WomenKind Collective

Jinty Sheerin and Lou Hockings-Thompson

Welcome to Womenkind Collective: Spill The Tea, the podcast where no topic is off-limits, and every conversation is served with honesty, humour, and heart. Hosted by lifelong friends Jinty and Lou, we bring you a vibrant, fun, weekly mix of education, laughter, and real talk. From health and hormones to family, relationships, equity, and the realities of menopause, we tackle the topics that matter, especially the ones society often shies away from. With the help of expert guests, including Menopause specialists, GPs, Gynaecologists, Nutritionists, Sleep Therapists, Cancer Survivors, Advocates, and Campaigners, we provide evidence-based facts, real-life experiences, and the support you deserve. Beyond the podcast, we take action. We founded Exmouth’s first Menopause Café, giving women a space to connect, and launched the #WheresMyClinic campaign, fighting for an NHS Menopause Clinic in Devon. We’ve even spilled the tea live on BBC Radio Devon, hosting their first-ever menopause café. So, whether you’re navigating the ups and downs of hormones, curious about the latest health insights, or just here for the relatable stories (and occasional faux pas), grab a cuppa and join us. It’s time to spill the tea—because the conversations we have today can change the way we live tomorrow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. Episode 1

    Misogyny in Healthcare with Health Secretary Wes Streeting & Minister for Women's Health Baroness Gillian Merron

    Link to Pre Order: Tackling Gender Bias in The Healthcare System. What Patient stories Teach Us About Implementing Systemic Change: https://www.waterstones.com/book/tackling-gender-bias-in-the-healthcare-system/louise-hockings-thompson/jinty-sheerin/9781805018810   Welcome back! Series 16 is here, and we're spending the whole series investigating gender bias and misogyny in healthcare, building up to the publication of our book in September.   And what better place to begin than to Spill the Tea with Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting and Women's Health Minister Baroness Gillian Merron? We ask them about the revised Women's Health Strategy that launched in April, and how they plan to tackle misogyny and racial bias at its very core.   We also examine the striking funding figures that journalist Rosie Taylor revealed when comparing the Women's Health Strategy with the Men's Health Strategy launched in November along with our own thoughts.   Plus, find out all about our adventures trekking the Higher Atlas Mountains with a female-led expedition that took us above the clouds and into beautiful villages. And stick around for some beautiful inspiration to carry you through the week.   ☕ SUBSCRIBE for honest chats on women's health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy, one cuppa at a time.   💛 Enjoying the podcast? Please share, leave us a review or comment!   If you would like to, you can Buy us a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcast   💬 We love hearing from you — email your ideas to Jinty & Lou: womenkindcollective@gmail.com 👀 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenkindcollective 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/42KniEtc5WGQhNvREsN1WP   Available on all your favourite podcast platforms. Thank you for listening.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.   The Renewed Women’s Health Strategy For England: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69df5d7261d2e8e9b9e42d2e/renewed-womens-health-strategy-for-england-web-accessible.pdf   Rosie Taylor: Instagram: @rosietaylorjournalism  Rosie Taylor Times article: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/womens-health-funding-less-than-mens-health-6k6l6pljw   ☕ SUBSCRIBE for honest chats on women’s health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy, one cuppa at a time. 💛 Enjoying the podcast? Please share, leave us a review or comment! If you would like to you can Buy us a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcast 💬 We love hearing from you, email us your ideas here Jinty & Lou @ womenkindcollective@gmail.com 👀 Join us on instagram here https://www.instagram.com/womenkindcollective?igsh=ZmxmbGs2d3BjcXA1&utm_source=qr 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820 🎧 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/42KniEtc5WGQhNvREsN1WP?si=e14a83c93a304bb3 And all your favourite Podcast Platforms Thank you for Listening Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    48 min
  2. Episode 2

    The Gender Pain Gap with Jocelyn from Hysteroscopy Action UK

    This week on Spill The Tea, we're having the conversation the NHS seems reluctant to. We sit down with Jocelyn, who at 36 went into premature menopause, and years later underwent a hysteroscopy a procedure she was wholly unprepared for. What followed was agonising pain, zero adequate warning, and a long road to discovering she was far from alone. Jocelyn found her way to Hysteroscopy Action, a UK campaign fighting for patients' rights to proper pain relief and informed consent and she's here to help make sure you're better informed than she was. Together we unpack what a hysteroscopy is, why so many women are still suffering needlessly, and the question we simply won't let go of: if this were a procedure routinely performed on men, would "take a paracetamol" ever be considered adequate? We also catch up on our week and chat about our new BFF Jane Green and her hotly anticipated memoir Rewilding, out in June one to pre-order immediately. Plus, we close with some beautiful inspiration to carry you through the week. 🌿 Whether you've had a hysteroscopy, have one coming up, or simply want to understand why the gender pain gap is still very much alive this episode is for you. ☕ SUBSCRIBE for honest chats on women’s health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy, one cuppa at a time. 💛 Enjoying the podcast? Please share, leave us a review or comment! If you would like to you can Buy us a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcast 💬 We love hearing from you, email us your ideas here Jinty & Lou @ womenkindcollective@gmail.com 👀 Join us on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/womenkindcollective?igsh=ZmxmbGs2d3BjcXA1&utm_source=qr 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820 🎧 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/42KniEtc5WGQhNvREsN1WP?si=e14a83c93a304bb3 And all your favourite Podcast Platforms Thank you for Listening Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.   Hysteroscopy Action: https://www.hysteroscopyaction.org.uk/ Instagram: @campaign_painful_hysteroscopy  Petition: End barbaric NHS hysteroscopies with inadequate pain-relief: https://www.change.org/p/secretary-of-state-for-health-end-barbaric-nhs-hysteroscopies-with-inadequate-pain-relief   Jane Green New Memoir: Rewilding: Freedom, Friendship and Finding Our Way Home. Release Date: 4 June 2026, pre-orders available: Harper Collins ☕ SUBSCRIBE for honest chats on women’s health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy, one cuppa at a time. 💛 Enjoying the podcast? Please share, leave us a review or comment! If you would like to you can Buy us a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcast 💬 We love hearing from you, email us your ideas here Jinty & Lou @ womenkindcollective@gmail.com 👀 Join us on instagram here https://www.instagram.com/womenkindcollective?igsh=ZmxmbGs2d3BjcXA1&utm_source=qr 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820 🎧 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/42KniEtc5WGQhNvREsN1WP?si=e14a83c93a304bb3 And all your favourite Podcast Platforms Thank you for Listening Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    45 min
  3. Episode 3

    Challenging systemic inequity in Healthcare with Neelam Heera-Shergill

    Link to Pre Order: Tackling Gender Bias in The Healthcare System. What Patient stories Teach Us About Implementing Systemic Change: https://www.waterstones.com/book/tackling-gender-bias-in-the-healthcare-system/louise-hockings-thompson/jinty-sheerin/9781805018810 Our guest today is Neelam Heera-Shergill, founder and CEO of Cysters, a community-led charity with national reach working at the intersection of menstrual health, maternal care and mental well-being.   When we talk about gender bias in healthcare, we're really talking about a system that has historically been designed for men. But what happens when you exist outside that narrow template in more ways than one? Neelam knows that story intimately, and has built something extraordinary in response to it.   Rooted in grassroots activism and collective liberation, Cysters exists to challenge the stigma, systemic barriers and cultural silence that prevents so many people particularly those from ethnically diverse communities from getting the care they deserve. Neelam's work spans advocacy, creative storytelling, policy influence and community building, all driven by a simple but radical belief: that menstrual and maternal care should never be a privilege.   In this conversation we explore:   · How Cysters began with one voice and one lived experience and the moment Neelam knew she had to turn it into something bigger.   · Why the framing of ethnically diverse communities as "hard to reach" says far more about the system than the community and what Cysters' evidence actually shows.   · The real problem at the heart of healthcare inequity: "a lack of listening, referring, believing."   · Through our research for our book, we found that women from deprived areas and marginalised communities are doubly disadvantaged when it comes to healthcare and whether Neelam's findings reflect the same.   · The specific conditions endometriosis, PMOS, miscarriage, menopause where the intersection of gender and ethnicity creates particularly stark gaps in care.   · How Cysters holds space for communities where menstruation carries cultural silence or shame, while still challenging it.   · The ways Cysters has influenced real research and policy, and how a community of voices is making a tangible difference.   · What a genuinely equitable reproductive healthcare system would look like and the two or three things that would need to change first.   · Why "radical love and care" sits at the centre of Cysters' work, and why that language matters in a world of policy documents and research reports. We also catch up on our adventurous week hiking with Ramble Worldwide and Ageism is Never In Style in the Lake District with a wonderful group of like-minded women and we chat about why pre-orders for books truly matter (did you know we've got a book coming out in September?) Stick around for some beautiful inspiration to carry you through the week.   ☕ SUBSCRIBE for honest chats on women's health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy, one cuppa at a time.   💛 Enjoying the podcast? Please share, leave us a review or comment it means the world!   Buy us a coffee at Ko-Fi ☕ https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcast   💬 We love hearing from you: email Jinty & Lou at womenkindcollective@gmail.com   👀 Join us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenkindcollective?igsh=ZmxmbGs2d3BjcXA1&utm_source=qr   🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820   🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/42KniEtc5WGQhNvREsN1WP?si=e14a83c93a304bb3   And all your favourite podcast platforms.   Thank you for listening.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.    Cysters: Web: https://www.cysters.org/ Insta: @cystersgroup   We talked about: SUP Jo Mosely - jomosely.com Ramble Worldwide - rambleworldwide.co.uk ☕ SUBSCRIBE for honest chats on women’s health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy, one cuppa at a time. 💛 Enjoying the podcast? Please share, leave us a review or comment! If you would like to you can Buy us a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcast 💬 We love hearing from you, email us your ideas here Jinty & Lou @ womenkindcollective@gmail.com 👀 Join us on instagram here https://www.instagram.com/womenkindcollective?igsh=ZmxmbGs2d3BjcXA1&utm_source=qr 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820 🎧 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/42KniEtc5WGQhNvREsN1WP?si=e14a83c93a304bb3 And all your favourite Podcast Platforms Thank you for Listening Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    54 min
  4. Episode 4

    "Stop Making a Fuss": Birth Trauma with Rosie Taylor

    This week, Jinty and Lou sit down with Rosie Taylor, award-winning investigative journalist, broadcaster, media consultant, and host of the Mother Bodies podcast. Rosie has spent a decade reporting on women's health and family life for some of the UK's biggest publications. But what sets her apart is this: she hasn't just reported on the crisis in maternity care, she's lived it. Her own experience of birth trauma sent her on a mission to understand what is going wrong in our maternity system, and she has been reporting and campaigning on it ever since. In this powerful and eye-opening conversation, we explore: → How Rosie went from personal anger to understanding this as a systemic failure. → Why postnatal care is described as the "Cinderella" of midwifery and why just £250 is allocated per woman postnatally vs £2,800 for antenatal care. → The shocking dismissal of women in crisis including one who was told "stop making a fuss, everyone has babies" while suffering massive internal bleeding. → The paradox of understaffed maternity wards and newly qualified midwives unable to find jobs. → How racially minoritised women, disabled women, and those facing economic hardship are being failed most severely. → Whether the 12 recommendations from the 2024 maternity inquiry are being acted upon and why nearly two thirds of maternal deaths happen postnatally. → How patriarchal medical systems have systematically stripped power from midwives and mothers. → What excellent maternity care actually looks like, and where we go from here We also chat about our week, including a new film that's just dropped and exactly how much alcohol is being drunk in parliament. Hear us rant! We end with something beautiful to carry you through the week. 🌸 ☕ SUBSCRIBE for honest chats on women's health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy, one cuppa at a time. 💛 Enjoying the podcast? Please share, leave us a review or comment — it means the world to us! If you'd like to support the show, you can Buy us a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcast 💬 We love hearing from you — email us your ideas: womenkindcollective@gmail.com   Pre-Order our book, Tackling Gender Bias In The Healthcare System here - https://www.waterstones.com/book/tackling-gender-bias-in-the-healthcare-system/louise-hockings-thompson/jinty-sheerin/9781805018810 👀 Join us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenkindcollective?igsh=ZmxmbGs2d3BjcXA1&utm_source=qr 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/42KniEtc5WGQhNvREsN1WP?si=e14a83c93a304bb3 And on all your favourite podcast platforms. Thank you for listening. 💛 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.   Rosie Taylor: Web: https://www.rosietaylorjournalism.com/ Instagram: @rosietaylorjournalism Linked In: Rosie Taylor – Freelance Journalist Substack: Rosie Taylor   For further help & support: https://www.birthtraumaassociation.org/ https://pandasfoundation.org.uk/what-is-pnd/birth-trauma/ https://masic.org.uk/ https://www.tommys.org/ ☕ SUBSCRIBE for honest chats on women’s health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy, one cuppa at a time. 💛 Enjoying the podcast? Please share, leave us a review or comment! If you would like to you can Buy us a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcast 💬 We love hearing from you, email us your ideas here Jinty & Lou @ womenkindcollective@gmail.com 👀 Join us on instagram here https://www.instagram.com/womenkindcollective?igsh=ZmxmbGs2d3BjcXA1&utm_source=qr 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820 🎧 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/42KniEtc5WGQhNvREsN1WP?si=e14a83c93a304bb3 And all your favourite Podcast Platforms Thank you for Listening Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    49 min
  5. Episode 5

    The Gender Credibility Gap in Healthcare with Jen O'Doherty

    Pre Order: Tackling Gender Bias in The Healthcare System. What Patient stories Teach Us About Implementing Systemic Change: https://www.waterstones.com/book/tackling-gender-bias-in-the-healthcare-system/louise-hockings-thompson/jinty-sheerin/9781805018810   This week on WKC Spill The Tea we sit down with Jen, a Menopause Awareness trainer, cancer charity volunteer, and mental health advocate, who experienced the credibility gap first-hand. She went to her GP with real symptoms and was asked if it was all in her head. It wasn't. Dismissed by her consultant, Jen was eventually diagnosed with Medullary Thyroid Cancer, a rare cancer and her journey since has transformed her into a powerful advocate for women's health.   In this honest, moving conversation, we explore: • The moment Jen was made to feel her symptoms weren't real and how she responded • What Medullary Thyroid Cancer is, • What treatment looked like, and what she wishes she'd known sooner • The often-overlooked connection between cancer treatment and menopause • Her work training workplaces in menopause awareness and volunteering with a menopause and cancer charity   Jen is raw, real, and utterly compelling and she has a message for every woman whose pain has ever been dismissed.   We talk about a great feminist book club online, and the origin of some of our favourite phrases. Stick around for some beautiful inspiration to carry you through the week.   ☕ SUBSCRIBE for honest chats on women's health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy, one cuppa at a time. 💛 Enjoying the podcast? Please share, leave us a review or comment!   Buy us a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcast 💬 We love hearing from you, email Jinty & Lou: womenkindcollective@gmail.com   👀 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenkindcollective?igsh=ZmxmbGs2d3BjcXA1&utm_source=qr 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/42KniEtc5WGQhNvREsN1WP?si=e14a83c93a304bb3 And all your favourite podcast platforms.   Thank you for listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.   Jen: Web: www.menopauselifebyjen.com I: @menopauselifebyjen Menopause and Cancer: Web: www.menopauseandcancer.org   Good Book Club: https://goodbookclub.co.uk/ ☕ SUBSCRIBE for honest chats on women’s health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy, one cuppa at a time. 💛 Enjoying the podcast? Please share, leave us a review or comment! If you would like to you can Buy us a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcast 💬 We love hearing from you, email us your ideas here Jinty & Lou @ womenkindcollective@gmail.com 👀 Join us on instagram here https://www.instagram.com/womenkindcollective?igsh=ZmxmbGs2d3BjcXA1&utm_source=qr 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820 🎧 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/42KniEtc5WGQhNvREsN1WP?si=e14a83c93a304bb3 And all your favourite Podcast Platforms Thank you for Listening Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    48 min
  6. Episode 7

    ADHD & Gender Bias in Healthcare with Sarah West

    Link to Pre Order: Tackling Gender Bias in The Healthcare System. What Patient stories Teach Us About Implementing Systemic Change: https://www.waterstones.com/book/tackling-gender-bias-in-the-healthcare-system/louise-hockings-thompson/jinty-sheerin/9781805018810   This week on Spill The Tea, Lou and Jinty are joined by Sarah West, a nurse, ADHD coach, and passionate advocate for women who've spent years being everything except correctly diagnosed. Sarah first joined us in Series 12, Episode 3 to share her own story. Now she's back as part of our Gender Bias in Healthcare series, and this conversation goes deeper. Together we explore how ADHD research was almost entirely built around hyperactive boys and the lasting legacy for generations of women and girls who simply didn't fit that picture. We discuss why girls tend to internalise where boys externalise, and whether that's still playing out in referral pathways today. We examine why so many women receive anxiety, depression, or even bipolar diagnoses before anyone considers ADHD and what it does to a woman to have her neurology repeatedly mistaken for a mood disorder.Sarah also tackles the topic of perimenopause and how it can dramatically unmask ADHD symptoms, the emerging research linking ADHD and autism with hypermobility, the "over-diagnosis" backlash and whether that criticism is actually a gender bias story in disguise, plus what still needs to change, and what good post-diagnosis support should look like. We also share what we’ve been up to this week, and stick around for some beautiful inspiration to carry you through the week. ☕ Subscribe for honest chats on women's health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy one cuppa at a time. 💛 Enjoying the podcast? Please share, leave us a review or comment! 🙏 Scroll down ⬇️ ☕ Buy us a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcast 💬 Email Jinty & Lou: womenkindcollective@gmail.com 👀 Join us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenkindcollective?igsh=ZmxmbGs2d3BjcXA1&utm_source=qr 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/42KniEtc5WGQhNvREsN1WP?si=e14a83c93a304bb3 🎧 And all your favourite podcast platforms Thank you for listening 💛 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.   Sarah West: Web: https://www.sarahwest-adhd.com/ LinkedIn: Sarah West Insta: @sarahwest_adhd    ADHD & Menopause Book by Dr Helen Wall - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Menopause-ADHD-neurodivergence-Vermilion-Empowered/dp/178504642X Sarah West ADHD & Menopause, previous episode here - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/adhd-late-diagnosis-with-adhd-coach-sarah-west/id1557937820?i=1000687993934 Further Information: & Support Web: https://adhduk.co.uk Books: Menopause and ADHD: How to Navigate Hormone Flux and Neurodivergence. Dr Helen Wall. Vermillion. 2026 ☕ SUBSCRIBE for honest chats on women’s health, feminist issues, sisterhood & smashing the patriarchy, one cuppa at a time. 💛 Enjoying the podcast? Please share, leave us a review or comment! If you would like to you can Buy us a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcast 💬 We love hearing from you, email us your ideas here Jinty & Lou @ womenkindcollective@gmail.com 👀 Join us on instagram here https://www.instagram.com/womenkindcollective?igsh=ZmxmbGs2d3BjcXA1&utm_source=qr 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820 🎧 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/42KniEtc5WGQhNvREsN1WP?si=e14a83c93a304bb3 And all your favourite Podcast Platforms Thank you for Listening Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    40 min
5
out of 5
26 Ratings

About

Welcome to Womenkind Collective: Spill The Tea, the podcast where no topic is off-limits, and every conversation is served with honesty, humour, and heart. Hosted by lifelong friends Jinty and Lou, we bring you a vibrant, fun, weekly mix of education, laughter, and real talk. From health and hormones to family, relationships, equity, and the realities of menopause, we tackle the topics that matter, especially the ones society often shies away from. With the help of expert guests, including Menopause specialists, GPs, Gynaecologists, Nutritionists, Sleep Therapists, Cancer Survivors, Advocates, and Campaigners, we provide evidence-based facts, real-life experiences, and the support you deserve. Beyond the podcast, we take action. We founded Exmouth’s first Menopause Café, giving women a space to connect, and launched the #WheresMyClinic campaign, fighting for an NHS Menopause Clinic in Devon. We’ve even spilled the tea live on BBC Radio Devon, hosting their first-ever menopause café. So, whether you’re navigating the ups and downs of hormones, curious about the latest health insights, or just here for the relatable stories (and occasional faux pas), grab a cuppa and join us. It’s time to spill the tea—because the conversations we have today can change the way we live tomorrow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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