| 8 March 2025
To celebrate International Women’s Day, we’re spotlighting some of the wonderful female trailblazers that have, and are, paving the way for women in healthcare.
Jessica Ennis-Hill
Renowned Olympic heptathlon champion, Jessica Ennis-Hill, has transitioned from athletics to women’s health advocacy. She founded the Jennis hormonal health platform, which leverages cutting-edge science to empower women with a deeper understanding of their bodies and hormonal cycles, addressing a long-standing gap in women’s health education.
Tania Boler
As the founder of Elvie, Tania Boler has been instrumental in revolutionising female technology (FemTech). Elvie focusses on developing innovative products that address intimate women’s health issues, breaking taboos and providing practical solutions to enhance women’s well-being.
Andrea Berchowitz and Dr Rebecca Love
Co-founders of Vira Health, Andrea Berchowitz and Dr. Rebecca Love are dedicated to transforming menopause care. Their mission is to make personalised, high-quality menopause support accessible to all women, aiming to improve healthy life expectancy by reducing the prevalence of conditions such as osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and dementia.
Dame Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu
In 1979, she became the UK’s first sickle-cell and thalassemia nurse specialist, co-founding the Brent Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Counselling Centre. Later, she established the Mary Seacole Centre for Nursing Practice, significantly advancing nursing education and patient care for underserved communities. Elizabeth was also a keynote speaker at the 2024 Our Health Heroes!
Virginia Apgar
Virginia Apgar was an American obstetrical anaesthetist who developed the Apgar Score in 1952, a quick and simple way to assess the health of newborns immediately after birth. This scoring system has become a standard practice worldwide, drastically improving neonatal care and reducing infant mortality.
Mary Seacole
Mary Seacole set up the “British Hotel” during the Crimean War, providing comfort and care to sick and wounded soldiers. Despite facing racial prejudice, she used her knowledge of traditional medicine to treat those in need, and her contributions have been increasingly recognised for their impact on nursing and healthcare.
Florence Nightingale
Best known as the founder of modern nursing, Florence led a group of 38 nurses to care for British soldiers wounded in the Crimean War in 1854. Florence Nightingale returned from the Crimean War as a heroine and the Nightingale fund was set up to fund her continued work. By 1860, she had used the donations to establish the world’s first professional nursing school at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. The Nightingale School of Nursing raised the reputation of nursing as a profession and had a global impact with similar schools set up in America, Africa, and Australia.
