You can register for the Zoom event here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VknMh6YdS8mUyxS4SAJNSw

The coronavirus pandemic led to fundamental changes to the ways healthcare is provided and delivered across the NHS, the UK and the world. We know that many of these changes are here to stay, but their immediate and long-term implications are yet to be fully understood.

Join us on Tuesday 10 November at 7pm to discuss the impact COVID-19 has had on women’s* health, including:

- Access to contraception
A survey by the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare found 77% of GPs and 64% of specialists have “ended or limited the provision of essential sexual and reproductive health services since the COVID-19 outbreak.”

- Cancer diagnosis
Research by Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust found that over 2 in 5 of their participants were less likely to go to their GP if they were experiencing unusual symptoms because they are worried around the NHS being too stretched, or of catching the virus.

- Wellbeing of new mothers
More than 238,000 people have signed an e-petition that calls for the Government to extend maternity leave by 3 months, in light of Covid-19, with 27,000 new parents responding to the first survey of the Commons’ Petitions Committee’s inquiry into this petition with a record 26,000 comments to their Facebook thread.

- Mental health
A major study by UCL found that young women are the most likely group to have suffered high levels of depression, anxiety and loneliness during lockdown.

Our panellists are:

• Carolyn Harris, Labour MP for Swansea East, Deputy Leader of Welsh Labour and Co-Chair of the APPG on Women’s Health
• Katherine O’Brien, Associate Director of Communications and Campaigns at British Pregnancy Advisory Service
• Dr Sonia Adesara, NHS Doctor, activist and former director of 50:50 Parliament
• Dr Cheryll Adams CBE, founder and CEO of the Institute of Health Visiting
• Kate Sanger, Head of Communications and Public Affairs at Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust

Emily Batchelor; the Young Fabians’ Women’s Officer and Emma Stevenson, Parliamentary Liaison for the Health Network will be chairing the discussion.

*Note on language: The terms ‘woman’ and ‘women’s health’ are used for brevity. We know that it is not only individuals who identify as women require access to these healthcare services, including trans men and non-binary individuals, and we support efforts to make healthcare services inclusive and sensitive to the needs of people who identify as a different gender than they were assigned at birth.