WomenKind Collective

 In our new series, we will be spilling the tea on topics that affect our health and well-being from the extra-ordinary women that are raising their voices for positive change.This week we have a wonderful guest, Emily Courtney, or as she is better known in her online community, Mothering and the Menopause.Emily is a Mum of three young children, including twins, and had them following a diagnosis of Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI).She had a huge struggle in the year following the birth of her twins, due to the lack of hormones and not being able to get HRT. Emily has years of experience as a Health Visitor and Nurse and has used this to create ‘Mothering and The Menopause’, an online community support network, to ensure that no one else has to suffer like she did. Emily’s mission is to enable Mums of young children, to be the best parents possible despite dealing with the menopause. Emily chats about what it’s really like to deal with both motherhood and menopause and gives honest and frank advice for anyone going through both.  It’s a reading week for our Book Collective this week. We are reading chapters 7-12 of our new book for series 11, All Fours by Miranda July. You can join in with our Book Club, send us a DM or voice note with your thoughts on the book. It’s another episode brimming with chat and all the usual sweary shenanigans! There’s comments, a WI (weekly invitation) and a thought for the week.So, go and get the kettle on and settle in for our weekly collective chat while we spill the tea!  If you’ve enjoyed our Podcast you may like to consider buying us a Ko-Fi at https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcastHere you can find updates, photos and some inclusive content we won’t post anywhere else and your donation will help us ensure we continue to bring you great quality of content and sound. You can watch the interview only on our YouTube channel: Womenkind Collective.  Emily CourtneyI: @motheringandthemenopauseW: www.motheringandthemenopause.comE: emily@motheringandthemenopause.comL: Emily Courtney

In our new series, we will be spilling the tea on topics that affect our health and well-being from the extra-ordinary women that are raising their voices for positive change. This week we have a very special guest, our very own Jinty Sheerin.Most autistic girls, women and people assigned female at birth, are either, never diagnosed or diagnosed later than boys and men. Some much later in life.The NHS revealed that the number of new suspected autism referrals for people over 18 has tripled since 2019 and the ADHD Foundation says that the number of adults seeking an ADHD diagnosis has increased by 400% since 2020For women in their 50s, discovering their neurodivergence while also navigating menopause can bring both clarity and complexity. Menopause itself introduces significant physical, emotional, and psychological changes, which, when coupled with an autism diagnosis, can intensify or alter how these experiences are processed. This stage of life offers an opportunity for greater self-understanding, yet it also raises challenges in managing both neurological differences and menopausal symptoms.  Jinty was diagnosed with autism in December 2023, after a devastating couple of years emotionally - she is also still in peri menopause. In the Book Collective we discuss the first 6 chapters of our book for this series, All Fours by Miranda July. We meet the main characters and find out that all is not quite what it seems in this mid 40 year olds life as she hits the road in search of herself.You can join in with our Book Club, send us a DM or voice note with your thoughts on the book. It’s another episode brimming with chat and all the usual sweary shenanigans! There’s comments, a WI (weekly invitation) and a thought for the week.So, go and get the kettle on and settle in for our weekly collective chat while we spill the tea! Resources mentioned Bionic reader https://bionic-reading.com/WebsitesNational Autistic society https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/physical-health/menopauseAutistic girls network https://autisticgirlsnetwork.org/BooksUnmasking Autism Dr Devon Price -Strong female character by Fern BradyOdd girl out by Laura JamesUntypical by Pete WharmbyThe Autists by Clara TornvallAutists guide to the galaxy Clara TornvallGirl Unmasked by Emily KatyMenopause booksMake Menopause Matter - Diane DanzebrinkThe m Word Dr Ginni Mansberg If you’ve enjoyed our Podcast you may like to consider buying us a Ko-Fi at https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcastHere you can find updates, photos and some inclusive content we won’t post anywhere else and your donation will help us ensure we continue to bring you great quality of content and sound.

In our new series we will be spilling the tea on topics that affect our health and well-being from the extra-ordinary women that are raising their voices for positive change. And what better way to kick-off our new look Series than with campaigner Jo Bateman. Jo is campaigning for cleaner seas and is taking South West Water to court; the water company have repeatedly dumped sewage into the sea preventing Jo (and many others) from sea swimming. For Jo sea swimming has helped her both physically and mentally, but the red flag has been flying for most of the summer on Exmouth beach warning swimmers not to enter the water because you will quite literally be swimming in shit. An empty beach has also impacted massively on businesses that have suffered financially. Jo is not backing down; she is fighting for her right to swim in clean waters and to keep the environment safe for other water users and wildlife. She says, ‘it is simply unacceptable, in the 21st century you can land a spacecraft on Mars but we haven’t got a sewage system that disposes of our waste without polluting the rivers and oceans.’ We also launch our Book Collective with our new book for series 11, All Fours by Miranda July. You can join in with our Book Club, send us a DM or voice note with your thoughts on the book. We chat about our week, there’s comments, a WI (weekly invitation) and a quote.It’s another episode brimming with chat and all the usual sweary shenanigans! So, go and get the kettle on and settle in for our weekly collective chat while we sill the tea! If you’ve enjoyed our Podcast you may like to consider buying us a Ko-Fi at https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcastHere you can find updates, photos and some inclusive content we won’t post anywhere else and your donation will help us ensure we continue to bring you great quality of content and sound. Jo Bateman:Instagram @jobateman99Protect our right to swim petition https://goodlawproject.org/petition/right-to-swim/You can watch the interview on our YouTube channel: Womenkind Collective

We conclude series 10 with an incredible woman who’s story we were privileged to hear.Earlier this year we attended the launch of the West Country Women Awards in Plymouth where we met todays guest, who blew us away with her determination to help others through sharing her own story of overcoming shame and finding purpose after being released from prison.The inspirational Raina Dunne has been through unimaginable life experiences from a very early age, yet she bares no bitterness just an intense desire to speak up and raise awareness of a system that doesn’t work and how underprivileged and disenfranchised women are being completely let down. But thanks to the charity Gifted Women, women like Raina are finding their way back into society, their aim is to see women thriving in employment or be enrolled in further education and this is achieved in the woman’s own time and at a pace that feels realistic and sustainable.Raina tells us ‘I want to help those women, the women that have been hurt, or been damaged by society, they carry that pain, they just need a little extra help, someone to look at them and see them’.You can watch the unedited chat on our Womenkind Collective YouTube channel.*TRIGGER WARNING*Our conversation with Raina contains some difficult content, such as addiction, violence, exploitation and rape. We also chat about our week, there’s comments, a WI (weekly invitation) and a quote from Jinty to round off the series.It’s another episode brimming with chat and all the usual sweary shenanigans! So, settle in for this hour(ish) podcast full of meaningful chat.Find us on instagram @womenkindcollective If you’ve enjoyed our Podcast you may like to consider buying us a Ko-Fi at https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcastHere you can find updates, photos and some inclusive content we won’t post anywhere else and your donation will help us ensure we continue to bring you great quality of content and sound.Our campaign for a Menopause Clinic in Devon is moving closer but we still need signatures on our petition: https://www.change.org/p/wheresmyclinicOr to send your testimonials please email us: menopauseclinicdc@gmail.com Gifted WomenW: www.giftedwomen.co.ukI: @giftedwomenukF: Gifted WomenReg. Charity No: 1195795 

An intentional overriding theme of this series has been Gender Bias in health care, so today in our penultimate episode of series 10, we talk with Jen Moore who has started the project ‘They Said What?’ The medical Me Too movement where she intends to document lived experiences with medical gaslighting, dismissal and misogyny when it comes to women’s health conditions. Jen, is an endometriosis and adenomyosis educator, speaker and campaigner who has endured a 22 year-long battle for a diagnosis. She now helps others suffering with these conditions, as well as working to create change on an institutional level. Working with the BBC, the NHS, the University of Cambridge, and global pharmaceutical companies; she is determined to include endometriosis and adenomyosis in these vital and high level discussions.  We conclude our Book Collective for this series: Unwell Women by Elinor Cleghorn, we sum up our reading series with this inspiring conclusion. You can join in with our Book Club, send us a DM on Instagram or voice note with your thoughts on the book or a recommendation for a new one.  We chat about our week, there’s comments, a WI (weekly invitation) and a quote.It’s another episode brimming with chat and all the usual sweary shenanigans! So, settle in for this hour(ish) podcast full of meaningful chat.  If you’ve enjoyed our Podcast you may like to consider buying us a Ko-Fi at https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcastHere you can find updates, photos and some inclusive content we won’t post anywhere else and your donation will help us ensure we continue to bring you great quality of content and sound.Our campaign for a Menopause Clinic in Devon is moving closer but we still need signatures on our petition: https://www.change.org/p/wheresmyclinicOr to send your testimonials please email us: menopauseclinicdc@gmail.com Jen MooreI: @jen.dometriosisW: www.jenmoore.co.uk They Said What?I: @theysaidwhatprojectW: www.jenmoore.co.uk/projects/You can watch the unedited interview on our Womenkind Collective YouTube channel. 

As you all know we at Womenkind Collective are all about shedding light on taboo subjects and one of the biggest taboos is poo! So, we thought it was about time we started to break the stigma about something that we all do.This week our guest is Julie Cornish, not only is she a colorectal surgeon, a senior lecturer but she is also the founder of the superb Every Woman festival.Julie is a Consultant Colorectal Surgeon in the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, with a specialist interest in colorectal cancer and pelvic floor surgery. She has an active research interest in cancer and pelvic floor health. As if this is not enough Julie is also a chief investigator for POLARiS, a study looking into treatment for bowel problems after cancer surgery, she is a trustee of Masic, a charity that supports women who have suffered injuries during childbirth. Julie says that some aspects of women's pelvic health conditions today are a ‘taboo within a taboo’. Bowel incontinence is not a sexy subject and it so often goes unreported and takes on average 7 years for someone to actually go and see their GP.You can watch the interview on our Womenkind Collective YouTube channel.  The Book Collective: Unwell Women by Elinor Cleghorn, this week we read Chapters, 17 & 18, women are beginning to raise their voices about gender inequality in healthcare, the medical gaslighting of black women and the AIDS pandemic. In chapter 18 Elinor tells her story, all the medical gaslighting that she endured until she finally received her diagnosis.You can join in with our Book Club, send us a DM or voice note with your thoughts on the book. We chat about our week, there’s comments, a WI (weekly invitation) and a quote.It’s another episode brimming with chat and all the usual sweary shenanigans! So, settle in for this hour(ish) podcast full of meaningful chat.  If you’ve enjoyed our Podcast you may like to consider buying us a Ko-Fi at https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcastHere you can find updates, photos and some inclusive content we won’t post anywhere else and your donation will help us ensure we continue to bring you great quality of content and sound.Our campaign for a Menopause Clinic in Devon is moving closer but we still need signatures on our petition: https://www.change.org/p/wheresmyclinicOr to send your testimonials please email us: menopauseclinicdc@gmail.com Julie CornishW: www.everywomanfest.comI: @theeverywomanfestivalX: @jules_cornishFurther informationW: www.masic.org.ukW: www.thepelvicfloorsociety.co.uk

Throughout this series we have been on a journey through the history of women’s health from wandering wombs, witch craft and our uterus’s being held responsible by the patriarchy for all of life’s miseries. In this weeks fun and educational Episode we meet the fabulous Dr Karen Tang. Her incredible book It's not Hysteria,The Truth About Pelvic Pain, Period Problems, and Your Gynaecological Health, is out now in the UK.Absolutely no subject regarding reproductive health is off limits, we learned so much from this interview, we talk ,Roe Vs Wade and how it’s affecting maternal mortality in the US, gender diversity, systemic racial biases and the differences in US and UK gynaecological services and so much more.Dr Karen Tang is a gynaecologist and minimally invasive gynaecological surgeon who is an internationally recognised leader in reproductive health.   The Book Collective: Unwell Women by Elinor Cleghorn, this week we read Chapters, 15 & 16, we learn about the diabolical treatment of women suffering from lupus, why lobotomies were a definite course of treatment for women who suffered pain and also why it was so much easier to use tranquillisers on a woman to quieten her.You can join in with our Book Club, send us a DM or voice note with your thoughts on the book. We chat about our week, and find out our Bridgerton names. There’s comments, a WI (weekly invitation) and a quote.It’s another episode brimming with chat and all the usual shenanigans! So, settle in for this hour(ish) podcast full of meaningful chat.  You can also watch the interview on our Womenkind Collective YouTube channel.If you’ve enjoyed our Podcast you may like to consider buying us a Ko-Fi at https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcastHere you can find updates, photos and some inclusive content we won’t post anywhere else and your donation will help us ensure we continue to bring you great quality of content and sound.Our campaign for a Menopause Clinic in Devon is moving closer but we still need signatures on our petition: https://www.change.org/p/wheresmyclinicOr to send your testimonials please email us: menopauseclinicdc@gmail.com Dr Karen TangW: www.karentangmd.comI: @karentangmdTT: @karentangmdYT: Karen Tang, MDBuy Karens book here https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Dr-Karen-Tang/Its-Not-Hysteria--The-Truth-About-Pelvic-Pain-Period-Prob/29947519?gad_source=1&wgu=10671_187205_17188166327578_f942b50573&wgexpiry=1750352632&utm_source=webgains&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_campaign=187205

Today we have a very special guest on the podcast, and a friend of ours, Diane Danzebrink. Diane is back talking to us this time as an author, her book, Making Menopause Matter, is an essential guide to menopause, it’s part memoir and part manifesto and it is brimming with practical help, it really is like having a Diane Danzebrink in your pocket!Diane is the founder of Menopause Support, a purpose over profit organisation, she is a menopause consultant, public speaker, educator and grass roots campaigner her #makemenopausematter campaign and petition now has over 200,000 signatures.We talk all things menopause, the menopause landscape, practical advice and the difficulties of running a not for profit organisation.Making Menopause Matter Book https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Diane-Danzebrink/Making-Menopause- Matter--The-Essential-Guide-to-What-You-/29158173Diane DanzebrinkI: @dianedanzebrinkW: https://menopausesupport.co.uk/Petition: https://www.change.org/p/make-menopause-matter-in-healthcare-the-workplace-and-education- makemenopausematter Menopause support Go Fund me page- https://gofund.me/7864cb7eIn the Book Collective: We continue reading, Unwell Women by Elinor Cleghorn, this week we read Chapters, 13 & 14, we look at the harrowing story of a 14 year old rape victim, and we find out why syphilis was considered a female problem (when it was the men that were spreading it) .You can join in with our Book Club, send us a DM or voice note with your thoughts on the book.We chat about our week, Jinty introduces us to Henriette d’Angeville, a climber who climbed Mont Blanc in a feather boa, Lou has some breaking news, there’s comments, a WI (weekly invitation) and a quote.It’s another episode brimming with chat and all the usual sweary shenanigans! So, settle in for this hour(ish) podcast full of meaningful chat.If you’ve enjoyed our Podcast you may like to consider buying us a Ko-Fi at https://ko-fi.com/ womenkindcollectivepodcastHere you can find updates, photos and some inclusive content we won’t post anywhere else and your donation will help us ensure we continue to bring you great quality of content and sound.Our campaign for a Menopause Clinic in Devon is moving closer but we still need signatures on our petition: https://www.change.org/p/wheresmyclinicOr to send your testimonials please email us: menopauseclinicdc@gmail.com