Blessing Kumba
Women's Health Awareness & Educational content developer
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The Month of May was Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month.
What is maternal mental health?
Maternal mental health refers to the emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the period that follows.
It encompasses the full spectrum of a woman’s mental experience as she navigates the physical and relational demands that come with reproductive life, including conditions like depression, anxiety, and trauma that can emerge or intensify during this season.
But maternal mental health is broader than the postpartum window.
It includes how women cope with infertility, pregnancy loss, and the grief that accompanies a body that does not respond the way it was expected to.
It includes the psychological toll of chronic reproductive illness, the conditions that shape a woman’s relationship with her body long before pregnancy, and long after.
There is a dimension of maternal and women’s mental health that rarely gets named directly.
Not the baby blues.
Not postpartum anxiety.
Something more invisible. The mental load.
Eve Rodsky’s Fair Play research documented what many women already know in their bodies: the invisible labour of managing a household, a family, a relationship, the endless cognitive task of holding everything in your head so nothing falls through the gaps. Now add a chronic gynecological condition to that equation.
Add endometriosis.
Add adenomyosis.
Add fibroids.
Suddenly, the mental load isn’t just domestic. It’s compounded.
*It’s tracking appointments and test results
*Preparing for specialist consultations.
*Researching treatments while managing pain.
*Explaining your symptoms again and again.
*Monitoring your cycle, your triggers & your flares.
*Managing others’ discomfort with your condition while managing your own
& doing all of this while your body is already in pain.
This is what I call chronic illness-related mental load and it is one of the most under-addressed dimensions of chronic gynecological illness.
It doesn’t appear on any symptom checklist. It isn’t discussed at most appointments.But it is exhausting, it is real, and left unaddressed, it amplifies both physical symptoms and grief.
The cognitive weight of managing a chronic condition is not a personality trait.
It is not anxiety.
It is not overthinking.
It is the predictable result of living in a system that asks women to endure, to organize, to advocate, and to keep functioning, even when their bodies are in pain. It is the mental load of survival.
If you are carrying this, you are not imagining it and you are not alone.
#MaternalMentalHealth
#EndometriosisAdvocacy #AdenomyosisAdvocacy #FibroidsAdvocacy #ChronicIllnessAdvocacy #AcheCompass
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Normal Results. Abnormal Pain. And Years of Looking for Answers.
I spent 22 years going from hospital to hospital, being told my test results were normal, and searching for answers until I finally received a diagnosis of Endometriosis, Ovarian Endometrioma, and Uterine Fibroids that explained what my body had been going through.
For more than two decades, my body was struggling, but the health care system kept marking me as “normal” and sending me home.
This is not just my story.
Many women living with gynaecological conditions wait years before they receive answers.
Some are told their pain is normal. Others are told their scans look fine. Many continue to push through symptoms that affect their bodies, emotions, relationships, education, careers, and daily life.
A “normal” test result does not always mean a healthy body.
*When symptoms persist,
*when pain keeps returning,
*when something feels wrong,
*women deserve to be heard, properly assessed, and taken seriously.
Finding answers sooner, raising awareness, and improving understanding can change lives.
If you are living with Endometriosis or any other gynaecological Conditions,
How long did it take before you got answers ?
Share your experience in the comments.
#Endometriosis #Endometrioma #Adenomyosis #UterineFibroids #ChronicPain #AcheCompass #WomensHealth #InvisibleIllness
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Learning to Navigate Pain, Not Just Endure It
I know what it means to carry pain that no one else can see.
For most of my life, I didn’t just experience pain, I had to learn how to live inside it. Not only physical pain, but the kind that affects the body, emotions, and mind all at once.
I’m Blessing Kumba. For over 28 years, I’ve lived with Endometriosis and related gynecological issues, experiencing firsthand how chronic pain, emotional and mental overLoad can collide and reshape everyday life.
Out of this journey, I created Ache Compass™ - a women’s health awareness, advocacy, and educational platform built around a self-guided navigation support framework for Endometriosis, Adenomyosis, Uterine Fibroids, Chronic Illness Grief, and Mental Load.
It is not about fixing you.
It is about supporting yourself within the complexity of pain and resilience.
What You'll Find Here
Here, I share reflections from lived experience alongside educational and awareness information drawn from reputable experts, research, and public health sources. This includes content designed to help individuals better understand and navigate complex gynaecological conditions and their wider impact on daily life.
You will find:
My personal experiences living with Endometriosis, Endometrioma, and other gynaecological health challenges.
Stories, experiences, and perspectives shared by other women navigating similar journeys.
3•Advocacy, awareness, and self-guided support posts, articles, and resources relating to:
Endometriosis
Adenomyosis
Uterine Fibroids
Chronic illness-related grief
Chronic illness-related mental load and emotional strain
4• Educational notes, research-informed insights, and awareness information drawn from healthcare professionals, researchers, and reputable public health sources.
5•Conversations about the realities of living with chronic gynaecological conditions, including pain, diagnosis delays, treatment experiences, relationships, work, family life, emotional wellbeing, and resilience.
*Through lived experience, advocacy, awareness initiatives, educational content, and self-guided resources, I aim to bring visibility to conditions and experiences that are often misunderstood, dismissed, or left unspoken.
Women's Health
#Endometriosis Advocacy
Adenomyosis Advocacy
Fibroids
chronic pain
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I am the Founder and Lead Advocate of Ache Compass™.
Ache Compass is a women’s health awareness, advocacy, and educational platform built around a self-guided navigation support framework for Endometriosis, Adenomyosis, Uterine Fibroids, Chronic Illness Grief, and Mental Load.
It is not about fixing you.
It is about supporting yourself within the complexity of pain and resilience.
My work centres on three interconnected areas:
Chronic Pain & Gynaecological Health
Including Endometriosis, Adenomyosis, Uterine Fibroids, and the practical realities of living with chronic pain and invisible illness.
Chronic Illness Grief & Loss
Including illness-related grief, bereavement, changes in identity, disrupted plans, and the losses that often accompany long-term health conditions.
Mental Load & Emotional Strain
Including overwhelm, decision fatigue, emotional burden, and the invisible work of navigating illness, caregiving responsibilities, work, family life, and everyday demands.
Through lived experience, advocacy, awareness initiatives, educational content, writing, and self-guided support resources, I aim to bring visibility to experiences that are often misunderstood, dismissed, or left unspoken.
Drawing on 28 years of lived experience navigating Endometriosis and its physical, emotional, and cognitive impacts, I share reflections from lived experience alongside educational and awareness information informed by reputable research, expert sources, and public health information.
Through Ache Compass™, I contribute to conversations around:
• Endometriosis
• Adenomyosis
• Uterine Fibroids
• Chronic Illness Grief & Loss
• Mental Load & Emotional Strain
• Women's Health Awareness
• Chronic Pain & Invisible Illness
My goal is to foster understanding, encourage informed conversations, and share educational and awareness resources, as well as self-guided support materials, that help individuals better understand and navigate gynaecological conditions, related chronic illness grief and mental load, and their wider impacts on daily life.
Background & Expertise
• M.Sc (http://M.Sc). Forensic/Correctional Psychology
• B.Sc (http://B.Sc). Psychology
• 28 Years of Lived Experience Navigating Endometriosis
I believe people deserve language, understanding, visibility, and practical tools to help them navigate the invisible burdens they carry.
I am open to collaborations, awareness initiatives, speaking engagements, content partnerships, and community engagement opportunities.
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