Michelle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/\/6ff266c8-86ce-42d1-9aa1-d0fb6f0ae517.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Michelle Obama has drawn attention to issues around female health<\/p>\n
MARTIN SYLVEST\/RITZAU SCANPIX\/AFP<\/p>\n
The government\u2019s Women\u2019s Health Action Plan 2024-2025 included expanded access to contraception, menopause clinics, fertility and gynaecology services, and a full subsidy of HRT medications \u2026 finally. But real change will depend on redefining what it means to listen to and care for women\u2019s health holistically and medically \u2014 built on empathy, evidence and equity. <\/p>\n
Dr Hugh O\u2019Connor and his wife, Fiona Healy, have placed these ideals at the core of the HOC, their new clinic in Dublin. It specialises in female health and wellness, from skin conditions and menopause to gynaecological issues, postnatal problems and sexual wellness, promoting optimal female health at all stages of life. \u201cWe\u2019d like to think we\u2019re not just a run-of-the-mill clinic,\u201d Healy says, \u201cbut that we\u2019re offering expert response to female medical issues with a proper road map of where to go.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u2022 Women over 45 \u2014 your fast guide to good health<\/a><\/p>\n O\u2019Connor is an award-winning gynaecologist and obstetrician, who has been in obstetrics at Coombe hospital in Dublin since 1997, and he recognises the limitations of hospitals when it comes to the full gamut of women\u2019s health issues. \u201cWe offer a great service at the Coombe but it\u2019s a little tired. It has always struck me that if men had babies, the Coombe would be a tower to the Celtic tiger. But we don\u2019t and I really wanted to offer women a good service in good surroundings, one that was comfortable and less rushed.\u201d <\/p>\n Historically, women have had a raw deal when it comes to menopause care, he continues. \u201cIt\u2019s still not what it should be.\u201d And it goes beyond menopause. \u201cWhen you\u2019re a junior doctor, a vaginal delivery is considered to be the holy grail but there\u2019s a cost to that, namely a woman\u2019s pelvic floor. We are working with a lot of new technology that can help optimise that. My focus is always mother first and baby close second and in my experience once a woman has had a family they put themselves at the bottom of the priority list. They are more tired and their bladder might not work as well. They often don\u2019t present with those complaints but when I probe them about the bladder they often tell me they can\u2019t run or jump and they just put up with it. But they shouldn\u2019t have to,\u201d he adds. \u201cThere is technology that can help.\u201d <\/p>\n Davina McCall has made two documentaries about the menopause<\/p>\n IAN WEST\/PA<\/p>\n The HOC is a first mover in this area, but there are many others joining the fray, not least the soon-to-be-launched \u20ac16 million Women\u2019s Health Centre from Blackrock Health on Warrington Place in Dublin 2. These signal the rise of consultant-led facilities for the thousands of women long frustrated with the gap in women\u2019s healthcare. \u201cGPs don\u2019t always have the correct expertise to deal with menopause issues, for example,\u201d O\u2019Connor says. <\/p>\n The misconception around hormone replacement therapy hasn\u2019t helped. The flawed analysis of the Women\u2019s Health Initiative study in 2002, which found an increased risk of breast cancer and heart disease with combined HRT in older women, was misinterpreted and generalised to all women. The media picked up on the negative findings, leaving women in a panic about taking HRT. \u201cWomen were afraid to even talk about it,\u201d O\u2019Connor says. \u201cI find that women who are on HRT are more aware of their health and get checked more regularly. If the benefits outweigh the risks then there is a strong case for taking it. The good news is there are a lot more GPs now who are increasingly interested in this area of medicine so it will improve, albeit slowly.\u201d <\/p>\n When O\u2019Connor started at the Coombe there were only two female doctors. Now the majority are female. \u201cI\u2019ve four daughters, a wife and one son,\u201d he says. \u201cI look at how brilliant my wife and daughters are and can\u2019t help but feel if girls were guys they would be looked at and remunerated differently. The premise behind the clinic is to make things better, healthcare is getting better and there are lots of areas being addressed but we\u2019re not there yet.\u201d <\/p>\n As a mother of five, Healy knows only too well the consequences of childbirth on the female body. \u201cIt was really our daughters and their future that helped spur our decision to open the clinic. For the past ten years Hugh and I have been discussing the fact that there really hasn\u2019t been a facility for women like this in Ireland. I\u2019ve been through it all and really felt there was something missing; we wanted to fill the gap.\u201d <\/p>\n \u2022 Gynaecology is seen as a lifestyle medicine. Women are being betrayed<\/a><\/p>\n In the eight months since the clinic opened a huge volume of patients have come for the reassurance of practised hands and expert advice. But being able to visit a clinic like the HOC might not be possible for a lot of women, so what can they do? \u201cIn the Coombe and in other hospitals there are menopause clinics run by consultants and teams specialising in complex menopause issues. My daughters also help us provide online information, which we will continue to provide free of charge,\u201d O\u2019Connor says. <\/p>\n The expanding network of clinics also includes \u201csee-and-treat\u201d gynaecology clinics with more due to be rolled out in the coming year. It\u2019s timely given the new public-only contracts for hospital consultants signalling an end to in-hospital private maternity care. \u201cA pregnant woman will soon no longer have the option to pay for private obstetric care,\u201d he says. \u201cYou can argue that it\u2019s a good thing, everyone under the one banner, but I disagree. In an ideal world everyone could go private and get that one-to-one care but sadly, that isn\u2019t possible. But the option shouldn\u2019t be taken away from women who want that service. Pregnant women should have that choice, especially when men have the choice to go public or private in every aspect of their healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWomen want to live as good a life as they can live,\u201d Healy says. \u201cI would love to see proper postnatal care for women following childbirth, including better physio care and a greater awareness of perimenopause and menopause issues. Surely everyone needs and deserves access to that.\u201d <\/p>\n Perimenopause device gains momentum<\/p>\n Science now suggests that symptoms of perimenopause \u2014 frequency of night sweats, for one \u2014 have strong links to cardiovascular disease and even to Alzheimer\u2019s disease, writes Elaine Prendeville. Enter Peri, a wearable tracking device designed to equip women with more information.<\/p>\n Heidi Davis was on a work trip in America when her inbox lit up. \u201cThe waiting list for Peri was exploding,\u201d she tells The Sunday Times. \u201cAnd I couldn\u2019t work out why.\u201d Peri, a wearable sensor designed to track symptoms of perimenopause, had been revealed on Oprah Winfrey\u2019s website, which suggested that the device \u201ccould offer tangible, personalised insights to help you keep track of what\u2019s going on with your body and empower you to be an advocate for your own health\u201d.<\/p>\n American women wanted in, and fast. \u201cThat was without a single marketing dollar,\u201d Davis, a Dublin-based scientist and Peri co-founder, says. \u201cWhich suggests to me that our timing is right.\u201d <\/p>\n![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/\/2612fc4c-dcaa-47e3-bd52-7668e63a6c5e.jpg\")
<\/p>\n