It is a painful and embarrassing condition that affects millions of British women.
Pelvic organ prolapse, or POP, occurs when tissue supporting the pelvic organs – including the womb – becomes weak, typically after childbirth. Complications include an uncomfortable dragging or ‘full’ feeling, discomfort during sex or stress incontinence.
Although up to half of women are thought to suffer to some degree, far fewer seek help, and many who do are offered just one solution: a hysterectomy.
While surgical removal of the reproductive organs solves the immediate problem, it also ends fertility, and with three months of recovery needed, it is no quick fix.
Now, a leading gynaecologist has claimed thousands of patients may be undergoing the drastic operation needlessly.
He is one of a growing number of surgeons who claim not enough women are offered the alternative: a half-hour keyhole procedure that uses an implanted mesh ‘sling’ made from nylon to lift and hold the womb back in place, providing a permanent solution to a prolapse and preserving fertility.