Hayley Locksley was 11 years old when she started her periods and excruciating pain became part of her life. "I used to spend every month in the sick room at school," she says. Hayley, from Shefford, Bedfordshire, would often pass out from the pain but the doctors' advice was to take paracetamol.
Aged 24, she was diagnosed with endometriosis - a condition that affects one in 10 women, where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows outside of the uterus. Hayley says she loved her job working in a nursery, but her employers questioned whether her symptoms were real and asked her to use annual leave to cover sick days. After she had surgery for endometriosis, Hayley decided to switch to office work, due to it being less physically demanding.
But her new colleagues asked why she was spending so long in the toilet. "I had to explain that my bladder sometimes did not empty fully, causing severe pain and horrendous diarrhoea. I found the questioning embarrassing and humiliating," she says.
After having her daughter, who is now aged seven, Hayley decided to pursue her dream of working with children again and became a special needs teaching assistant in a primary school four years ago. However, she was placed under review after her sickness absence increased and she lost her job last October, after being told she was unfit to work. "I didn't want to give up my career but my health meant I could no longer continue," she says.
"I now use a walking stick, experience severe back and leg pain, and have fallen numerous times. Losing my job has been so tough for my mental health," she adds. Nearly half of women with endometriosis have lost income due to the condition, according to a new report , externalby the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Endometriosis.
The inquiry found 97% had worked while in severe pain, 47% had lost income because of their symptoms, and 28% had left a job altogether. Endometriosis surgeon Dr Rebecca Mallick says the figures are shocking, but not surprising. "Women should not have to choose between their health and their careers.
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