A young woman's TikTok video about the extraordinary waitlists for Kiwi women with gynecological issues has gone viral.
Vanessa Hirschmann was told she'd need to wait a whole year for surgery to fix a painful issue with an IUD.
The 22-year-old was put on the form of birth control to help ease pain from suspected endometriosis, but explained in her TikTok video how the device was now upside down and "lost inside".
She was admitted to hospital in a bad way, but then told there was nothing anyone could do but put her on a waitlist for surgery.
Venting her frustration online has gained more than 600 comments from other Kiwi women who say they're in similar situations.
"I wasn't expecting so many women to be able to relate to my situation or know women who have experienced the same thing I am. I was told that it was a very, very rare case for something like this to happen," Hirschmann told AM on Monday.
"Honestly, I'm just really disappointed at the amount of comments who have experienced a medical system undermining their pain and conditions.
"I mean, I feel like I speak for all of those women who have gone through the same thing when all I say is we just want a solution for us - our lives don't stop because we're in pain, our bosses don't understand that it's years' worth of trying to fight to be heard."
Hirschmann said she was currently in pain and has been for years.
"One day I got rushed to hospital and I thought 'they're gonna help me, I'm in so much pain, someone has to help me' and although I was in pain and they managed that while I was there, they just said that there was nothing they could do and they would just put me on a list with hundreds of other Kiwi girls who had the exact same problem and that I just had to live with the pain."
Following sharing her story, Hirschmann said she'd been inundated with hundreds of people getting in touch - not just from TikTok, but all parts of her life.
She said it was "disappointing" to learn so many others were going through the same struggle and "why none of us seem to be getting any help".
Health NZ/Te Whatu Ora told AM in a statement it acknowledged the distress current waitlists may have caused to those waiting for treatment.
The statement goes on to say health services continue to experience significant pressures due to sustained high levels of acute demand and workforce shortages which was having an impact on planned care.
The agency said the primary focus was on urgent patients and those waiting the longest for treatment.
