Women – Canaries In The Mines

It’s not surprising that the health of women today is a reflection of our larger environment. That includes both the macro‐ and micro‐environments before conception, in utero, during birth and breastfeeding, through infancy and beyond.

Physical, mental and emotional environments are all included, with food, air and water being the most obvious, but with family, relationships and society playing an equal part in shaping women’s health.

But like the canary whose demise warned of toxic gas in the mine, so the compromised state of our health is a sure indicator of the present state of our earth’s food, air and water and its communities.

So we need to recognise that our health problems, which include infertility, miscarriage, prolonged labour, breastfeeding problems, post‐natal depression, childhood obesity, early menstruation, anorexia, PMS, dysmenorrhea, fibroids, breast cancer and menopausal symptoms, to name just a few, are all related to the compromised health of modern diets, lifestyles and surroundings.

But the negative issues that might make us want to run away to a pristine mountain top are actually ours to tackle right now. And we can do it! Best of all is our new‐found opportunity to reach millions via online communities, social networks and other internet channels.

We’ve got an amazing chance to spread the right word, to lobby people in power, to counter the disinformation that may be spread by corporations, drug companies, politicians and others. As an eternal optimist, mother of two, crusader for three decades to improve the health of the next generation, I don’t believe it’s all doom and gloom.

I believe we still have the chance to restore balance, harmony, optimal health and fertility to our lives ‐ do you think we’re in time to do it?