大象传媒

A new study has revealed that the majority of women who have undergone treatment for ovarian cancer experience a negative impact on their sex lives, with 77% of women reporting pain and discomfort during sex. Dr Sarah Blagden, Consultant Medical Oncologist at Imperial College and research centre has done the first UK study on 鈥榮exuality and the ovarian cancer survivor鈥�. Dr Blagden discusses the treatments available to ovarian cancer patients experiencing sexual problems and stresses that doctors should routinely ask these women how surgery has impacted on their sex life. In prostate cancer clinics it is standard practice that men are routinely questioned about erectile function, so why when women have undergone ovarian cancer surgery and an abrupt surgical menopause, are they never asked how this affects their sex lives? We also hear from two ovarian cancer survivors who reveal how treatment made sex difficult and how no consultant, at any point, asked them about their sexual wellbeing.

The results of the study will be published today

The Radio 4 Book at Bedtime next week is Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. This widely acclaimed novel has been an inspiration to generations of black women writers, including Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and Zadie Smith. Writer and PhD student at Sheffield University Janine Bradbury joins Jenni Murray to talk about Hurston鈥檚 turbulent life and the lasting appeal of her greatest novel.

Are your looks your destiny? How does your appearance affect your career and how much you earn?聽 Author of Honey Money: Why Attractiveness Is The Key to Success, Catherine Hakim and writer Anna-May Mangan join Jenni Murray to discuss how what you look like and how you dress influences your life.

The idea of commissioning a piece of jewellery sounds like a costly luxury. But it needn鈥檛 be if what is precious to you is not gold, silver, and gems, but perhaps the meaning behind the piece, a life event that it celebrates, or the elegance or excitement of the design, whatever the materials.聽As part of聽a series on commissioning affordable pieces of jewellery, Toby Austin and designer-maker Clara Breen told Judi Herman about their collaboration on a very personal gift for Toby鈥檚 partner Susanne -聽a ring for her 30th birthday. If you have commissioned a piece of affordable jewellery to commemorate an event in your life, do email us with the details.

Mumsnet is ranked number seven on the Woman鈥檚 Hour Power List, and the imminent birth of the royal baby is set to further raise the social and cultural capital of motherhood.聽 But with one in five women childless at 45, what about 鈥楳umsnot鈥�?聽 Journalist Lulu Le Vay asks, 鈥淚f a woman doesn't have any kids, does she have any value?鈥� She joins Jenni to discuss her experience of being made to feel marginalised.