Marie-Louise Connolly
@mlchealth.bsky.social
Passionate about women’s health & reporting on health & Social care. BBC NI’s health correspondent you can catch me on TV & Radio. A runner too. 🌈🏃♀️
Early morning walk - peri/menopause. Let’s talk about loss of libido-sex drive. Don’t be embarrassed to ask/talk abt it. Ask yr GP abt testosterone/lubricants. Frequent UTI’s aren’t normal! Read up on Vulva health. Address it - don’t avoid it. It’s not too late. @menomandate
Early morning run - peri/menopause. Let’s talk about sleep or lack of it! It’s my worst symptom. Don’t fight it. Get up for ten mins.. Sleep is medicine & not enough of it makes coping with all the other symptoms much harder. Try supplements. Less caffeine, alcohol & more🏃♀️🏋️♀️🚶♀️➡️
Early morning run.. in midlife we keep moving.. Endorphins come with exercise and like a natural medicine can lift our mood. @menomandate @alicesmellie @MenopauseNI 🌈🏃♀️ #menopause
Positive story coming up by @benlonsdale Imagine if more gyms did this to support young people. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Glengormley MMA gym offers young people free training for life
Head coach Danny Corr says the aim is to give young people structure, opportunity and a sense of belonging.
bbc.co.uk
Menopause - awake since after 3 30am! I thought I was over the worst of symptoms but after 5 years it feels like I’m starting over. All symptoms back with a vengeance. You shld not mess abt with HRT changing doses/patches.. it must be sorted by GP. It’s crap! Work soon
Menopause affects so many parts of women’s bodies - ovaries, muscles, skin and our brain. Brain fog is debilitating. Exercise becomes hard. And Every day another woman will find herself in peri/menopause. List your symptoms and look/ask for help. @BrMenopauseSoc @MenoScandal
Words,Wisdom & Women - #ThedictionaryofLostWords documents the importance of language especially around women’s health and the important role women played compiling the Oxford English Dictionary. “Mothers have a vocabulary all their own..” Thanks Pip Williams for Esme. #words
If life is feeling a little heavy - I recommend you pick this up. It’s a reminder to see the good in people and not to be too hard on ourselves. This is beautiful. @NiallL90377 thank you for Noel. “By the grace of new chapters, it was morning”.
Some day of public awareness around #ovariancancer Imagine these two on billboards,posters & public health campaigns. Two sides of the cancer story - on a plate. Leading the way @CCampbell162 & @SJA_McC Thank you. 🌈🏃♀️
Powerful stories from brave women - This is @BBCSpotlightNI I will be talking about this programme across TV & Radio. View tonight BBC1 @10 40 pm. Or catch it now on the BBC iplayer www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Maternal mental health: Calls for specialist unit in Northern Ireland
Mothers with serious mental health problems are separated from their babies in Northern Ireland, unlike the rest of the UK.
bbc.co.uk
Staff told me they just kept their head down hoping they would not be picked on..a leaked copy of the cardiology inspection report lays bare bullying allegations & claims of a lack of trust among staff. This is a shocking read www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Royal Victoria Belfast: Heart surgeons threw instruments and bullied nurses - report
BBC News NI has seen a leaked report into the culture at the Royal Victoria Hospital's cardiac surgery unit.
bbc.co.uk
There’s a tremendous air of expectation.. the pair are quietly happy but not visibly showing any emotions. The tone is neither raised nor muted. There’s the odd laugh & trip to fridge…They’re sitting in their usual seats & wearing their @LFC scarves & pins. Father & Son. ❤️
Are you affected by this dental story? Out of the 360 dental practices in Northern Ireland, only two are now fully NHS. An investigation by @bbcnewsni health unit www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Dentists remove over 50,000 NHS patients from practice lists
Out of the 360 dental practices in Northern Ireland, only two are now fully NHS.
bbc.co.uk
Life after a heart attack: Meet my Dad - Joe Connolly www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Cardiac rehabilitation: 'I feel fitter than ever after my heart attack'
Our health correspondent shares a very personal story about the work of a cardiac rehabilitation team.
bbc.co.uk
Inishowen this evening in all her natural beauty. ☘️
Important public information: @healthdpt opens public consultation on redesign of Serious Adverse Incident Procedure in NI - it says there’s evidence that aspects of the SAI procedure need to be “refreshed and redesigned”. The consultation will close on 6 June 2025.
Sometimes it’s hard to be a woman and sometimes it’s brilliant. Today we’ll be told how we should be feeling .. Just Be yourself and it’s ok not to be ok. Ask friends how they are & listen. #InternationalWomensDay2025 🌈🏃♀️
“I liked a drink, trifle and the tender moment between a parent and child.” Blue Road tells the extraordinary life story of Irish writer Edna O’Brien. It’s superb. Applauds to filmmaker Sinéad O’Shea’s doc which features a final testimony from OBrien before she died in ‘24. #BlueRoad
Imagine heading off to work or beginning a shift caring for a family member &you’ve been up & awake for several hours. Sofa surfing since 3am. Throw in night sweats and you might be feeling wrung out. This is how some women who’re navigating the #menopause are feeling.. as they start the day.
Corridor care - I witnessed this in the RVH ED this week. Trolleys with very sick people feeling a freezing cold blast every time the ambulance bay opened to wheel in another trolley.
Shaun Lintern@shaunlintern.bsky.social · 2y agoHospital advertises for 12hr 'corridor nurse' shifts while many across England prepare for patients to be stacked waiting for a bed www.thetimes.com/article/410d...
England - but this delay is likely to have consequences for the rest of tge UK www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
National Care Service plans in pipeline for 2028, say ministers
The government announces first steps to creating a National Care Service - but the final report is several years away.
bbc.co.uk
A sprint back over some of the health headlines in 2024 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
NI health review: Pay and politics dominate the news in 2024
The year began with strike action but ended on a more stable note, while public inquiries also loomed large.
bbc.co.uk
Did the Department of Health's winter preparedness plan published in early November go far enough? Some of those currently working in the thick of it say it didn't. My Analysis. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Almost 400 people waiting to access hospital beds in NI
Most of the extra beds which are used in an emergency are already occupied, BBC understands.
bbc.co.uk
A grilling for @BelfastTrust @healthdpt officials over the new maternity building. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Belfast Health Trust questioned over Royal Maternity Hospital
Belfast's new maternity hospital at the Royal Victoria site is almost a decade behind schedule.
bbc.co.uk
