Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:01 pm on 5 July 2022.
Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I want to talk about the issue of women who suffer traumatic injuries to their pelvic area as a result of childbirth. I know you said this is wider, but, nonetheless, it's an area that's not been talked about it. Some of them experience severe injury, such as anal sphincter injuries, which can result in faecal incontinence. According to the MASIC Foundation, one in 50 women in the UK suffer from an obstetric and sphincter injury, and the impact on those women is considerable, on their physical and mental well-being, not to mention that of the wider family. I've never heard anybody mention it, and I'm very, very pleased that an individual took me up on an offer to come and talk to me about it.
I'm also aware that Cardiff and Vale University Health Board recently opened a pelvic hub to help improve the care for patients who have experienced those injuries. They're doing extremely fantastic work, and I'm hoping to meet with the surgeon in the summer recess. But that help resides only there, so it's about inequality of access. So, Minister, what discussions are you having, as Welsh Government, with health boards across Wales about the potential of opening up pelvic hubs in other areas of Wales that will treat women who, as a consequence of being women, get fair and equal access? And let's open another debate about the effects that very often happen directly as a consequence of having children.