'I'm in pain the whole time': Vaginal mesh survivor Margaret

Margaret Byrne at Leinster House for an Oireachtas health committee hearing on vaginal meshes. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos

Twenty-two years and eight surgeries after she had a vaginal mesh inserted, Margaret Byrne is in pain every day.

The mesh had been seen as a better solution to pelvic organ prolapse  and urinary incontinence than the traditional approaches. Instead, it has led to thousands of women suffering decades of pain, incontinence, and tears in their bladder or bowel.