06 Mar 2025
Endometriosis Awareness Month
Westport Vets are very proud to be an Endometriosis Friendly Employer, providing the necessary support for their team members when needed. We're supporting #EndometriosisActionMonth, will you?
The theme for this years awareness campaign is "Endometrisosis Explained", which has been chosen this year due to not enough people knowing what endometriosis is. This means that those with the disease may find themselves having to constantly explain and justify themselves - to friends, family, work colleagues and even healthcare professionals.
What is endometriosis?
Endometriosis occurs when cells similar to the ones in the lining of the womb (uterus) are found elsewhere in the body. These cells can grow and change in response to hormones in the menstrual cycle, this can cause inflammation, pain and scar tissue.
Endometriosis is most commonly found on the lining of the pelvis (peritoneum) and may occur in the ovaries and involve other pelvic organs, like the bowel or bladder. Less commonly, endometriosis can also be found outside the pelvis, such as in the chest.
Endometriosis affects 10% of women and those assigned female at birth from puberty to menopause, although the impact may be felt for life. In the UK, that’s over 1.5 million from all races and ethnicities living with the condition.
What we're doing as a practice
Westport Vets are proud to be an Endometriosis Friendly Employer, and are commited to helping our colleagues that suffer with endometriosis. The Endometriosis Friendly Employer scheme is a way for us as employers to confirm our commitment to developing a work environment and culture that enables our employees with endometriosis to thrive at work. Through the scheme, Endometriosis UK provides guidance for employers on how to support employees with endometriosis and menstrual health conditions, and work towards improving the work environment.
RVN Lauren is our Endometriosis Champion at Westport Vets, and what this means is she is our visible member of staff within the practice that colleagues can turn to for support and information in relation to endometriosis. Lauren has been working hard with Endometriosis UK and other veterinary practices in order to spread the information surrounding endometriosis and how they can better help and understand the condition.
Endometriosis Friendly Employer, can be found on the Endometriosis UK website
(https://www.endometriosis-uk.org).
For those interested in hearing more about the work done at Westport Vets, please contact Lauren: lauren.wilson@westportvets.com