An Australian-first inquiry into women's health is to be set up by the state government after a survey found many women feel dismissed and unheard when seeking help for pain. Two in five Victorian women live with chronic pain and health experts say it's vital that women's health and reproductive issues are better understood.
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00:00 For the past six months, Robin Holmes has been at the forefront of caring for women's
00:06 sexual health.
00:07 The reproductive nurse works at Frankston Hospital, which last year started offering
00:11 Victorians the option of using a green whistle for painful IUD procedures.
00:16 And this is where you will puff on or we will like suck in like you're blowing on a whistle.
00:20 It's the first public hospital in the state to do so.
00:23 When we offer them the green whistle, they're like, "Oh my God, I wish I had this before."
00:27 I think people might not understand what pain is and understand that having an IUD procedure
00:33 can be painful or it can be traumatic for some clients.
00:36 The misunderstanding of women's health has been highlighted in a new survey of 1,700
00:41 Victorian women, which found four in 10 had chronic pain.
00:45 About half said periods, cramping and PMS affected their health and wellbeing.
00:50 Conditions like endometriosis and menopause also caused poor mental health.
00:55 While many women reported insensitive medical practitioners left them feeling frustrated
00:59 and dismissed.
01:01 We need to open up people's eyes and be like, yes, periods can be painful, they can be heavy
01:06 and a heavy period isn't necessarily normal and we shouldn't put up with it.
01:10 It's not that women are afraid or shy of speaking, it's that we have not been listening.
01:14 The findings have prompted the state government to establish an inquiry examining women's
01:18 health, pain and their experiences with the health system.
01:22 For too long, women's health has been seen as a niche issue.
01:27 It has not had the attention, the support that it deserves.
01:31 Too many women are living with pain, pain that is often undiagnosed and untreated.
01:38 It's hoped that this inquiry will help remove some of the shame and stigma around women's
01:43 health and reproductive issues.
01:45 The inquiry will start taking submissions at the end of this month.
01:49 Public consultation will run for nine weeks.
01:51 [BLANK_AUDIO]