I lost my job in a primary school due to endometriosis
Hayley Locksley shares her experience of losing her job as a teaching assistant due to the debilitating effects of endometriosis. Her story highlights the lack of workplace understanding and support for women suffering from chronic reproductive health conditions.
Why it matters
It brings attention to the systemic challenges and discrimination faced by employees with chronic, invisible illnesses.
Image source, BBC/Ant Saddington Image caption, Hayley lost her job as a teaching assistant last October, after being told she was unfit to work
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.
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