Women’s healthcare has long been overlooked and underrepresented in medicine, in turn leaving them without knowledge about their own bodies and reproductive health.

We all know that many aspects of our healthcare system are broken. But one area that needs much more attention, according to Hertility co-founder Deirdre O’Neill, is reproductive care. Hertility believes that much of the medical and healthcare sector simply does not fully understand or provide effective solutions to a wide range of issues affecting women.

As a result, their mission is to revolutionize women’s reproductive health care by empowering women to make informed decisions about their futures and providing comprehensive home testing, in-house experts and clinical services to give them clarity on regarding their hormones and fertility. . And that goes for the workplace too.

“What we’re talking about here is not just employers providing access to support for women’s mental and physical health care through apps and online means,” says O’Neill, “but a fundamental transformation of how women and reproductive issues with faced throughout life are fully recognized and addressed in the workplace.”

Job reset

Both mental and physical health issues have become a major concern in recent years. It’s no surprise that when it comes to compensation packages, more and more employers are starting to focus on healthcare as a significant benefit. Topics like infertility (which affects one in six people) and menopause are finally getting the attention they deserve, breaking free from taboo.

That’s good. But at a more fundamental level, what’s needed, Hertility says, is to create workplaces where these are seen not just as “problems” to be tackled, but as natural parts of life’s journey for so many employees . The solution is therefore much deeper. It’s about creating a culture that sees these “issues” as a natural part of life and that provides not just support but a fundamental reset in the workplace that enables and encourages employees to make informed choices about their bodies and to their lives.

Hertility believes that individuals should be equipped with the knowledge they deserve about their bodies so they can make informed decisions when it matters, not when it’s too late. The aim is to achieve this – and create the workplace of the future – using a range of tools, from workshops to home tests and data-driven diagnostics and quick access to medical specialists, to enable employees to proactively take control of them. reproductive health from menstruation to menopause.

Future job and bottom line

As O’Neill points out: “We all want to aspire to create diverse and inclusive workplaces. At the same time, there is a definite financial impact on organizations which, if not addressed, can be significant. Our research looking at businesses with around 1,000 employees, 50% female, highly skilled and with an average salary of £50,000, suggests that the total cost to those businesses of reproductive health conditions could be as high as £1,469,352 of pounds per annum. Yes, there are assumptions here, which include some level of staff turnover due to those conditions and the number of lost working days, but both are based on industry averages coupled with peer-reviewed research and still suggest that staff turnover costs £78,763 per year and such a business is likely to lose the equivalent of 4,976 days of productivity per year, which is an estimated untold cost of £1,390,769.”

Even assuming these are “average” numbers, this is a truly shocking blow to the profitability and results of any business. And yet one that, Hertility claims, could be so easily addressed.

A movement, not just a health “fix”.

For Hertility, it’s as much about cultural change as it is about health care. It’s about supporting women – and their partners – at every stage of their reproductive lives. It’s about allowing them to take control and make informed decisions. It is also not reactive but proactive. It’s about supporting employees as they go through lonely, traumatic and painful journeys, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Of course, it’s also about attracting and retaining talented people, increasing employee satisfaction, reducing turnover rates and improving productivity. These things matter – and Hertility’s Reproduction Report (see link at the end of this article) contains all the facts and figures you need to understand the impact on businesses and their employees.

But as O’Neill makes very clear, it’s not just about the ‘head’, the future workplace is also about the ‘heart’. “It’s about creating workplaces that don’t just say they care, they show they care in the way they treat each individual. It’s a movement – ​​and we strongly believe it’s a movement whose time has come, and we’d love for you to join us.”

To learn more about Hertility and its mission to create future jobs, you can start by downloading them Reproduction report. In the meantime, why not view – and share – these campaign videos: A love letter to a future job and Ooh, someone’s hormonal.

Watch them, then discover more about Hertility and what it proposes to do to boost the reproductive health of your employees: Hertility Health