7. Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Women’s Health

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:49 pm on 5 July 2022.

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Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 5:49, 5 July 2022

Thank you very much. Ignaz Semmelweis identified why women giving birth cared by midwives—nearly all women—had a much lower mortality rate than a randomly identical cohort cared by doctors—all men—in 1847, but it took over 100 years in a male-dominated profession for hand washing between patients and before surgery to be mandatory practice. And so that really illustrates just the size of the problems that we face in many areas of our life, and that includes medicine. If men got pregnant, I suggest we wouldn't have such disgraceful attacks on womens' and girls' right to choose in at least half the countries in the world. And happily the Welsh health Minister has protected the right of women in Wales to have rapid access to telemedical abortions, and the innovation that we achieved during COVID to be a permanent feature in the NHS in Wales. 

You mentioned in your statement about endometriosis, and I just wanted to probe a bit further on this. Yes, we've introduced specialist endo nurses into each health board in Wales, and that's very, very welcome, but women do not have equal access to secondary and tertiary care, and so that is obviously a big challenge for us and for the Welsh NHS.