Maternity care, Joanna Cherry, Heavy periods
Woman's Hour
BBC
4.1 • 3K Ratings
🗓️ 22 June 2026
⏱️ 58 minutes
🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS
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Summary
Maternity care and its shortcomings will be in the spotlight over the next fortnight, as the biggest maternity inquiry in the history of NHS England prepares to report its findings. The independent review by former midwife, Donna Ockenden, has looked into maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. Meanwhile new figures from the Royal College of Midwives show that more than nine out of 10 of those polled felt unsafe staffing levels are directly impacting the quality of care they provide for women and babies. Next week we'll also hear the recommendations of a national review by Baroness Amos. BBC's social affairs correspondent, Michael Buchanan, talks to presenter Nuala McGovern about what we know so far.
Joanna Cherry was elected as an MP in 2015, part of the SNP landslide when they took 56 out of 59 Scottish seats, just a year after the referendum on Scottish independence resulted in a No vote. Her memoir, Keeping the Dream Alive, captures the disappointment and euphoria of that time. Joanna went on to lose her seat in 2024 and has become a vocal critic of the party, and of Nicola Sturgeon’s leadership. She was also well-known for expressing gender-critical views and concerns at a time when the SNP was trying to deliver a gender self-ID law in Scotland. She joins presenter Nuala McGovern to talk about that "tumultuous decade" in Scottish politics.
A new study from the Universities of Exeter and Bristol is looking into how heavy periods impact daily life. Led by Gemma Sharp, a Professor of Epidemiology at Exeter, researchers will collect real-time data from thousands of participants to help us understand the relationship between periods - particularly heavy periods - and our energy levels, sleep and mood. Dr Sampurna Kundu, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow who works with Gemma, also shares her own experience of having heavy periods.
Did you know that mini golf has feminist roots? A playful and ‘playable’ exhibition, The Art of Mini Golf, has just opened at the Battersea Arts Centre in London, channelling the inclusive, subversive spirit of the game’s female founders. Nuala's joined by curator Grace Herbert and one of the featured artists, Delaine Le Bas, to hear more about mini golf's hidden history and the art it’s inspired.
Presented by: Nuala McGovern Produced by: Sarah Jane Griffiths
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:06.9 | Hi, I'm Zing Singh. |
| 0:08.3 | And I'm Simon Jack. |
| 0:09.3 | And together we host Good Bad Billionaire. |
| 0:11.4 | The podcast exploring how some of the world's richest people made their fortunes. |
| 0:15.2 | And we're back for a new season with a brand new lineup of billionaires. |
| 0:18.6 | Yeah, global pop icon Beyonce. |
| 0:20.6 | Hollywood movie director Stephen Spielberg. |
| 0:22.8 | Football superstar Christiana Rinaldo, anyone? |
| 0:25.2 | And as ever, we're asking you to decide whether they're good, bad or just another billionaire. |
| 0:30.0 | That's good, bad, billionaire. |
| 0:31.3 | Listen first on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:34.6 | Hello, this is Neula McGovern, and you're listening to The Woman's Hour podcast. |
| 0:39.5 | Hello and welcome to the program. Well, as you've been hearing, the Prime Minister resigned this |
| 0:44.0 | morning and laid out a timetable for his successor. He ended with an emotional tribute to his wife |
| 0:50.3 | and children. But Kear Starrmer's work isn't done yet. And one issue he will have to deal with this week is maternity care. |
| 0:57.4 | The findings of the biggest maternity inquiry in the history of the NHS will be released |
| 1:01.7 | on Wednesday. |
| 1:02.8 | This hour we'll take a look ahead. |
| 1:05.5 | Also today, Joanna Cherry, the former SNP MP, has written her memoir, Keeping the Dream Alive. |
| 1:12.4 | It charts her tumultuous decade in Scottish politics and there is a lot to discuss with her. |
| 1:17.5 | That's also coming up. |
... |
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