Laura Dowling

Exactly.

And you don't, you know, some women will say they couldn't get up and dance at their daughter's wedding.

They were afraid of leaking.

They have to wear dark trousers all the time because they know if they leak through, they'll be seen.

So there's that element of it, which is the physical element of it.

And then there's the prolapse as well that we would have talked about, which is, you know, women's organs in their pelvis.

So their bladder, their bowel.

their uterus falling into the vagina because as we get old, as we have vaginal deliveries and then as we get older and our oestrogen levels drop, the pelvic floor, which is like a hammock that keeps all these organs in place, slackens.

So that can happen, which can cause a dragging and an uncomfortable feeling in a woman's vagina.

So if you consider women can get, one and two will get incontinence, many will have prolapse and they just put up with it.

So what affects them, they tend to retract from society.

They don't go and exercise the way they should.

They, you know, they're afraid to lift heavy weights.

If they can't walk the length of themselves without leaking in some way, they're hardly going to go for a run.

We know how important exercise is for our bones, our muscles, our cognitive function.

So you have women in their midlife not doing the things that they physically should be able to do to keep them independent in their older life.

And I've always said I want to be able to wipe my own bottom, tie my own shoelaces and do my own grocery shopping in my 80s.

But I wouldn't be able to do that if I wasn't exercising and using my muscles and my bones and my strength now.

I grew up in Dublin, in Dundrum.

My mum and dad are from the north.