How The Fabulous Pharmacist wants to end the shame around women's bodies

Ahead of her upcoming Viva la Vulva show in Dublin’s National Concert Hall,  we talk to trailblazing pharmacist Laura Dowling about her mission to end women’s shame about their bodies

Laura Dowling: "There’s a huge gap in education about women’s bodies. Women don’t have the language to talk about them or the knowledge to look after them." Pic: Gareth Chaney

Laura Dowling is shameless. 

Whether traipsing through the streets of Dublin in a Wonder Woman outfit, skiing in a polka-dot bikini, or making snow angels while wearing a dress in the shape of a vulva, she shows no sign of embarrassment. 

Instead, she displays a fierce commitment to her mission to educate women and tear down taboos surrounding the female body.

What drives the 44-year-old mum-of-three from Dublin to do this is the 20 years she spent working as a pharmacist. 

“I’d see women who were mortified about coming to me with recurrent UTI infections, women who were putting up with painful sex, and women who didn’t even know the correct names for their own anatomy,” says Dowling.

Very few knew the word vulva, which is why she highlighted it in the title of her Viva La Vulva tour.

“People might be shocked by the title,” says Dowling. “But why should we shy away from using the proper word? Why are women still referring to their vulva and vagina as ‘down there’? There’s a huge gap in education about women’s bodies. Women don’t have the language to talk about them or the knowledge to look after them. I wanted to do something about that.”

She started by setting up an Instagram account, @fabulouspharmacist, in 2015. 

She has since built up more than 132,000 followers by sharing videos in which she discusses all sorts of topics in her typically frank and forthright fashion. 

One day, she’s talking about her family history of breast cancer and how she checks her body for signs of the disease. 

The next day, she’s discussing what women can learn from Halle Berry’s experience of perimenopause.

Dowling expanded into podcasts in 2022 to dive deeper into some of these topics. 

In each episode of The Laura Dowling Experience, she interviews a guest about their specialist subject. 

Recently, this has meant chatting to the clinical lead of the Complex Menopause Service at the National Maternity Hospital Dr Deirdre Lundy about menopause, fashion stylist and TV presenter Sonya Lennon about body image and confidence, and bariatric surgeon Prof Helen Heneghan about all things related to obesity.

Laura Dowling: "I remember being horrified when I was 10 and first heard about sex from an older girl who lived up the road." Pic: Gareth Chaney

"A massive shift"

Finding straightforward ways to outline and explain women’s health issues is at the heart of Dowling’s mission.

“Most issues are easy to deal with,” she says. “The problem is that women don’t know that help is available or where they can go to get it.”

If Dowling’s approach sounds serious, rest assured that it’s not. She has a zany sense of humour and isn’t afraid to show it. “People don’t listen if you’re boring,” she says. “I think it’s better to laugh while you learn.”

Dowling’s comic side led to her being asked to speak at events. The first one she spoke at was one organised by the team behind Beo Wellness.

“I decided to start by talking about orgasms and sex as a way of making people sit up and listen,” says Dowling. “From there, I went on to talk about other aspects of sexual, vulval, and vaginal health.”

She was a hit and has subsequently given many more talks to women’s groups and corporate audiences, including Amazon and Google.

“You can hear a pin drop in these rooms,” she says. 

“People are shocked when I talk about things like incontinence, but they are interested too. This includes the men who attend. If women don’t know their bodies very well, then imagine how little men know. They often tell me afterwards that I’ve helped them to understand their wives more.”

In breaking the silence that surrounds women’s bodies, Dowling is following in the footsteps of other trailblazing women who have paved the way for her to push the women’s health agenda further forward.

Women like Emma Mhic Mhathúna and Vicky Phelan, who brought the CervicalCheck scandal to public attention. 

Women like Sallyanne Brady, who kickstarted a national conversation on May 5, 2021, when she sent Joe Duffy’s Liveline an email about the lack of support she received during menopause. Thousands of women responded by sharing their stories.

Since then, broadcaster Gráinne Seoige fronted a taboo-busting documentary about menopause. The menopause coach Catherine O’Keeffe set up the annual Menopause Success Summit and Sinéad McNamara and Shell Holden have organised three national menopause summits.

“There’s been a massive shift in our approach to women’s health in recent years and that’s down to the women of this country demanding it,” says Dowling.

Perimenopause and menopause feature prominently at her Viva La Vulva show which is coming to Dublin on May 5.

“There’s still a lack of knowledge out there and women in their mid-to late-40s who present to their GPs with menopausal symptoms are being told they are too young for menopause and sent away with antidepressants instead of HRT,” she says. 

“I don’t want them to feel they have to put up with that, especially when HRT can safely give them the extra hormonal support they need. I want them to have the knowledge they need to advocate for their own health.”

Dowling has her mother to thank for her lack of shame around her body. 

“Mum was a midwife and always encouraged us to talk to her openly,” she says. 

“I remember being horrified when I was 10 and first heard about sex from an older girl who lived up the road, but when I asked Mum, she simply said it like it was. I also had a lovely nun called Sister Rita at school who was very open about periods. They [and other women] taught me that there’s no need for silence about our bodies.”

She hopes her show, which saw sold-out audiences in Galway, Tralee, and Cork, has a similar impact on women. 

“We talk about sex, but we also talk about so much more than that. We discuss all things women’s health, what’s normal, what’s not, and when you need to seek help.”

Laura Dowling: "I cover the symptoms of the most common problems because women need to be able to recognise those symptoms before they seek out the solutions." Pic: Gareth Chaney

Urinary tract infections

Dowling is particularly infuriated by the fact that UTIs account for nearly 25% of all infections in women and that women over 65 have double the infection rate of the female population overall.

“Women don’t realise that vaginal oestrogen can help,” she says. 

“Nor do they know the difference that the right lubricant or HRT can make to painful sex during perimenopause and post-menopause. Women deserve to know what can be done, and I’ll keep shouting about it until they do.”

Pelvic health specialist Aoife Harvey, a guest speaker at the Viva La Vulva show, deals with bladder incontinence and other women’s health issues in her work. 

“Every week, I see women who pee when they exercise, laugh or cough,” says Harvey, a physiotherapist. 

“There are others who have vaginal prolapse (which happens when the pelvic floor muscles overstretch and weaken and no longer hold the vagina in its correct position), constipation, painful intercourse, or vaginismus, which is when the vaginal muscles tighten up of their own accord whenever penetration is attempted, preventing women from having sex.”

These women have often suffered in silence for a significant length of time. 

“Such problems occur in a hidden part of our bodies and are generally considered taboo to talk about,” says Harvey. “We need to talk about them so that women realise there’s plenty they can do to treat these problems.”

Harvey’s talk focuses on the normal function of the bladder, vagina, and bowel. 

“I cover the symptoms of the most common problems because women need to be able to recognise those symptoms before they seek out the solutions,” she says.

Dr Caroline West, an expert in relationships and sexual wellness, is another guest speaker at the event.

“Women have been conditioned to put men’s needs first and not their own,” she says. “I try to help them advocate for their pleasure.”

West acknowledges that this can be more difficult for some, particularly those who have experienced sexual violence.

“Women can overcome the trauma of this and learn to have positive and enriching sexual relationships again,” she says. 

“Also, our relationship with sex and our bodies can change as we age. Nobody should ever feel they have to close the door on their sex lives, no matter what’s happened to them or how old they are.”

To date, these no-holds-barred conversations have had a strong response from female audiences. 

“I had an 88-year-old come to one of the shows with her five daughters,” says Dowling. 

“She said she’d had the best night ever and wished these things were discussed when she was much younger.”

Laura Dowling, in civilian attire: "I’m looking forward to being in a room full of women of all ages and having open and honest conversations about all things women’s health." Pic: Gareth Chaney

Wholesome wellness

Dowling’s three sons, however, aren’t quite as enamoured of their mother’s antics. 

Aged 11, 13, and 15, they have grown up with plush vulva hand puppets lying around the house.

“They’re quite embarrassed really,” says Dowling. “After all, who wants to hear their mother talking about vaginas and vulvas? But I try to keep them away from the public side of it and never show them on social media. The upside for them is that they’ll be well versed in the female body when they’re older.”

Alongside raising three boys and educating and empowering women about their health, Dowling runs a food supplement business called Fabu.

“In the pharmacy, I’d see how confused people were about supplements, and because I’d learned about the benefits of botanicals and was good at chemistry, I decided to formulate my own, merging ancient wisdom with contemporary Western medicine,” she says. “The business now employs five people who produce supplements for immunity, gut health, brain health, skin, relaxation, perimenopause, and menopause.”

Right now, though, Dowling’s focus is on her upcoming show. “I’m looking forward to being in a room full of women of all ages and having open and honest conversations about all things women’s health,” she says.

“We’ll talk about all sorts of taboo topics with plenty of entertainment, fun, and laughter along the way. Bring your friends, mums, grannies, sisters, daughters, or anyone who has a vulva.”

• Viva la Vulva tickets cost €75. To book, see www.nch.ie/all-events-listing/viva-la-vulva

Pic: iStock

Five things to know about women’s sexual health

1. The type of sexual lubricant you use matters. 

“You need to be careful what kind of lube you use,” says pharmacist Laura Dowling. 

“A lot of the brands on the market are for men, not for women, and they contain glycerine, which is a type of sugar alcohol that can suck moisture out of the vagina. This can be detrimental to vaginal health as we get older. Choose a lube that’s made for women.”

2. Vaginismus, the condition where a woman’s vaginal muscles tighten up of their own accord whenever penetration is attempted, making penetrative sex impossible, is far more common than you think. 

“Of the 20 to 30 clients I see every week, four or five of them suffer from this condition,” says pelvic health specialist Aoife Harvey. 

“It really impacts their sex lives and prevents them from doing things like going for a smear test. But it is possible to treat.”

3. It’s worth having a look at your vulva. 

“I dare women to get a mirror out and to take a good look,” says Harvey. 

“You need to get familiar with it so that you will notice any changes that might happen throughout your life. If you don’t know what normal is, how are you going to be able to spot signs of things like prolapse or vulval cancer?”

4. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can make a huge difference in alleviating the symptoms of perimenopause.

“From brain fog and hot flushes to vaginal dryness, these symptoms are caused by the hormonal changes that women experience at this stage of their lives,” says Dowling.

“HRT can rebalance a woman’s hormones and it’s been proven to be safe for the vast majority of women.”

5. Vaginal prolapse doesn’t just affect women who have had vaginal births. 

They are at higher risk and that risk increases with subsequent births. However, women are also at risk as they approach menopause and if they are overweight.

“But there’s plenty that can be done,” says Harvey. “Pelvic floor exercises and pessaries work in most cases.”