Other recommendations include improving diagnosis time by providing follow-up appointments, increasing the amount of research funding that gets spent on women’s reproductive health conditions and making sure that the NHS website, app and social media provide comprehensive, trustworthy information on a range of women’s health conditions.

“Our inquiry has shown misogyny in medicine is leaving women in pain and their conditions undiagnosed,” said Sarah Owen, a Labour MP and chair of the Women And Equalities Committee. “Women are finding their symptoms dismissed, are waiting years for life-changing treatment and in too many cases are being put through trauma-inducing procedures. All the while, their conditions worsen and become more complicated to treat. This report must act as a wake-up call.”

Janet Lindsay, chief executive of the charity Wellbeing of Women, said the current treatment of women’s periods and pain is “unacceptable”. Responding to the report, she added: “Millions of women and girls suffer with heavy bleeding and severe period pain that disrupts their lives, leading to them taking time off school, work or their caring responsibilities. Instead of getting the treatment and support they desperately need, they’re often dismissed and told it’s ‘just a period’.”

Medical misogyny is forcing women and girls to endure years of pain, a new report reveals