Annastacia Palaszczuk has opened up about a personal health battle impacting millions of women and how it can make it difficult to conceive a child – after revealing she had a miscarriage.
The Queensland Premier took to the airwaves on Saturday revealing she wished she had known about the help she could have gotten during her painful health battles with endometriosis.
Ms Palaszczuk revealed how the condition could make it difficult for women to conceive.
The topic of conception is particularly personal for the Queensland premier who previously revealed she suffered a miscarriage.
She told Channel Nine’s Today on Saturday about the ‘incredibly hard’ times she struggled to even move or walk while not knowing what was happening to her because of the condition.
‘There were days when it was incredibly hard to get out of bed, to even move or walk with such heavy periods, it was hard to walk 20 to 30 metres,’ Ms Palaszczuk said.
Annastacia Palaszczuk (pictured) told Today Extra on Saturday about the ‘incredibly hard’ days she struggled to even move or walk while not knowing what was happening to her
‘I look back now and wish oh my goodness if only I had the information that is out there now … there is strength in knowing you are not alone in this journey,’ Ms Palaszczuk (pictured, with he partner Dr Reza Adib) said
‘I did not take one single day off work … I wish help had been out there when I was experiencing it, I thought it was absolutely normal, but it wasn’t normal.’
‘I look back now and wish oh my goodness if only I had the information that is out there now … there is strength in knowing you are not alone in this journey.’
She urged women ‘suffering in silence’ with ‘incredible fatigue, heavy periods and cramping’ to go to their GP as there is a lot more understanding out there now.
She also recommended they check out support groups and state-run organisations.
Ms Palaszczuk took issue over families putting ‘hurtful’ pressure on women and couples to have children when it may be very difficult to conceive.
Ms Palaszczuk said in many of these situations endometriosis can be the cause of it with some women ‘through no fault of their own’ unable to have a baby.
The premier also said calls for ‘period leave’ to be included in the Fair Work Act was a federal matter but supported women taking extra time off if they were suffering a recognised condition like endometriosis.
Ms Palaszczuk revealed in June she had suffered from a miscarriage before she went into politics.
A full review has now been ordered into mum Nikkoke Southwell’s treatment at the hospital when she lost her child while she was 12 weeks pregnant (pictured, Ms Southwell)
Ms Palaszczuk (pictured) shared her experience of having a miscarriage while fielding questions over the horror incident
Ms Palaszczuk shared her experience of having a miscarriage while fielding questions over the horror incident at Ipswich Hospital (pictured)
‘I have also had a miscarriage… I do know exactly what it’s like,’ she said at the time.
‘It is horrific and stays with you for the rest of your life.
‘I had it in my house and I went to work, I was completely in shock and then I thought I’d better see my specialist and he said “I don’t think you should be at work, you should be at home”.’
She shared her story after it was revealed expectant mother Nikkoke Southwell was allegedly made to wait hours while bleeding and clinging to her fetus in a biohazard bag at Ipswich hospital west of Brisbane last April.
The Premier said the miscarriage occurred before she was a politician but knows how traumatic the experience was and says she will take a personal interest in the case.
‘Honestly, if the person presents to our hospitals in this condition, people need to recognise it and they need to look after the person and offer her the very best care, so I really feel for this lady,’ she said.
Ms Southwell’s treatment at the hospital has come under investigation after she lost her child while being 12 weeks pregnant.
The Fernvale woman claimed paramedics placed her fetus into a biohazard bag on the way to Ipswich Hospital and when she arrived had to sit holding the bag with sheets around her waist in the Ipswich Hospital waiting room.
Ms Southwell also claimed she was treated on a hospital bed covered in another patient’s blood and alleged staff used her partner’s phone torch to examine her before she was discharged.
‘I lost my baby and my dignity was taken,’ she told The Courier Mail last month.
‘I felt like my baby meant nothing while it sat on the top of my handbag in a biohazard bag for all to see.’
The Queensland premier (pictured, left) urged women ‘suffering in silence’ to go to their GP
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