Sussex woman who suffered from vaginal mesh implant speaks

Earlier this month, an official review into the prescription of pelvic mesh found thousands of women’s lives were needlessly ruined.

The plastic implants were used on the NHS to treat incontinence and prolapse. But the review found women had been left in permanent pain, unable to walk, work or have sex after the mesh cut into the vagina.

And it found their concerns were often dismissed as “women’s problems”. It is estimated more than 100,000 women have had one fitted in the UK.

After the publication of the review, the Health Secretary offered a public apology.

But Tree Bartram, who lives near Eastbourne, said his words were “empty”.

“I don’t think Matt Hancock understands the lengths we’ve had to go to be heard or the immense damage that’s been done to us,” she said.

Tree, 54, had a transvaginal tape fitted to lift her prolapsed bladder when she suffered incontinence after the birth of her child in 2007.

But there were serious complications. Tree said: “The plastic came through my vaginal wall. I blew up like a balloon and I could barely walk.”

She was left disabled and in agony.

After years of intense pain, Tree had the mesh removed in 2015.

“I was so close to sepsis,” she said. “My body reacted against the mesh. I still have a swollen belly and have to walk with a stick.”

Tree now has a long list of medical problems: fibromyalgia, arthritis, skin disorders, and incontinence – and she is still in constant agony.

But as well as the physical pain, Tree suffered trauma. She said: “It’s the same thing as shellshock. I’m living in permanent pain and the PTSD is always there.”

One of the hardest aspects for women in Tree’s position was getting the problem recognised.

She said: “I haven’t found a doctor I can trust – so many dismissed what I had to say.

“We were treated like Victorian women having a ‘fit of the vapours’, and I was referred to psychologists rather than gynaecologists.”

Women like Tree were not taken seriously. The review found they were “written off by a system that was supposed to care”.

Tree said: “Misogyny is rife in the medical profession. Doctors would often talk to my male friends rather than me.

“If men complained about a problem in their abdomen, they would be listened to. One doctor gripped my leg to see if my pain was imagined or not. Every woman I know who had mesh cut through them has had this level of dismissal from consultants, GPs, and nurses.

“It took five and a half years for me to be examined properly.”

Tree said she also struggled to qualify for benefits because her medical condition was not acknowledged. “I just wasn’t being heard,” she said.

Tree has found support from other women who shared her suffering, and in 2016, she and a 200-strong group of them took their campaign to Parliament.

Then, in 2018, she travelled to London alongside other pelvic floor mesh sufferers for a meeting with Baroness Cumberlege, who chaired the review into the use of pelvic mesh.

“It took me over a week to recover from the physical pain of pushing myself so hard,” Tree said.

“Getting us together is very difficult – we’re all so poorly. It was remarkable we managed to form a demonstration. Many of us have PTSD and we’re all exhausted. But I don’t know what I would have done without the other women. We’ve been ignored, but we’re not alone.”

They share a searing sense of unfairness. “It’s such a battle to speak out when you have been squashed and silenced for so long,” Tree said. “It’s the injustice of it. My eyes are pouring just speaking about it.

“This is a worldwide problem, and it’s still going on. There are surgeons who are still using polypropylene mesh. People are still being misled, and people’s lives are in danger.

“Women have been told their implants are fully removed and then they find mesh still in there. It’s possible there is plastic still inside me, but I can’t afford a private test to find out.”

Tree is calling for the women who suffered to be compensated for their loss of earnings – and “for not being listened to.” She wants to warn others about the dangers of vaginal mesh implants.

“I don’t think and apology is enough,” she said. “We’ve got to stop this happening.

“Some women have never told their husbands because they’re worried they’ll find it too squeamish.

“But we need to get this out to people. It’s all my life’s worth now. It’s my driving force. I have to fix this – I have to get it stopped.

“I’ve been fighting and fighting for so long now.”