MP Sharon Hodgson has been a huge support to Sling The Mesh since speaking at our first debate in Parliament in 2017 – which became a penny drop moment for her mam, who tuned in from home, and realised she was among thousands of women suffering mesh complications.

“The (mesh) issue is not only of political importance to me; it matters to me on a profoundly personal level,” said Sharon, who saw her mam being gaslit and undermined by her original implanting surgeon.

This month (December 2024) Sharon joined politicians of all parties for the latest debate into pelvic mesh where MPs called for action to implement all nine Baroness Cumberlege First Do No Harm recommendations.

Sharon spoke of the bladder leak surgery given to her mam using a mesh sling – an operation which has since been suspended by Baroness Cumberlege who was “appalled at the seriousness and scale of the tragic stories” of women suffering.

Sharon, Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for First Do No Harm, said: “After suffering mild stress incontinence… my mam had SUI surgery to have some tension-free vaginal tape inserted, a quick and common treatment offered to women for incontinence. However, had she known the life-limiting complications she was about to suffer as a result, dealing with slight stress incontinence would not have seemed very bad at all.

“Two to three years post-surgery, my mam had one health complication after another. She suffered all sorts of autoimmune reactions, recurrent urinary tract infections, and was in constant pain in her groin, arms and legs. She became a shadow of her former self, and it took us quite a few years to work out what was causing the symptoms and pain.

“It was only through my research for that debate back in 2017 I was able to join the dots together, and from that moment on we both wished constantly that she had never had the operation.

“My mam will be 80 in January, and she would say that she is one of the lucky ones. Since I first spoke on the topic, she has been able to get the mesh surgically removed. The road to recovery is far from smooth for many mesh-damage victims, however, and my mam is no exception. She is still recovering to this day and, in her words, will never be the same again.”

Sharon added: “Our doctors, surgeons and healthcare providers are meant to protect us, not harm us. Surely the least we can expect in cases where harm does happen is accountability and for wrongs to be righted. Instead, we see a culture of defensiveness and a lack of accountability.”

Sharon’s full speech can be read on Hansard