Women’s Health

Communication remains at the core of the current research, which responds to the findings:

“Most Britons cannot name all the parts of the vulva” Linda Geddes 2021

In fact, 91% of patients at urogynaecology clinics at a Manchester teaching hospital were unable to label the diagram of the 7 parts of external female genitalia.

This causes problems in consent for procedures, difficulties in conversations with GP’s and confusion to the nature of medical problems. The researchers stated a need for more education.

Alongside the need for improved education on women’s health, there are multi-million pound advertising campaigns, promoting products for cleaning, freshening and rebalancing your vagina, which actually harm the natural balance of the vagina, causing potential harm and infections.

Social media and celebrities promote procedures – vaginal steaming, which damage the natural flora, to vaginal gummies that promote a better tasting vagina with no clinical proof, all sending messages the vagina is unacceptable without improvement, and can create poor body image.

Research has led to a project “Your Vagina is a Garden keep it Blooming”

Garments have been constructed with similar diagrams of the vulva used by the researchers, printed onto bright coloured surfaces, surrounded by flowers and gardens and presented through Catherine Dineley’s beautiful photographs, creating a visually rich series of images, a celebration and conversation openers.