A (Womb) With A View
In Conversation With Leah Hazard, author of Womb
If words have a power to them, then maybe it is in books that we can find the best fortified defence to advocate for our needs in healthcare. It’s been a bit of a hard lesson to learn.
Since around February I have, once again, become a regular to localised medical environments - though never to see a GP in person. Another thing connected to Covid 19 - or at least spotted through my continuing day to day issues - is that I potentially have PCOS. Fun times.
Access to healthcare is tricky anyway - but this has just been the utter pits. I haven’t had agency when I should have had, been infantilised too often - and the reactions have at times been interesting. From the friend who told me ‘Oh my God - you’re turning into a man!’, along with transphobia from other people, it started to sting when it was women who suggested I spend time and extreme amounts of money on beauty procedures. To be more womanly. Others have centered themselves, and made this about them or told me how I should feel. I find speaking to this beyond difficult. Matched only by “Got any new diseases since I last saw you?” Yep.
I am told ‘this is common’, or that I should feel ‘relief’ - whereas what would have been a significantly better response would be to hold a space. Hold a space, privately, allow me to speak openly, maybe even just cry if I need to. (Wine also would go very well with this. Just sayin’.) There are a lot of mixed feelings on this - and having to re-write my understanding of myself, advocate, and have the factual evidence ready is a sadness I want to put down and away. I am tired of having to back myself and cope in an ableist system of health that is imperfect.
We are allowed to feel sad. Angry. Messy. Rage at when our status is co-opted or when we battle on to be heard in healthcare. Ableism and sexism is a double edged sword; the way forward is with two hands tied behind your back.
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On a quest to find out more and to understand the what the fuckery of what had gone one (sorry, but there are no other words of an apt enough description), I found Womb in Foyles bookshop. Leah Hazard (sidetone - can we admire what an excellent name this is) is an NHS midwife, and has previously written a number of other books. This includes Hard Pushed: A Midwife’s Story, as well as The Father’s Home Birth Handbook. Womb is a comprehensive look at a whole manner of related subjects - such as how the C section was created (a partial mistake!), sexism in healthcare, the history of midwifery and so much more. There’s also a lot of information on developments for the future.
This is easily one of the most fascinating books I have ever read - enough so I was up until around 2:00am reading one evening. Leah answered a few questions for this newsletter - just be warned, from here on in there are some topics mentioned that should have a content warning attached.
First of all, I wanted to ask you about the impetus to write the book and the inspiration; the book opens with you at a museum to see uteruses that had effectively been preserved for many years. What sparked the inspiration from that moment? The description of the silence and inherent wizardry in the room is almost intoxicating.
After my last book, Hard Pushed, which was a memoir of my midwifery career, I knew that I wanted to write about women’s health, but through a different lens. It took me a while to realise that no one had written a really accessible, current book about the uterus, and that seemed like a great way to approach reproductive health and justice. Early in the writing process, I visited the Surgeons’ Hall with its collection of wombs in jars, and that just sparked my imagination in a massive way.
Would you consider yourself to be a feminist, and if so when did that ‘happen’? Was there any particular moment?
I am absolutely a feminist, and always have been. My mother always raised me to believe that women deserved parity with men, and equal opportunities. People often think that feminism means you hate men, or you believe women are superior to men, or you’re just angry all the time. Although I am often angry about health inequalities, my feminism is really just about equity.
Do you think these values need to inform care? And if so, how can the medical profession do that to do better by its patients such as in the labour ward?
There are some great clinicians out there, but medics really need to remember that individualised, compassionate care is what every person deserves. It’s not easy when our health service is under such enormous pressure, but it’s important – especially in reproductive health – to do what’s right, and what’s safe.
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What has the initial response been like to Womb vs now, with the plethora of books that aim to educate women on their body? We have books such as Loosing It by Sophia Smith Gahler for example.
The initial response has been great, and it’s also good to see a new wave of books about the female experience and reproductive healthcare more widely. I think women and other people who need gynae care have been crying out for accurate, accessible information about their bodies, and the response to my book reflects that.
What was the biggest surprise you learned in the course of writing?
So much of the book’s content was surprising to me. One of the things I loved learning about was menstrual effluent – the stuff that comes out during a period, which isn’t just blood, and has a unique individual biochemical fingerprint for each person. I didn’t know that menstrual effluent has great diagnostic potential for diseases like endometriosis, and this is a really exciting new frontier in science.
And what would you like readers to takeaway from the book?
I’d like readers to interrogate their own experiences with their bodies, and also to have more empathy for other people whose bodies and lives may be different to their own.
I saw on Instagram you’re also in the process of starting your new book - can you give us any hints about what it’s about?
I can’t say much at the moment as I’m in the very early stages of research, but it’s super exciting! You can guess the general field by looking at my previous work...I’ll leave it at that.
And my final question: when it comes to advocacy for ourselves, do you have any advice?
My advice is to never give up. If you think something isn’t right with your body, educate yourself and keep pushing until you get the answers you need. It’s really hard sometimes, but we all deserve to know what’s going on with our health.
Womb is out now - and you can get your own copy here.
My debut book is out now - and here is what people are saying about it!
“The Autism Friendly Cookbook is a striking manifesto on the importance of accessibility in cooking. With adaptations front and centre, this book from Lydia Wilkins is sure to become a kitchen staple.”
- Natasha Lipman, journalist and host of The Rest Room podcast:
“Cooking is one of the foundations of independent living. This charming, inviting book is designed to make this basic life-skill accessible to everyone. It's not just a collection of tantalizing recipes, it's a celebration of autistic community.”
- Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity:
“A delightful guide full of important information for neurodivergent foodies - we've needed this for years!”
- Chloe Johnson, editor at Disability Review Magazine