Beyond Fibroids: Medical System & Health Advocacy

Women’s health policy in the UK has a pattern: there are ambitious announcements, emotive language, and a surge of public optimism, followed by slow, uneven, or minimal change. Strategies come and go, each one framed as a reset, a renewal or turning point. Yet the lived experience of most women remains largely unchanged: delayed diagnoses, inconsistent care, all within a system that still struggles to address the root causes of the conditions affecting them.

This new strategy deserves attention and not because it must be understood. The upside is that it contains ideas with genuine potential, alongside gaps that could limit its impact. It uses language that shows empathy, yet relies on mechanisms that may not move the needle. And while the strategy acknowledges the scale of the problem, it stops short of addressing the deeper biological, environmental, and systemic drivers that shape women’s health outcomes.

Let me share with you what this analysis tends to cover:

Clarity. We need to get clear on what they are actually saying.
Exactly what is being promised?
What is actually being funded?
What might change, and what almost certainly won’t?

For any woman reading the headlines and feeling a flicker of hope, this ‘under the hood’ investigation will be so worth your time.

What the Government Claims to Deliver

Now that I’ve laid out why this strategy deserves a closer look, the next step is simple: and that is to understand what the government says it’s offering. Before we get into the gaps, contradictions, or the parts that sound promising but don’t quite live up to their promises, it’s worth taking the strategy at face value for a nano second. Because on paper, it presents itself as a reset - a fresh attempt to put women’s health at the centre of national policy if you will.

At its core, the government frames this renewal around a few big ideas. They talk about putting women’s voices at the heart of decision‑making. They emphasise digital tools that are meant to make care feel more accessible and more personalised. They highlight the expansion of neighbourhood health centres and women’s health hubs as a way to streamline support. They introduce a new feedback‑linked funding model that, in theory, rewards good care and pressures poor‑performing providers to improve. And they point to investment in education and Femtech as signs of modernisation.

Taken together, it reads like a strategy built on empowerment, access, and responsiveness. It’s the kind of language that makes any woman think, Woo hoo! Finally, someone is paying attention.

And that’s exactly why it’s important to look closely at what these promises actually mean in practice.

The Language Gap: Emotional Rhetoric vs Operational Clarity

When you read the strategy closely, the first thing that stands out is the language. This is where the clever use of words do all the emotional heavy lifting, and I’ll tell you why. Language is used by the ‘powers that be’ to create the feeling of progress without committing to the mechanics that would actually deliver it.

The renewed strategy leans heavily on aspirational verbs… the kind that sound active but don’t bind anyone to anything. Phrases like “aims to ensure,” “working towards,” and “exploring ways to” appear again and again. With these phrases scattered throughout, it becomes nothing more than promises without timeline and intentions without accountability.

Then there’s the emotional framing. Terms like medical misogyny and gaslighting are powerful, and for many women, hearing them acknowledged at a government level feels validating. But these words sit beside vague commitments that don’t explain how the system will change the behaviours that created those experiences in the first place. They recognise the wound, but they don’t outline how they will ‘fix’ it.

You also see broad commitments that sound reassuring but lack definition. Faster access, appropriate pain relief, empowerment, better support, all phrases that mean everything and nothing until someone specifies how, what, when, and for whom. Without that clarity, they function more as mood-soothers than robust operational plans.

And then there are the omissions. The strategy talks about women and girls, and mentions so-called marginalised women, but doesn’t specify or outline targeted interventions for the groups who face the worst outcomes. It references digital access, but doesn’t address the women who can’t rely on digital tools. What’s left unsaid can have more impact than what is actually written.

Language matters. Why? Because the wording sets the tone for the entire strategy. When the language is emotive but imprecise, ambitious but non‑binding, inclusive in theory but narrow in practice, it creates the impression of progress without guaranteeing it. It builds a narrative of change that may not translate into lived experience.

So, it begs the question… if language is doing this much work, what’s happening behind it? The plot thickens and so does the funding.

The Funding Illusion

This is the moment you look past the headlines and realise the numbers don’t quite add up. And honestly, if women’s health had a recurring villain, it would be this: big, impressive‑sounding figures that turn out to be recycled, repackaged, or so watered down, they’re practically homeopathic.

The headline claim is the record £26 billion investment. Wow wee! Sounds super impressive right?. Except it isn’t new. Boo! I can tell you, this was for the general NHS uplift announced in the 2024 Autumn Budget, and this was not a dedicated pot for women’s health. In other words, the strategy is borrowing someone else’s money and calling it a gift. It’s like being told you’re getting a bonus, only to discover it’s just your own salary rearranged in a more flattering font.

Then you get to the specific pots of money, the ones that are new. £1 million for menstrual education. £1.5 million for Femtech. These are the kinds of figures that look respectable until you remember the scale of the system they’re meant to influence. Spread across England’s schools, £1 million barely covers the printing costs of updated teaching materials, let alone teacher training or curriculum reform. And £1.5 million for Femtech in a £200‑billion‑plus health system? Oh please!

The real issue is the ring‑fenced funding for gynaecology. The strategy talks about improving access, reducing delays, and expanding hubs, but without protected money, gynaecology services are left to compete with every other NHS priority. And historically, women’s health loses that competition, simply because the system is already stretched to breaking point, and unprotected budgets get swallowed real quick.

They have big ambitions: faster diagnosis, better access, more personalised care, and modernised services, but the resources attached to those ambitions are teeny tiny, fragmented, or not actually new. What this actually means is that those bold promises might not have the structural support to become reality.

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Equity, Access, and Who Gets Left Behind

Once you move past the headline promises, you get to see the reality of who actually gets to benefit, and who doesn’t. On paper, the language around inequalities and so-called marginalised women sounds reassuring. But when you look at the mechanisms underpinning all of it, it becomes clear that naming a problem is not the same as solving it.

The strategy leans heavily on digital-first solutions: NHS Online, apps, portals, self‑guided tools. For a lot of women, that’s ok. It’s convenient. For others, it’s a barrier. Low‑income women, older women, women in unstable housing, women with limited digital literacy are not automatically lifted by digital access. If anything, they risk being pushed further out of reach. A strategy that assumes everyone can navigate a digital system ends up reinforcing the very gaps it claims to close.

Then there’s the question of targeted support. The document acknowledges that Black and ethnic minorities (a word that really needs to be dropped), women face worse outcomes, higher mortality rates, longer delays, more dismissals, but stops short of offering funded, specific interventions. There’s no dedicated plan for culturally competent care, no ring‑fenced investment for community‑based outreach, no structural change to address the environmental and diagnostic biases that disproportionately affect these groups. Yes, the acknowledgement is there; but there is no sign of action.

Then you have geography. Rural areas already struggle with access to specialist care, and the strategy doesn’t offer a clear plan for addressing healthcare deserts. Neighbourhood health centres sound promising, but many of them don’t exist… yet, and the strategy doesn’t explain how rural communities will be reached in the meantime. Digital tools are presented as the solution, but again, that assumes connectivity and literacy.

All of this creates a very familiar pattern: the strategy speaks the language of equity, but the mechanisms just don’t match. It recognises disparities without resourcing the solutions. It gestures toward inclusion without building the infrastructure to support it. And for the women who already feel left behind, that gap between acknowledgement and action is where trust erodes.

Accountability Without Teeth

So, let’s ask the most important question, because at the end of the day - this is what really matters.

Who is responsible for making any of this happen? If you take a really good look, the answer is… not exactly clear.

The first issue is the absence of measurable, time‑bound targets. The strategy talks about improving diagnosis times, speeding up access, strengthening pathways, but there is no definite commitment to numbers. There’s no reducing endometriosis diagnosis to X years by Y date, or cutting gynaecology waiting lists by Z%; zero concrete benchmarks that allow the public to track progress. Without targets, improvement becomes a feeling rather than a measurable outcome. It’s impossible to know whether the system is moving forward or simply rearranging the furniture.

The Women’s Voices Partnership is positioned as a key advisory group, but it has no regulatory power. It can recommend, encourage, and highlight issues, but it cannot enforce change. It cannot compel providers to meet standards, allocate funding, or correct failures. They have zero clout basically. In practice, this partnership will function more like a sounding board than a watchdog. And while listening to women is essential, listening alone doesn’t change anything.

The feedback‑linked funding trial is presented as a bold accountability mechanism, but it raises more questions than it answers. The idea is simple: if a provider delivers poor care, some of their funding can be withheld. But withholding money from already overstretched services won’t magically improve performance. It risks punishing the very hospitals that are struggling most, (mostly in deprived areas) without giving them the resources to change. And the strategy doesn’t explain how the withheld funds will be used, redistributed, or reinvested. The mechanism is introduced, but the logic behind it is left hanging.

And this leads to another issue: there are no clear mechanisms that translate the strategy’s intentions into operational change. No enforcement structure. No independent regulator. No consequences for failing to meet standards. No incentives for exceeding them. The system is asked to improve, but not required to.

This is where the gap between intention and implementation becomes impossible to ignore. The strategy acknowledges the problems, outlines the aspirations, and gestures toward accountability, but without binding commitments, measurable targets, or enforceable structures, the follow‑through is left to chance.

Workforce Reality

Now… let’s talk about something that cannot be glossed over: the people who are supposed to deliver all of this. Because no matter how polished the language is, no matter how many pathways or hubs or digital tools are promised, nothing in women’s health moves without the people behind it. And this is precisely where this strategy falls short… and silent.

There is no mention of a rigorous recruitment plan.
No roadmap for bringing more gynaecologists into the system.
No plan for expanding the number of sonographers, despite diagnostic imaging being one of the biggest bottlenecks in women’s health.
No strategy for increasing specialist nurses, who are the backbone of continuity and patient support.

The document acknowledges long waits and delayed diagnoses, but it doesn’t address the basic arithmetic: you cannot shorten waiting lists without more people to do the work. You cannot speed up diagnosis without more clinicians trained to recognise and investigate symptoms. You cannot expand hubs and neighbourhood centres without staff to run them. The strategy speaks as if capacity will magically appear simply because the intention has been stated.

Retention is another missing piece. The NHS is losing experienced staff faster than it can replace them, particularly in high‑pressure specialties like gynaecology. Burnout, workload, insufficient pay, and the lack of progression are well‑documented issues, yet the strategy doesn’t offer a single targeted intervention to keep the specialists it already has. Without retention, recruitment becomes a revolving door.

Training is also absent. There’s no expansion of specialist training places, no investment in upskilling, no plan to increase the number of clinicians who can perform complex diagnostics or procedures. If anything, the strategy assumes the current workforce can simply stretch further, despite years of evidence showing that they are already stretched to breaking point.

This is where the feasibility of the entire strategy begins to collapse. You can redesign pathways, restructure services, and introduce new digital tools, but without the people to deliver the care, the system cannot move. The promises become theoretical. The timelines become unrealistic and any proposed improvements become aspirational more than anything else.

And if you read this strategy with hope in your heart, this is the part that matters most. Because without a workforce plan, the rest of the document is just… fluff.

Political Timing and Narrative

A notable shift is how the strategy reframes systemic issues as feedback problems. Instead of focusing on the issues mentioned previously (structural underfunding, workforce shortages, diagnostic bottlenecks), the strategy introduces a consumer‑style model where patient feedback becomes a lever for change. The idea is that poor experiences can be corrected through performance incentives, as if women’s health outcomes are primarily a matter of customer satisfaction rather than capacity, training, or resources. This reframing simplifies complex systemic issues into something that looks more manageable but risks obscuring the deeper causes of the problems women face.

Taken together, these elements show the strategy to be a political artefact. It reflects the pressures, narratives, and public expectations of the moment. It uses language that resonates emotionally, timing that suggests renewal, and mechanisms that appear responsive. None of this makes the strategy bad per se, but it does mean sidestepping the structural reforms that would create real change.

Courtesy of Getty Images

The Root‑Cause Blind Spot

Up to now, the strategy has talked about pathways, hubs, apps, digital access, feedback loops, and empowerment. All somewhat useful and potentially supportive. But none of them have even come close to touching on the reasons why your health looks the way it does, and why its looked that way for decades.

The renewed strategy focuses on how you move through the system, not why you are entering it. It’s a front‑end experience, rather than an investigation into the underlying conditions that keep you unwell.

There is no exploration of biological drivers such as the real reasons for hormonal imbalances, inflammation, micronutrient deficiencies, endocrine disruption, or the complex ‘marriage’ between stress and reproductive symptoms. These are the foundation of why you and so many women develop chronic gynaecological conditions in the first place.

There is no examination of toxic exposures, lifestyle stressors or the socioeconomic pressures, research clearly shows, that shapes everything from diet to sleep to access to preventative care. These factors disproportionately affect so-called Black women, low‑income women, and women in unstable or high‑stress environments, yet the strategy seems to refer to these as background noise rather than central determinants of health.

There is no acknowledgement of diagnostic blind spots as in built in biases, outdated frameworks, and inconsistent training that lead to misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, or dismissal. The strategy recognises the frustration women feel, but not the structural reasons those frustrations exist.

And without addressing the root‑causes, waiting lists will remain long because the underlying conditions will continue to worsen before women reach care. Misdiagnosis may persist because the diagnostic frameworks remain unchanged. Chronic illness cycles might repeat because the underlying factors are left untouched.

This is where proper expertise becomes essential, simply because investigation of the root-causes is precisely what mainstream medicine continues to overlook, and why tools like the Uterine Health Audit matter. It’s a simple, but powerful first step for women who need clarity before they enter (or re‑enter) a system that will only see and treat symptoms.

The audit gives you a way to understand what’s happening in your body across the six systems that actually impact your health. It’s the starting point for you if you are ready to move beyond symptom management and into genuine understanding. It’s the kind of understanding that prevents you from getting lost in the system in the first place. It’ll give you your power back.

What This Means for You

While strategies can sound impressive on paper, what matters most is whether anything actually changes in the experience of the woman sitting in pain, waiting for answers, or trying to navigate a system that has historically struggled to meet her needs.

The first question you are likely to ask is simple: will the waiting list times shorten?
Based on the strategy as it’s written right now… the honest answer is: not without a robust workforce plan. Pathways can be redesigned, hubs can be expanded, and digital tools can be introduced, but none of that reduces the time it takes to see a specialist or get a scan. Without more clinicians, sonographers and nurses, delays remain exactly where they are.

And there is the question of pain. Will it finally be taken seriously?
The strategy uses strong language to acknowledge women’s experiences of dismissal, but it doesn’t define what appropriate pain relief actually means, nor does it outline how clinicians will be trained, supported, or held accountable in changing their approach, nor will it necessarily change clinical behaviour. Women may feel more seen in the rhetoric, but not necessarily in the consultation room.

Will access improve?
For some women, yes. If you live near a well‑resourced hub, have stable digital access, and are already comfortable with online systems, the changes may feel smoother. But if you live in rural areas without reliable digital access, you have more complex needs, or you already struggle to be heard, the improvements may be limited. Access is only as strong as the infrastructure behind it, and as it stands right now, that infrastructure is uneven.

The real question is: will outcomes change?
Not really. Not without addressing the root causes. If the biological, environmental and socioeconomic drivers of women’s health conditions remain unexamined, only your symptoms will continue to be treated, when the ideal would be to reverse the conditions that created the problem in the first place, so you are not just managing symptoms.

You deserve more than a strategy. What would be more beneficial is a starting point that helps you gain an understanding of what’s actually happening in your body regardless of the stage you are at (pre or post surgery). This is where the Uterine Health Audit comes into its own. In under 5 minutes you will be able to assess symptoms, stressors, and environmental factors that show you where your body might be struggling, so you can walk into your appointment having a basic understanding of what to ask your doctor to look at. It fills the gap the strategy leaves open: the root‑cause investigation that should ideally be there from the start.

At the end of the day, you want answers, right? You want to be taken seriously. You want to understand your body. You want care that doesn’t require you to fight for it. And that is the lens through which the final verdict becomes clear.

• Is the Medical Industry Keeping You in the Dark?

A Balanced, Evidence‑Based Verdict

Zooming out and looking at everything with a wide angled lens - the renewed Women’s Health Strategy is not an outright failure, but at the same time, not exactly the breakthrough we would have hoped for. It sits somewhere in the middle. It’s a document with meaningful intentions, thoughtful language, and some genuinely positive steps, but without the structural depth required to shift the lived reality of women’s health in the UK.

There are positives that are worth acknowledging.
The strategy finally names experiences women have been reporting for decades: dismissal, minimisation, pain not taken seriously etc. The commitment to Women’s Health Hubs and neighbourhood centres is also a step in the right direction; when these hubs are properly staffed and resourced, they can dramatically improve access and continuity of care. And the inclusion of major charities and community organisations signals a willingness to collaborate rather than dictate from the top down.

The structural gaps however, are hard to ignore.
The funding is disproportionate to the scale of the problem. The accountability mechanisms are soft, advisory, and largely symbolic. The workforce plan is missing entirely, which makes many of the promises operationally impossible. And the strategy’s reliance on digital tools risks widening inequalities rather than closing them.

There are also unanswered questions, the kind that determine whether this strategy becomes a turning point or another well‑intentioned document that fades into the background.

How will diagnosis times improve without more clinicians?
How will pain be taken seriously without changes to training and clinical bias?
How will inequalities shrink without targeted, funded interventions?
How will outcomes change if the root causes of women’s health conditions remain unexamined?

These are the foundation of meaningful change. And until they are addressed, women will continue to feel the gap between what is promised and what is actually delivered.

So what should you be asking next?

Where is the dedicated funding for gynaecology?
How will the workforce be expanded and supported?
What mechanisms will hold the system accountable for improvement?
How will the strategy address the biological, environmental, and diagnostic drivers of women’s health conditions?

These questions are necessary because they ensure that hope is grounded in reality.

And this is exactly why tools like the Uterine Health Audit matter right now.
While the national strategy focuses on pathways and processes, the audit gives you something concrete: a root‑cause‑oriented understanding of your body. It helps you identify the stressors that cause ongoing systems and gives you the clarity you need that will make every medical appointment more productive, every conversation more informed, and every decision you make more empowered.

If you want to understand what’s really happening in your body, start with the Uterine Health Audit. It’s the foundation the national strategy should have built in from the beginning, and the starting point you deserve.

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This space is where I teach the real truths about fibroids, womb health, and healing: the things women are never told. Stay connected as I continue to share the frameworks, insights, and root‑cause teachings that shape my work.

References

Department of Health and Social Care (2026). Renewed Women’s Health Strategy for England. GOV.UK. Published 15 April 2026.
UK Parliament (2026). Written Statement: Renewed Women’s Health Strategy for England (HCWS1517). Statement by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, 15 April 2026.
Department of Health and Social Care (2026). The Renewed Women’s Health Strategy for England (Official Document, CP 1558).
Patient Safety Learning (2026). Renewed Women’s Health Strategy for England – Summary and Analysis.
Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (2025). A Work in Progress: Evaluating the Women’s Health Strategy
HM Treasury (2024). Autumn Budget 2024: New funding to fix the NHS. GOV.UK. Published 30 October 2024.

Disclaimer

This article is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read in this article.

I am not a medical professional, and the information shared here is based on personal experiences, two decades of knowledge on working on myself, the many brilliant teachers who have taught me everything I know; but most of all and the most important is the insights from my clients. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making any changes to your health regimen or starting a new treatment plan.

Your health and well-being are unique to you, and it’s important to take a tailored approach under the guidance of a qualified expert.

Your Uterus, Your Choice

Valerie-Yamina Bey — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 15:15:22 GMT

The Quiet Revolution: Why Women are Pushing Back

For decades, the path of uterine fibroid care was paved by an authority-led paradigm that systematically funnelled women toward life-altering major surgeries. Today, we are witnessing a quiet but fierce revolution. A new wave of patient advocacy is reclaiming the narrative, shifting the focus from simply “removing a tumour” to preserving a woman’s identity, health, and future. This movement is a necessary pushback against hysterectomy as the default, which is being driven by women who are no longer willing to accept limited options that prioritise surgical convenience over their long-term quality of life.

This shift is fuelled by five core desires that represent a fundamental reclamation of gynaecological health:

Preserving Your Uterus: Many women view their uterus as vital to their bodily integrity and psychological well-being.
- Retaining the organ prevents the profound mental health impact and long-term physiological changes, such as pelvic floor dysfunction or early menopause: associated with sudden removal.
Protecting Fertility: For those in their reproductive years, the diagnosis should not be a death knell for family planning.
- Access to fertility-sparing care ensures that medical circumstances do not prematurely dictate the end of a woman’s choice to conceive.
Demanding Less Invasive Care: There is a surging demand for skin-sparing procedures that avoid large abdominal incisions.
- Minimally invasive options significantly reduce physical trauma, lowering the risk of life-threatening surgical complications and chronic adhesions.
Accelerating Recovery: In an era where women are economic pillars, six weeks of surgical downtime is often an impossible ask.
- Faster recovery returns women to their lives and careers, mitigating the staggering £1.7 billion annual economic impact of sickness absence caused by fibroids.
Autonomy: Women are moving from being passive recipients of advice to being the primary stakeholders in their care.
- When a patient is the final authority, she selects treatments aligned with her specific lifestyle, resulting in significantly higher post-treatment satisfaction and a sense of empowerment rather than victimization.

This trend is evidenced by qualitative research showing that women are increasingly turning to the internet and second opinions to fill the gaps left by their primary doctors. However, while the desire for change is strong, systemic barriers and a pervasive information deserts continue to block the path to true informed consent.

The ‘Information Desert’: Why You Haven’t Been Told Your Options

There is a distinct clinical gap between the data patients seek (demand) and the narrow, surgery-heavy resources provided by the medical establishment (supply). Closely linked is Medical Dissonance, a documented clinical ‘paradox’ where 85% of women report appearing comfortable talking to their doctors, yet 84% simultaneously state they do not feel they are being listened to.

The medical establishment frequently funnels women toward major surgery because it is the standard they are trained in, not necessarily because it is the best fit for your life. Strategic barriers prevent many women from pushing back:

Strategic Omission of Alternatives: Non-surgical options like Uterine Fibroid Embolization (UFE) are frequently omitted from first-opinion consultations.
The Hysterectomy Default: Systems are built to favour the most radical options as a permanent fix, ignoring the high long-term personal cost of organ removal.
The Authority Trap: A natural trust in the medical white coat can lead patients to accept limited advice as the only solution.
Crisis-Driven Fear: The physical weight of severe bleeding and pain can make high-level advocacy feel impossible during a crisis.
Diagnostic Exhaustion: In the UK, over half of women experience diagnostic delays of more than two years, and 1 in 4 are offered no treatment at all following diagnosis, according to RCOG data.

Social media often exacerbates this desert. While #fibroids engagement is high, information quality is consistently poor. Research reveals that while open surgical approaches are mentioned in 12.7% of posts, minimally invasive surgery (MIS) appears in fewer than 7%. This lack of representation keeps women in the dark about their right to advanced care. To escape this desert, you must start with a precise clinical map of your own body.

If this is helping you, it will help others. Gift this to another woman you know needs this information.

The Knowledge Power-Up: Getting a Proper Assessment

A generic you have fibroids diagnosis is insufficient for modern care. To unlock eligibility for non-surgical treatments, you need a high-resolution clinical map that identifies the exact type, volume, and sub-location of every growth.

Your Assessment Checklist

Do not leave your specialist’s office until the following have been answered:

Exactly how many fibroids are there?
What is the specific volume (size in cm) of the largest ones?
What is the exact map of their locations (e.g., Posterior Intramural vs. Fundal)?
Are any pedunculated or cervical?
Can I have a copy of the raw imaging files or the MRI on a CD? (General reports are often insufficient for a second opinion with a vascular specialist).

The Treatment Spectrum: Navigating Your Alternatives

In modern care, watch and wait should never mean wait and suffer. True care is multi-modal, addressing the environment that allows the fibroids to grow while utilising advanced technology to shrink them.

Holistic & Medical Management

You can actively influence the metabolic drivers of growth through specific cofactors:

The Synergistic Power-Up: Clinical data shows that taking 5,000 IU of Vitamin D alongside 800mg of Green Tea Extract (EGCG) can lead to a significant reduction in fibroid volume and symptom severity.
The Estrobolome Lever: This is the specific subset of your gut bacteria responsible for metabolizing and excreting oestrogen. If your gut is imbalanced, used hormones recirculate and directly fuel fibroid growth.
The Insulin-Fibroid Axis: High insulin acts as a potent growth factor that tells fibroid cells to grow. Managing your metabolic health is fundamental to turning off the growth signal.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): Formulas like Gui Zhi Fu Ling Tang are clinically proven in trials to reduce volumes and improve cycle balance by addressing the underlying stagnation.

Minimally Invasive & Non-Surgical Options

These are the procedures frequently omitted from the Information Desert.

Surgical Pathways

Myomectomy: (Laparoscopic, Robotic, or Hysteroscopic) The gold standard for fertility preservation. It removes the tumours while keeping the uterus intact.
Hysterectomy: This should only be considered as the very last resort when there are serious complications.

Reclaiming Your Authority: Navigating the Healthcare System

Given that 25.7% of women express active distrust in the medical system regarding fibroids, getting a second, third or forth opinion is your most powerful weapon. If your surgeon only offers a hysterectomy, they are showing you their specialty, and what they are capable of. Nothing more.

The 3-Step Guide to Pushing Back

Demand the Raw Data: Do not settle for a summary. Request your imaging on a CD. Vascular specialists (Interventional Radiologists) often see possibilities in an MRI that a general gynaecologist might miss.
Challenge the Default: Explicitly ask, “Am I a candidate for UFE or RFA? If you don’t perform them, I would like a referral to an Interventional Radiologist or a Vascular Specialist who does.”
Vet the Natural Cures: Distinguish between social media quick fix “cures” and evidence-based programmes such as The Ascension Code.

A Note on Racial Equity: Systemic racism in medicine means Black women face longer delays, more severe symptoms, and are disproportionately represented on surgical waiting lists. If you are a ‘black’ woman, high-intent advocacy is a necessary strategy. You have the right to demand the same range of minimally invasive options and urgent care as anyone else.

Your Path Forward

Modern fibroid care is about preserving your lifestyle, fertility, and bodily autonomy. You are not being difficult by asking for the raw data or demanding a second opinion; you are being an informed partner in a system that is currently failing far too many women.

An informed patient is the medical system’s most valuable partner. By mastering your clinical map and understanding the multi-modal levers of care, you shift the conversation from a generic default to a personalised solution that protects your future.

Your health, uterus, and future are worth the second opinion. Do not wait for your symptoms to dictate your life.

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Be The CEO of Your Health - Part 6

Valerie-Yamina Bey — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 14:00:14 GMT

So far in this mini series, we’ve explored how the right nutrition, hydration, self-care, and quality rest can transform your well-being. But there’s one more key element to feeling your best - movement. How you move your body has a direct impact on your energy, mood, and overall health. The good news? Exercise doesn’t have to feel like a chore.

In this final part of the series, we’ll focus on moving in a way you love - so it becomes something you look forward to, rather than something you force yourself to do. Plus, we’ll talk about how to build healthy habits that last, so you can create lasting change without overwhelm.

Move in a Way You Love

You are probably already well aware that moving your body is good for your long-term health. It might be tempting to think that what’s best for your body is pretty hardcore exercise like running or spinning – all those things people typically turn to in order to get super healthy. That’s not the case.

In fact, these very intense forms of exercise can stress the body and, if your body is already stressed, it’s just too much. Yoga, Pilates, Zumba and other dance-based classes are good, and don’t knock a decent walking workout. Resistance/ strength exercise (weights) is also good to help with the loss of muscle, particularly as you get above 40. Strength training also helps women shore up bone, maintain balance, and avoid injury, important for protecting your skeleton both now and when you’re older.

The important thing is consistency, and you only get to be consistent if you’re doing something you love. If you’re someone who says, ‘I don’t like exercise’, ask yourself ‘what specifically do I not like about exercise?’ Try to come up with five or six answers.

Next, consider, ‘When did I stop enjoying it’? What happened? What did I used to enjoy? What did I like about it then?

You like what you are good at. If you see yourself as ‘not good at’ exercise you won’t want to do it. What if you could wave a magic wand and suddenly be excellent at something, what would it be? What’s really stopping you? You don’t have to draw the line at traditional sports. What floats your boat?

Aerobics, aqua aerobics, badminton, ballet, ballroom dancing, basketball, canoeing, Ceroc dancing, circuits, cycling, fencing, football, frisbee, gym workout, hopscotch, hiking/rambling, horse riding, ice skating, kickboxing, line dancing, netball, paddle boarding, roller blading, running club, sailing, salsa, self-defence, skiing, softball, squash, step, swimming, tai chi, tap dancing, tennis, toning class, trampolining, water skiing, walking (with or without a dog!) – and more!

Think of some ideas to get your body moving. Tracking your steps and ensuring you hit your target every day helps, too!

“The only person you should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday.”

TONY ROBBINS

Create Healthy Habits That Last

I know from working with clients that eating well and living well gets results fast. I can’t say specifically how it will show up for you, but it might be that your energy levels increase, you sleep better, your skin starts to glow – or you even lose a few pounds. More work is required for long term chronic issues for sure, but you’ll definitely see a difference in your health in a short period of time.

Your friends will wonder what your new regime is! But healthy habits don’t just happen overnight. They need time and persistence.

Studies have shown it takes time for a new habit to become the default choice. Keep in mind the 3 / 6 / 36 rule: 3 weeks to break a habit. 6 weeks to create a new habit. 36 weeks for the new habit to become a default habit.

The good news is that, since habits are just a series of repetitive actions you practically do on autopilot, you can teach yourself – over time - to do something else instead.

The first job is to become aware of what needs to change. That might be too many snacks, not enough water, too much wine sneaking into the week. Instead of bowling in with ‘I need to change everything immediately’, often what can help is by making a micro-commitment.

This is a healthy commitment so tiny that you literally cannot fail at doing it. Like drinking three glasses of water or having an extra two veggies at dinner. Just start with one thing and repeat over and over.

These micro-commitments, although small, have a huge impact over time because of psychology. The way the brain works is it loves winning at this one thing, and that encourages you to make another micro-commitment, and then another.

Do you notice how quickly time goes by? In a few months, by stealth, you will have built up a bank of successes that will move your health forward.

Breaking the bigger, really ingrained habits and having them release their grip on you takes time, persistence and the accountability to change. If you need some help, you know where I am. In the meantime, use the healthy habits tracker on the next page to select a habit you want to track and make a cross through or colour in each day you win at your new habit.

As we wrap up this series on becoming the CEO of your health, we’ve covered essential elements of self-care, fuelling your body, mindset, rest, and movement. Through this journey, you’ve learned the power of intentional actions, the impact of nourishing your body, and how small, consistent changes can lead to big transformation.

Now, it’s time to take it a step further. If you’re ready to take control of your womb health, I invite you to download The Fibroid Root Cause Lab Decoder.

This FREE tool will guide you in identifying 5 key markers to look for from your blood test results, empowering you to make better, more confident decisions about your health.

Don’t leave your health to chance, take charge of your wellbeing today.

Download the guide now and start aligning your actions with a healthier, more vibrant you.

If this resonated, here are three powerful articles to explore next:

• Be The CEO of Your Health - Part 5

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Be The CEO of Your Health - Part 5

Valerie-Yamina Bey — Sun, 06 Apr 2025 14:01:14 GMT

In part four, we focused on feeding your soul with self-care practices and mindset shifts. If you haven’t caught up yet, make sure to read that here. Now, we’re diving into a key piece of the health puzzle: rest and recharge. Sleep is not just a luxury, it’s essential for your body to repair, restore, and function at its best. Let’s explore why prioritising sleep is a must.

Rest and Recharge

Sleep really is a gamechanger for your health and for your emotional wellbeing. I know that you know that everything looks better when you are well rested. The purpose of sleep is for the body and mind to rest and repair, and that process in humans takes between seven and nine hours, which is where the idea comes from that everyone should get eight hours sleep a night. Perhaps you do, in which case I salute you, but many people don’t, and there are always consequences. Your mood, creativity and tolerance are lower than they would otherwise be, and your motivation to eat well goes out of the window.

“Your future depends on your dreams, so go to sleep.”

MESUT BARAZANY

There will be times when sleep gets a little patchy. However, if you regularly get less than seven hours a night (and it really doesn’t matter what you have convinced yourself you can get by on), really look at the impact it might be having on how that’s working for you.

Sleep has terrible PR and can often feel like just another thing to add to your list but – for one week– I invite you to really prioritise your sleep and throw everything you have at getting more of it. Then step back and see how you feel. Good, right?

That includes setting an unbreakable caffeine curfew by early afternoon, so those coffees can clear your system. It means finding something else to do instead of scrolling on social media 90 minutes before bed. Dimming lights in the evening and blacking out your bedroom (or at least investing in a silk sleep mask) are good ideas to help the body make more of the ‘sleep hormone’ melatonin.

And Breathe

As the Chinese saying goes, “if you know the art of deep breathing, you have the strength, wisdom and courage of ten tigers.”

Of course, you breathe practically every second of the day, but really, I’m talking here about the magic of something called ‘breathwork’.

Essentially, breathwork involves any exercises that you might take on to help improve mental, physical or spiritual well being. Usually, this would involve intentionally changing your breathing patterns.

So, by now, you should have a better understanding of how critical sleep and rest are for your health and emotional balance. With that in place, it's time to talk about the power of movement and creating healthy habits. In part 6, we’ll dive into why moving your body is non-negotiable.

If this resonated, here are three powerful articles to explore next:

• Be The CEO of Your Health - Part 6

Be The CEO of Your Health - Part 4

Valerie-Yamina Bey — Sun, 30 Mar 2025 14:00:58 GMT

In part three, we explored how the fuel you put into your body plays a critical role in your overall well being. If you missed it, make sure you catch up here. Today, we’re shifting focus to something equally important: feeding your soul. Your mindset and emotional care are just as vital as nourishing your body, especially during those busy, challenging moments when self-care tends to slip through the cracks. Let’s dive into how practicing self-care can transform your life, and how to start putting yourself at the top of your priority list.

Feed Your Soul

Mindset plays a huge role in your overall wellbeing and how good it feels to be you. And yet you might find that taking care of your emotional needs when life gets busy or complicated slips way down your list of priorities. It’s during these exact times that practising self-care is even more essential.

Self-care is the recognition that you are entirely responsible for your own happiness (although others can, of course, contribute to it). All kinds of things might come into a good self-care plan, from doing little things for yourself every day just because they bring you joy, to deliberately seeking out the good in life and ensuring that you get enough rest.

Create a Self-Care Plan

When life feels a little tricky, or you’re just feeling a little bleugh, you’re not in the right space to begin thinking about what might help in the moment. That’s a job you must prioritise now – it’s hard to feel creative when the chips are down!

My coaching for you would be to begin to compile a list of all the things you might do to bring joy to your day. It must be an actual list (in a notebook or in the notes section of your phone) rather than a conceptual ‘in your head’ one because it will be easier to take action on any ideas written down when you’re most in need of some self TLC rather than try to recall them from your memory.

What might be on your list? Pretty much anything goes, but it’s important that these are not things that you do ‘in order to…’ Simple things that make you happy. Enjoying a cup of coffee in the garden before the rest of the house gets up, reading a chapter of a novel you’ve been meaning to read forever, doing a jigsaw, taking a long, luxurious dip in the bath, dancing around the kitchen, or watching an episode of your favourite TV show’. Start with five things and keep adding to your list over time as you get into the swing of things.

You’re heading for 20. Consider self-care to be a skill, and also a discipline. It may take a little time to force yourself to be a priority in your life once again, but I cannot stress enough, it is something that is really worth doing.

Praise & Give Thanks

There’s a lot of evidence to show meditating and practising gratitude really work for your general wellbeing as well as a ‘treatment’ for insomnia. If you think you are not a natural meditator, you are not alone. Guided meditation is what you need.

There are plenty of free or low-cost apps around that will literally guide you through the process for ten minutes. It’s easier than you think, especially when you consider that there is no ‘getting it wrong’. Your mind may well wander. Gently bring it back. Even the busiest of people have ten minutes for a good cause (which this is). There’s a lot to like about gratitude.

Essentially, it’s about training your mind to seek out the good stuff in life instead of gravitating to the bad on the basis that the brain (though complex in so many ways), cannot focus on both good and bad at the same time. And, quite simply, what you focus on increases. If you focus on the good, you will find more of it!

Some people like to keep a gratitude journal where they write down the things they are grateful for every day. Some people aren’t that way inclined. A very simple way to try out gratitude is to start each day, before you’ve even got out of bed, by telling yourself that something truly amazing and wonderful is going to happen. It will be something unexpected, exciting and awesome.

This sets up a powerful intention for the day. Then make it your job to seek out the joy in every situation, the good fortune, the luck or the beauty and mentally comment to yourself on these. This takes a little practice, but it’s worth it. Don't believe me? The only way to really know is to do it.

Now that you’ve got the tools to nourish your soul with mindset shifts and self-care practices, it’s time to dive into something many of us don’t do - rest. In Part 5, we’ll talk about why rest isn’t just a luxury, but a necessity for your health, your energy, and your success. You’ve been filling up your cup, but now it’s time to let it overflow.

If this resonated, here are three powerful articles to explore next:

• Be The CEO of Your Health - Part 5

• Be The CEO of Your Health - Part 6

Be The CEO of Your Health - Part 3

Valerie-Yamina Bey — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 15:00:40 GMT

In part two, we discussed how to set yourself up for success with daily intentions and actions. If you missed that, make sure you check it out here. Today, we're diving into something foundational: how to truly love your body with food. The right fuel isn’t just about looking good, it’s about feeling vibrant, energised, and giving your body the best chance to thrive.

Love Your Body With Food

A healthy body relies on eating real food the majority of the time rather than the junk you may sometimes convince yourself is OK to get away with. Since I earlier used the analogy of driving, let’s continue with that.

One of the absolute basics about owning a car is that you put the right fuel in it. Sounds pretty straightforward but, according to the AA, hundreds of thousands of people misfuel every year. The result is thousands spent on unnecessary damage: new fuel tank, new fuel lines, new fuel pump, new injectors – in fact, a whole new fuel system.

What if I told you right now that the car you drive is the last one you will ever have? You can’t ever have a new one – not even if it starts to go wrong – and it must last you for the rest of your life.

If you absolutely knew that this would be the last vehicle that you will ever own, do you think you would take better care of it? Why do people change their oil filters? Cars with clean oil filters run better and last longer. Why do we do frequent preventative maintenance? Isn't it because we know that it's a lot less costly to take care of the oil, the filter, and so on than it is to replace an engine or transmission, or worse, replace the entire vehicle? Well, guess what? You are in the last vehicle you will ever have in your lifetime; it's your body. So, if you don’t put the right fuel in your body, you cannot expect things to run smoothly.

It doesn’t have to be complicated!

‘Eat real food’ doesn’t have to be a juice cleanse… just good, honest food. Made with natural ingredients. Make meals from scratch. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Oh and hydrate plenty too.

Your body will thank you for it!

Keep a handle on how many cups of tea, coffee and alcohol, and watch the fizzy drinks (diet or otherwise), which add little and - in most cases - can steal your health.

Keep a Food Diary

The easiest way to keep track of what you’re eating and drinking is to keep a food diary. I’m a big fan. Keeping some kind of journal, whether you like pen and paper or an app, forces you to be 100% responsible for everything you eat and drink.

You cannot argue with the facts. If you have bothersome health symptoms, perhaps keeping track of what you eat might help you join the dots between what you are eating and the severity of your symptoms.

“Going through life hoping other people will make you happy is like walking around in a fully stocked kitchen, never reaching for food but hoping to be fed. Reach. It is your responsibility to feed your own soul.”

NANEA HOFFMAN

By now, you should have a clearer understanding of how nourishing your body is just one part of the equation. But what about feeding your soul? It's time to nurture the whole you, from the inside out. In Part 4, we’ll dive into how to Feed Your Soul. You've got the tools; now let’s fuel your soul and make it work for you.

If this resonated, here are three powerful articles to explore next:

• Be The CEO of Your Health - Part 2

Be The CEO of Your Health - Part 2

Valerie-Yamina Bey — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 15:00:51 GMT

In Part 1 of Be the CEO of Your Health mini series, we talked about how to get clear on your health vision. Now, let’s take it a step further. Having that vision is just the beginning. The real game-changer is in the daily actions you take to bring it to life. Today, we’re going to break down how to make those actions stick, and how a quick daily practice can keep you on track, even when life gets busy. Let’s dive in.

Remind Yourself Everyday

The only way you will ever get what it is that you want is to take action. Knowing is not enough. The job here is to tie the actions you take in your everyday life to that vision you just created.

How to do that is to have a business meeting with yourself every morning, just like a regular business leader. This little business meeting is the same as setting a daily intention. It will take you no more than 30 seconds - such a tiny demand on your time - but it is very powerful.

The reason why this deceptively simple mindset trick works so well is that what hides behind so many deviations from a healthy eating plan is forgetting what you want and why it’s important.

Think of your day as being a journey. The way to get to where you want to be is to read the map or use the sat nav. You are literally setting your GPS for success. How it looks in practice is that you take inspiration from the vision you created and attach an action to it.

That might mean something like ‘every day I make healthy food choices, I take one step closer to my goal’.

The Formula - What I want + What I must do to get there = Success.

The deal is, you must say this out loud or write it down if you are the kind of person who loves to journal. That makes it much more real.

Often, when you start taking actions that are not aligned with your vision, what has happened is that you can no longer remember ‘what’s in it for me?’ Bringing in this practice of the daily business meeting can gently help you get back on track.

“I regret eating healthily today,” SAID NO ONE EVER.

Now that you’ve got a clear strategy for staying aligned with your vision, the next step is to nurture the most important asset you’ve got, your body. In part three, we’ll be diving into how to love your body with food, fuelling it not just for survival, but for thriving. So stay tuned.

If this resonated, here are three powerful articles to explore next:

• Be The CEO of Your Health - Part 1

Be The CEO of Your Health - Part 1

Valerie-Yamina Bey — Sun, 09 Mar 2025 15:03:26 GMT

No matter your role in life, there is nothing bigger or more important than being the CEO (the chief executive officer) of your own health. Whether you believe it or not, you have as much control over your own health and happiness as a CEO has over the success of their company, and often much more.

It is a sometimes-uncomfortable truth that you are responsible for everything that you do (or don’t do) in the area of your health and happiness. If you don’t like something and want to change it, you can.

Often, people don’t take the same kind of approach to managing their personal lives as they do their professional lives – even if they are, in fact, a CEO of a business. They allow the actions of others or even outside events to influence their health, their life and their happiness.

This is the exact opposite of empowering – so let’s change that!

Any CEO worth their salt knows that you cannot ignore an entire aspect of the business and expect the company as a whole to thrive. It’s the same with your health and happiness.

You cannot just take a view that there is no time for eating well or relaxing and hope to make up for it by shoehorning in a yoga class between trips to the supermarket and taking the dog to the vet. I bet you’re wondering how this can be done. Listen up.

All CEOs have an overarching vision aka a plan. For you, this means you will not be making scattergun decisions on impulse and neglecting important aspects of your life on a whim. Once you know what you really want for your health and for your life in general, you can plan to make the magic happen.

In this mini series I’ll be giving you a structure I often use with my clients. That starts with figuring out what you want, setting your daily intentions, and learning to create habits that last – including moving your body in a way you love and doing things just for the joy of doing them (aka your self-care).

“Good health is not something we can buy. However, it can be an extremely valuable savings account.”

ANNE WILSON SCHAEF

Create Your Health Vision

Figuring out what you actually want for your health (and your life) is really important. All businesses require a vision and purpose, and your life needs the same driving force.

Without this vital piece of information nailed down – “what do I actually want?” – you will never know whether you have achieved your goals. Once you are clear what it is you want, your actions and how you spend your time and money might change to become more aligned with the vision you have for your future self.

Take some time to complete the visioning exercise questions. There are a number of questions to ask yourself. Be totally honest. This is really for your eyes only and to help you get clear on what you actually want. Often, we’re too busy with everyday stuff to pause to question where we are headed. Work out what you want now. Consider why you want it. What’s stopping you having what you want? Consider also what you might need to have in place to support you.

Your Health and Wellness Vision

What do I want?
Why do I want it?
What actions will I take
How will I do it?
What might stop me?
What support do I need?

“It’s time it’s time to start living the life you imagined"

HENRY JAMES

Now that you’ve started thinking about your health and wellness vision, it’s time to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and answer those questions. Clarity is power, and the more specific you are, the easier it will be to take aligned action.

In the next instalment, we’ll be diving into taking the actions that will allow you to turn your vision into tangible daily habits that actually stick. So, take the time to complete your visioning exercise, be honest with yourself, and get ready to step into the role of CEO of your health with confidence.

If this resonated, here are the next three powerful articles:

• Be The CEO of Your Health - Part 2

Is the Medical Industry Keeping You in the Dark?

Valerie-Yamina Bey — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 18:11:47 GMT

For many women, hearing the word "fibroids" causes a lot of confusion. These non-cancerous growths, which develop in or around the uterus, can disrupt lives in profound ways, causing heavy bleeding, debilitating pain, and issues with fertility. Yet, despite how common fibroids are, understanding and addressing them often feels like wandering through a maze with no clear exit.

Too often, the “solution” presented by the medical system is surgery, more often than not, a hysterectomy, which means the removal of the womb. For women who desire other options or want to preserve their fertility, this can feel like an ultimatum, not a choice. But why does it come to this? The answer lies in how health information is delivered, or rather, withheld.

The Struggle for Answers

If you’ve been diagnosed with fibroids, you may have encountered one of these scenarios:

You ask your doctor about your options, only to be told surgery is the most reliable route. Holistic remedies, if mentioned at all, are dismissed as less effective or unproven.
You do your best to research natural or less invasive solutions, but you’re overwhelmed by conflicting advice and medical jargon that’s hard to decipher.
You’re left feeling disconnected from your own body, unsure of how it works or why it’s behaving this way.

Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Women with fibroids often face a lack of bespoke information, tailored advice that considers their unique bodies, lifestyles, and desires. Instead, they are presented with a one-size-fits-all approach, where removing the uterus becomes the default option.

But guess what? This complexity and lack of personalised care isn’t accidental.

Why the System Fails Women

The medical system is undeniably brilliant when it comes to emergency medicine. If you’re in a car accident, need life-saving surgery, or have a severe illness, you wouldn't want to go anywhere else. But when it comes to chronic health conditions; many of which are closely tied to lifestyle, hormonal balance, stress and emotional well-being, the system falls short.

Here’s why:

Profit Over Empowerment
The medical industry thrives on solutions that are quick, profitable, and definitive. Hysterectomies, while effective for removing fibroids, are also expensive procedures that ensure revenue. Helping a woman manage her fibroids through holistic or lifestyle changes takes time, care, and education, things the system isn’t incentivised to prioritise (and let’s face it, many women just want the fibroids gone).
Lack of Holistic Understanding
Fibroids are complex, but certainly not random. They are tied to hormonal imbalances, extreme stress, diet, environmental factors and generational trauma. Yet, many medical professionals focus solely on the physical growths themselves, totally ignoring the root causes. This narrow perspective limits options and leaves women feeling like their bodies are the enemy.
Medical Jargon Creates Dependency
“Fibroids grossly appear as round, well circumscribed (but not encapsulated), solid nodules that are white or tan, and show whorled appearance on histological section…blah, blah, blah” Err, excuse me? Medical jargon is jargon by design. Instead of empowering women with clear explanations, it creates dependency because the lay person has no idea what the heck this jargon means!
Dismissal of Natural Healing
The idea that the body can heal or manage fibroids through non-surgical means is often met with scepticism (even from the sufferer!). While not every fibroid situation can be managed without medical intervention, many women never even hear about alternatives like dietary changes, stress management, herbal treatments, or the role of the mind-body connection from their doctor.