Mum in agony - ‘WOMEN DESERVE A LOT BETTER'

BEING IN CONSTANT PAIN IS BAD ENOUGH, BUT WORSE, TELLS EMMA, IS THE LACK OF MEDICAL COMPASSION PHOTOS: SALLY TAGG.

- Leena Tailor

Emma Hintz’s 10-year-old son Max has one wish– for his mum to jump on the trampoline with him. But for 20 years, the 40-year-old Aucklander’s debilitating battle with endometriosis has limited her social activities, required five operations, impacted her relationships and, worst of all, made her feel like a bad parent.

Now, she’s asking for change to what she calls the “gynaecological crisis” in New Zealand.

“Endometriosis doesn’t care if you have a life to live,” says the mum-of-two. “It doesn’t care that it’s your wedding day or your child’s first day at school. It’s not a once-a-month period condition – it’s a daily battle involving excruciating pain.”

The condition causes tissue that normally lines the uterus to grow in other areas of the abdomen, causing pain and menstrual issues. Emma says the endometriosis acts like glue, causing her organs to stick together.

She’s spent years fighting for adequate healthcare and is so frustrated, she launched a petition that gained more than 6000 signatures in three days, with many women telling stories similar to hers.

Emma recalls being told to “pull your socks up and get on with it” after she started getting painful, heavy periods at 14, which only worsened through her teens. “I bled non-stop for months and crunched Panadol like they were lollies.”

The condition made it hard to study or socialise, with countless events missed because her period arrived, causing “agonising pain”.

At 23, she was diagnosed with endometriosis and also adenomyosis, in which cells that line the womb grow into the uterus wall.