News
Women’s health organisations in England awarded £1.97m to ‘bolster’ innovative schemes
The programme aims to help women return to the workplace following pregnancy, pregnancy loss or menopause
Sixteen organisations across England will receive share of £1.97m from the UK government to support women experiencing reproductive health issues in the workplace.
The funding has been awarded to organisations to ‘bolster’ innovative schemes that are improving the health of women in the workplace.
Launched in April 2018, the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Health and Wellbeing Fund is a joint initiative run by the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency.
The theme of the fund for 2022 to 2025 is women’s reproductive wellbeing in the workplace and aims to retain and support women going through menopause, fertility problems, miscarriage, pregnancy loss and gynaecological conditions.
“We have already put women’s health at the top of the agenda by publishing the first ever Women’s Health Strategy for England, but there’s always more that can be done,” said Minister Helen Whately.
“The contribution that the VCSE sector makes towards improving health and care is invaluable, and improves the health of thousands of women.”
Ruth May, chief nursing officer for England, said: “The VCSE sector makes a significant contribution towards improving health and care, and these projects will help deliver some of the important commitments set out in the Women’s Health Strategy for England.
“The sector brings a wealth of understanding of the impact on people’s lives, including those from disadvantaged groups, helping us provide positive support to even more women wanting to remain in and return to the workplace.”
Fund awardees
Ashiana Community Project
Ashiana Community Project will be using funding to tackle gender inequalities that women experiencing menopause transition experience in the workplace.
This will include capturing the lived experiences of women to inform, educate and advocate change, providing opportunities to offer interventions so the diverse needs of women from all cultures can be addressed, enabling timely support and challenging negative stereotypes.
Best Beginnings
Best Beginnings is a national charity that works to support all parents and caregivers throughout pregnancy and until children are five years old, with a focus on reducing inequalities.
Its project will engage with employers, women and birthing people to co-produce materials to help new parents manage their health and wellbeing at work.
Birmingham Voluntary Services Council, Salus Fatigue Foundation and Disability Resource Centre
The partnership between Birmingham Voluntary Services Council, Salus Fatigue Foundation and Disability Resource Centre will use funding to develop a service that supports women’s hormonal health in the workplace and unemployed women experiencing hormonal health issues wanting to re-join the workforce.
This is part of its aim to ensure those of working age receive timely and accessible hormonal health support that is personal to them. It will support workplaces and culture to be more accepting and supportive of women with hormonal health issues.
By developing an employer pledge, the partnership will support employers in making women feel confident in applying for employment where their health and wellbeing will be prioritised.
Brook
The sexual health and wellbeing charity Brook will be using funding to deliver tailored one-to-one support, addressing the stigma and raising awareness of the impact the menopause can have within the workplace, and providing practical support to local businesses to redevelop their policies and procedures so that they are inclusive of people experiencing the menopause.
Endometriosis UK
Endometriosis UK’s project will be to develop a national Workplace Menstrual Wellbeing scheme.
Building on the achievements of the charity’s existing Endometriosis-Friendly Employer (EFE) programme, the new scheme will provide small and medium-sized enterprises with targeted resources to support employees with a broad range of menstrual health conditions, including webinars, case studies and downloadable materials.
Fertility Network UK
Fertility Network UK aims to change the work landscape for working women experiencing fertility issues and remove the taboos around infertility.
The charity helps firms support staff on their fertility journey by working closely with organisations. This includes developing tailor-made fertility policies, and facilitating sessions with managers and staff to enhance understanding of the impact of infertility and its treatment.
The London-based national charity is focusing first on projects in the Yorkshire, Humber and North East of England.
Here
Here, a partnership health service for care, will be implementing a menopause programme in Brighton and Hove.
It will work with small and medium-sized businesses to increase understanding and support for women going through the menopause in the workplace.
Maternity Action
Maternity Action, a maternity rights charity, will use the funding to support better health and employment outcomes for working women who are pregnant, recovering from giving birth, breastfeeding or experiencing pregnancy loss.
This project will include providing information to employees, enabling access to legal support for families and providing toolkits for employers.
Mind
Mind in Greater Manchester are funding a project to improve health outcomes for women and people experiencing reproductive health issues by delivering workplace training, raising awareness of the issues and providing an improved mindfulness offer.
Sands
Sands is a UK charity that works to save babies’ lives and supports anyone affected by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby.
Its project will train managers and colleagues to support bereaved staff and colleagues by creating a compassionate workplace environment.
Suffolk Libraries
Suffolk Libraries will be using the funding to deliver a new service to support women in the county to raise awareness of the menopause and signpost advice.
The Eve Appeal
The Eve Appeal’s project, the Every Woman Promise, looks to minimise the negative impact of gynaecological health issues in the workplace by working with businesses to remove the stigma around gynaecological health and raise awareness of the support available.
The aim is to both improve the health chances for women and those with gynae organs to improve the work environment, through engagement at a management level.
The Heeley Trust
The Heeley Trust is using the funding to create a community-led approach by setting up multidisciplinary clinics, pop-up information sessions, places for people to come together to connect, learn and share advice on occupational health, peer support and community wellbeing activities.
Wellbeing of Women
Following the continuing success of the charity’s Menopause Workplace Pledge, which has been signed by more than 2,000 employers so far, Wellbeing of Women will launch a new project in 2023 to develop menopause support for businesses so that more women feel able to continue in their careers.
The charity will work with small and medium-sized businesses in parts of Bedfordshire to provide menopause awareness and training.
The Women’s Organisation
The Women’s Organisation are a developer and deliverer of training and support aimed at women in the UK.
Its proposed scheme, Workplace Wellness of Women, aims to use the government’s Women’s Health Strategy, academic research on women’s health, and small and medium-sized business employment evidence – including business productivity, health and wellbeing, and staff development – to devise and roll out a social model of health support package targeting small and medium-sized business employers in England.
Tommy’s
National charity Tommy’s works to reduce rates of miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth in the UK through funding medical research to discover the causes of baby loss and aims to help women at every stage of their pregnancy journeys.
This project will be helping women through their Pregnancy and Parenting At Work training package, which will help workplaces understand and meet employees’ needs through pregnancy journeys, including miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth and other complications.
Tommy’s will be developing free resources for small and medium-sized enterprises in both Manchester and Birmingham.
A new Female Health Hub launched by the English FA will support women and girls in grassroots football in England with trusted advice on health issues affecting play.
The hub brings together expert-backed guidance, practical tools and player insights in one place, giving women and girls practical advice and reassurance on female health in football.
It has four core aims: to help women and girls better understand their bodies and how female health affects performance and participation, to educate players on key health topics and when to seek further advice or support, to provide practical strategies to help navigate common female health challenges, and to help break down taboos and normalise conversations around female health in football.
Users of the hub will also be able to hear directly from members of the England women’s national team, who share their own experiences of navigating female health matters while playing at the highest level of the game.
“Our ambition is to create a game where women and girls can thrive,” said Sue Day, the FA’s director of women’s football.
“To achieve that, it’s essential that players feel supported in environments that understand and respond to their female health needs.
“We’ve heard directly from grassroots players that they want better information and support around female health, but that they often don’t know where to find it.
“The launch of the Female Health Hub marks an important step in changing the landscape.
“We want every player to feel confident in her own skin and supported without judgment, so she can feel empowered by her body, rather than held back by it.”
The platform was launched following research conducted by the FA that highlighted the need for better education and support around female health in football.
According to the FA, 88 per cent of adult players surveyed said their menstrual cycle has an impact on their ability to train or play, but 86 per cent reported they had never received education about the menstrual cycle in relation to football performance and training.
The research also found 64 per cent of women experience issues related to sports bras or breast health while playing football, despite sports bras being considered one of the most important pieces of playing kit.
Players also expressed strong interest in learning more about injury prevention, at 87 per cent, nutrition, at 84 per cent, and mental health, at 77 per cent, in relation to female health.
The first phase of the Female Health Hub focuses on three of the most requested topics: menstrual health, breast health and injury resilience, with further content to follow, including nutrition and pelvic health guidance.
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has referred to the women’s health strategy as a ‘missed opportunity’ to address maternity services.
The renewed strategy was released by the government this week, with the aim of putting women’s experiences at the centre of care and ensuring they are “better heard and served”.
However, the government stated that because of ongoing investigations into maternity services across the country, the strategy “does not seek to address safety in maternity and neonatal services”.
The RCM described this as a “missed opportunity” and urged the government to ensure that, following the inquiries, maternity is placed “at the very heart” of the strategy.
Gill Walton, RCM chief executive, said the college was “deeply disappointed” that maternity services “do not feature as a headline priority” in the renewed strategy.
She said: “This is a significant missed opportunity and one that is very difficult to understand.
“Pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period are not a footnote in women’s health – they are one of the most significant and consequential phases of a woman’s life.
“A strategy that treats maternity as an afterthought is not truly a women’s health strategy at all. It is exactly the kind of thinking that has allowed maternity services to reach the point they are at today.”
Walton acknowledged that the strategy contained commitments on ensuring women’s voices shape their care, on supporting families through pregnancy loss and on the principle that services should be held accountable when they fail to listen to women.
She added: “But a strategy that addresses one part of women’s health while leaving maternity care behind is only doing half the job.”
Walton urged the government to ensure that this is addressed when the ongoing investigations into maternity care conclude, with any recommendations placed “at the very heart of this strategy with the seriousness and urgency that women, families and midwives deserve”.
In the foreword to the renewed plans, health and social care secretary Wes Streeting referred to the ongoing independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation as action being taken by the government to improve safety in maternity services.
The strategy also refers to the new National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by Streeting, which aims to help deliver “safer, more equitable care” for women, babies and families.
The foreword said that, because of ongoing initiatives, it was “important that this work continues without restriction and that the government can properly respond to the findings”.
It added: “This renewed women’s health strategy therefore does not seek to address safety in maternity and neonatal services other than that related to women’s health before and during pregnancy and the actions we are taking immediately to improve maternity and neonatal care.”
The strategy does, however, include plans to prioritise health education in schools, communities and healthcare settings to “empower women” with the “knowledge and tools they need to help control their fertility” and “prepare for the best pregnancy outcomes.
It also promises to provide women with access to “safe and high-quality contraception, abortion care, fertility services, preconception care and support after pregnancy loss in convenient settings.
Article produced in association with London Pregnancy Clinic and Jeen Health
For the majority of couples planning a pregnancy, genetic testing is not something they think about until a problem arises.
Pre-conception genetic carrier screening challenges this approach by identifying risk before pregnancy begins.
As panel sizes have grown and at-home testing options have become widely available, carrier screening is transitioning from a niche clinical referral into a mainstream component of reproductive planning.
What Carrier Screening Tests For
Being a carrier of a genetic condition means carrying one copy of a variant in a gene associated with that condition, without being affected by it.
In most cases, carriers are entirely unaware of their status.
The clinical significance of carrier status emerges when both members of a couple carry a variant in the same gene: in this scenario, each pregnancy carries a one in four chance of resulting in a child who inherits two copies of the variant and is affected by the condition.
The conditions most frequently included in expanded carrier screening panels include cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), fragile X syndrome, sickle cell disease, and a range of metabolic and enzyme deficiency disorders.
The Beacon 787 carrier test, offered by Jeen Health, screens for 787 conditions from a single sample, making it one of the most comprehensive panels currently available to UK families.
Who Is Most Likely to Benefit
Any couple planning a pregnancy can consider carrier screening. It is particularly relevant for:
- Couples with a family history of a known inherited condition
- Those from populations with higher carrier frequencies for specific conditions, including Ashkenazi Jewish, South Asian and African communities
- Couples pursuing fertility treatment, where genetic information informs treatment planning
- Those who wish to have the most complete picture of their reproductive health before conception
Importantly, being a carrier of a condition does not mean a child will be affected. It means there is a defined statistical risk that can be quantified, discussed and planned for with appropriate clinical support.
How the Test Is Performed
Carrier screening is typically carried out on a blood or saliva sample.
For at-home options such as the testing offered by Jeen Health, a cheek swab collection kit is dispatched to the patient, the sample is returned by post, and results are delivered digitally within a defined turnaround period.
In-clinic carrier testing may use a blood draw and provides the advantage of immediate access to a clinical consultation at the point of result delivery.
London Pregnancy Clinic offers genetics counselling through its partnership with Jeen Health, allowing couples to receive and contextualise carrier test results with expert support.
Genetic counselling before and after testing is recommended by Genomics England as a standard component of any genomic testing pathway.
What Happens If Both Partners Are Carriers
If both partners are identified as carriers for the same autosomal recessive condition, they are typically offered further counselling to discuss their options.
These may include proceeding naturally with an awareness of the risk, using prenatal diagnosis (CVS or amniocentesis) during pregnancy to test the fetus, or pursuing preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) in the context of IVF, which allows unaffected embryos to be selected before transfer.
The purpose of identifying carrier status before pregnancy is to give couples time to consider these options without the added pressure of an ongoing pregnancy.
Knowledge of carrier status does not remove reproductive choices; it expands the information available when making them.
The Role of Pre-Conception Services
Carrier screening sits within a broader category of pre-conception care that includes fertility assessments, general health optimisation and, where relevant, management of existing conditions before pregnancy begins.
London Pregnancy Clinic offers pre-conception services encompassing fertility investigations, genetics counselling and carrier testing as part of an integrated 0th trimester approach, allowing couples to address genetic and clinical risk factors before their pregnancy starts rather than after.
Disclaimer: This article is produced for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Clinical guidance referenced reflects published NHS, NICE and RCOG standards as at March 2026. Individual circumstances vary; readers are advised to consult a qualified healthcare professional before acting on any information in this article.
This piece was produced in association with London Pregnancy Clinic and Jeen Health, which provided background clinical information for editorial purposes.
Hyperlinks to external sources are included for reference only and do not represent an endorsement of any product, service or organisation.
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