Why some women are being driven out of the workplace by an illness
Carla Cressy shares her personal struggle with endometriosis, a condition that went undiagnosed for years and forced her to leave her career. Her story highlights the lack of workplace protections for women suffering from chronic menstrual health conditions in the UK.
Why it matters
It sheds light on the systemic barriers and health inequities women face in the workforce, prompting calls for better legislative support.
Image source, Carla Cressy Image caption, Doctors removed Carla Cressy's appendix, but it was endometriosis that was causing the excruciating pain
Carla Cressy worked as a model from the age of five until she was 17, but kept collapsing on shoots.
"It was really embarrassing and I couldn't do it anymore," she says.
From the age of 13, when she started her periods, she was plagued by excruciating pain but she was only finally diagnosed with endometriosis when she was 25.
By then, doctors had removed her appendix, mistakenly thinking she had acute appendicitis.
"I was hospitalised for chronic constipation several times. I wasn't able to eat, I was vomiting and in such severe pain but I kept being told it was a stomach bug."
Carla ended up retraining as a beauty therapist because she felt she was "unemployable and unreliable" due to her health.
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