Women's health

Women’s health is an important part of the RCN’s portfolio of professional work, and these pages provide resources and general information to current and ongoing projects, as well as links to external resources to enhance understanding of some of the key issues facing women today.

The Women’s Health forum is committed to equality, diversity and inclusivity. We use the term women because it represents the majority of our work, and we absolutely acknowledge gender identity in the work that we do and understand this term may not be applicable to all our members. The Forum committee is currently working on a new clinical page focusing on Inclusion and Diversity in Women’s Health Care. When completed, a link will be included on this page.

The World Health Organization (WHO) refers to health as being “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”, and goes on to defend the need for a focus on women’s health:

“Gender has a significant impact on health, as a result of both biological and gender-related differences. The health of women and girls is of particular concern because, in many societies, they are disadvantaged by discrimination rooted in sociocultural factors. For example, women and girls face increased risks of violence and sexual assault and face unique health challenges, such as menstrual difficulties, pregnancy and menopause.

Some of the sociocultural factors that prevent women and girls to benefit from quality health services and attaining the best possible level of health include: 

• unequal power relationships between men and women
• social norms that decrease education and paid employment opportunities
• an exclusive focus on women’s reproductive roles
• potential or actual experience of physical, sexual and emotional violence.

While poverty is an important barrier to positive health outcomes for both men and women, poverty tends to yield a higher burden on women and girls’ health due to, for example, feeding practices (malnutrition) and use of unsafe cooking fuels (COPD).” (WHO, 2018).

Every woman will experience physiological changes throughout their life course, and this is often physiological, i.e. naturally occurring life events from periods to menopause and beyond. It can also be physical or mental health issues, or issues relating to sexual and reproductive health, including access to contraception, fertility and or pregnancy related physical or mental health issues. Some women are also more vulnerable to social economic challenges.

The provision of women’s health care services across the UK, is varied and stretches across the acute sector, primary care and the independent sector. Nurses are engaged at all levels of care from identification of conditions to specialist clinical nurse specialists who focus on an area of practice such as menopause, endometriosis or early pregnancy care. 

Our work

• We aim to support the health of the female nursing and midwifery workforce by providing guidance and practical resources.
• We focus on physical health, including conditions such as the menopause or endometriosis.
• We aim to enhance mental wellbeing, by engaging with organisations such as the Maternal Mental Health Alliance and the Woman’s Mental Health Task Force.
• We have created resources to support women who may be victims of modern slavery or domestic abuse, and safeguarding victims, whether they be women or men.