BBC newsreader Naga Munchetty has told MPs she spent decades being failed, gaslit and “never taken seriously” by doctors, despite suffering debilitatingly heavy periods, repeated vomiting and pain so severe that she would lose consciousness.
Giving evidence to the Commons women and equalities committee on Wednesday, Munchetty said she was “deemed normal” and told to “suck it up” by NHS GPs and doctors during the 35 years she sought help for her symptoms. She was finally diagnosed with adenomyosis, a condition where the lining of the womb grows into the muscle in its walls, in November last year after seeing a private GP.
Munchetty said she was consistently told by doctors that “everyone goes through this”. She noted: “I was especially told this by male doctors who have never experienced a period but also by female doctors who hadn’t experienced period pain.” She described a “constant [refrain of]: ‘You’re fine, everyone else is putting up with this, why can’t you?’”
Her diagnosis came after she bled heavily for two weeks and experienced pain so severe she asked her husband to call an ambulance. Only then was she taken seriously, seeing a GP who specialised in women’s reproductive health. That GP advised her to use private healthcare to avoid lengthy NHS waiting lists.
Acknowledging she is “fortunate enough to be able to have private healthcare”, Munchetty said it was the “only time I felt I could sit there and take time and force an issue, force understanding, force explanations from my gynaecologist and not feel bad that I was taking up more than 10 minutes of my GP’s time because there was a queue of people in the waiting room”.
Munchetty and television personality Vicky Pattison, who has been diagnosed with premenstrual dysphoric disorder, agreed that the NHS is failing girls and women. They said GPs lack the specialism and training to recognise gynaecological issues. Munchetty added: “When women do try to speak about it they get labelled as troublemakers.”
