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Laura O Smith
Laura O Smith

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May 24, 2021

Sexual health and dating after breast cancer treatment

“I don’t want my body to behave like it’s in the menopause when I’m in my thirties.” The week before Christmas, Alexa*, had just broken up with her partner. She was upset about her relationship ending when she found a lump in her breast. “I couldn’t quite take it in…

Breast Cancer

9 min read


Apr 22, 2021

Sex and Covid: three stories of how Covid-19 can affect your sex life, for better or worse

Sex and Covid: three stories of how Covid-19 can affect your sex life, for better or worse We know Covid-19 has impacted sex and relationships over the last year. Some couples have struggled to cope with all the extra time in each other’s company. Others have enjoyed more time at…

Long Covid

11 min read

Sex and Covid: three stories of how Covid-19 can affect your sex life, for better or worse
Sex and Covid: three stories of how Covid-19 can affect your sex life, for better or worse

Feb 10, 2021

“What I’m feeling is valid and normal”

What it’s like to be young and aromantic ‘Aromantic’ is a term that is still new for many of us. But for those people who identify as aromantic, or on the aromantic spectrum, this word can be incredibly powerful. I spoke to two young people who identify as aromantic about their experiences of discovering their sexual and romantic…

Aromantic

10 min read

“What I’m feeling is valid and normal”
“What I’m feeling is valid and normal”

Jan 11, 2021

Homeschooling in lockdown — it is worth my relationship with my children?

I lost my dad last year. It was a great shock. Though he was 78, he was fit and healthy, still enthusiastically working and excited by life. His loss was terrifying and deeply, gut-punchingly painful. Yet, with all that was to follow, I can count myself lucky that it happened…

Grief

5 min read


May 28, 2020

Working through menopause

I’m getting to an age when a few of my friends are experiencing symptoms of menopause. For most of them, the onset of hot flushes, sudden memory loss, headaches and night sweats came as a great shock. …

Menopause

10 min read

Working through menopause
Working through menopause

Apr 28, 2020

Do I need to attend cervical screening if I’m queer?

The short answer is yes, if you have a cervix. Cervical screening (sometimes called ‘the smear test’) is a routine check for all women within the screening age group, free on the NHS. In the UK, anyone between the ages of 25 and 64 who has a cervix should go…

Cervical Screening

9 min read

Do I need to attend cervical screening if I’m queer?
Do I need to attend cervical screening if I’m queer?

Apr 28, 2020

What’s it like to get a coil fitted?

A few months ago, I went for my first Mirena coil (or IUS — intrauterine system) fitting at my local GP. …

Mirena

6 min read

What’s it like to get a coil fitted?
What’s it like to get a coil fitted?

Mar 11, 2020

From One to Another

This is a piece I wrote for our wedding ceremony. We got married after a very long engagement and three kids. Lots of people asked why we bothered with a wedding after making such a commitment. This was my attempt at describing what marriage means to me. …

Weddings

2 min read


Mar 11, 2020

Mum and Dad are getting married

I wrote this poem for our wedding. My husband and I were engaged years ago, but decided to have children before a wedding. I’m glad we did — it meant that our children were part of our day, as were those of our friends. …

Weddings

2 min read


Nov 10, 2016

So much blood: what I was doing the day that Trump was elected.

Warning: this contains graphic and intimate descriptions of miscarriage. I’ve just had a miscarriage. I found out I’d lost my baby when it should have been 9 weeks old. It had stopped growing at 7. I opted for a natural miscarriage, having read all the guidance online and spoken to…

Pregnancy

12 min read

Laura O Smith

Laura O Smith

Freelance writer and content designer

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