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A survey by Gallup and Pivotal, a group founded by Melinda French Gates, found 51% of women report being minimized, misdiagnosed or ignored by healthcare providers, compared with 39% of men. Women are also far more likely to have to advocate for their own care and to delay treatment because of family responsibilities.
A new survey conducted by public opinion firm Gallup and Pivotal, a group of organizations founded by philanthropist Melinda French Gates, found that 51% of women report having been minimized, misdiagnosed, or ignored by healthcare providers, compared with 39% of men. The findings point to a persistent gender gap in how patients experience medical care, with women also reporting they must advocate for themselves at far higher rates and more often delay care because of family responsibilities.
According to the report, 42% of women said they had to advocate for their own health over the past five years, compared with 26% of men. The gap extends to daily life: 42% of women, versus 35% of men, said their health had kept them from doing everything they wanted to do in life during that period.
The disparities were pronounced among mothers. Women with children were more likely than women without children to report skipping or delaying healthcare because of family responsibilities — 18% versus 12%. Melinda French Gates told Motherly that one in six women surveyed said they had delayed their own care because they needed to spend that time caring for their families. “That’s a stark reminder that, for women, giving care and getting care are deeply connected, and that, as a country, we need to do better for women on both fronts,” Gates said.
The report’s findings align with clinicians’ accounts. Jennifer Gularson, a board-certified physician assistant at the Osteopathic Center for Healing in Maryland, said many female patients arrive after seeing multiple clinicians without answers. “By the time many women come to me, they’ve already seen two or three clinicians looking for answers,” she said. “A lot of them have been dealing with symptoms for months, even years, and still don’t have a clear explanation for what’s happening to them.”
Why the Gender Gap Harms Mothers Most
The report suggests the consequences of dismissal fall hardest during the postpartum period. Gularson said postpartum symptoms are frequently written off: “Exhaustion, anxiety, not feeling like you’re yourself, it all gets written off as ‘that’s just having a baby.'” That pattern carries real risk — according to figures cited in the report, more than 67% of pregnancy-related deaths occur after the day of birth, with the vast majority happening between one week and one year postpartum.
Delays and misdiagnosis also compound for mothers, who the survey shows already face logistical barriers to getting to appointments. Psychotherapist Kara Kushnir, founder of A Work of Heart Counseling in New Jersey, said many mothers become discouraged by the healthcare system. “Moms find themselves exhausted, navigating a system that feels like a confusing web full of red tape, so many give up,” she said.
A Legacy of Understudying Women’s Health
The gender gap in patient experience has deep structural roots. Women were routinely overlooked or excluded from clinical trials for much of modern medical history; it was not until 1993 that the U.S. Congress passed a law requiring the inclusion of women in clinical research.
“Women’s health has been understudied for a long time, and that shapes both the evidence we have and how clinicians are trained,” Gularson said. She pointed to perimenopause and menopause as examples, noting many clinicians received little training on this stage of life. Symptoms such as poor sleep, anxiety, brain fog, joint pain, low libido, and irregular periods may be connected, but clinicians without that training often address each complaint separately or tell patients everything looks normal — experiences that lead women to feel minimized.
Kushnir also noted that implicit bias persists, including the historical dismissal of women’s health concerns as “hysteria,” and said the effect is especially pronounced for women of color.
“One in six women in our survey said they’ve had to delay their own care because they needed to spend that time caring for their families. That’s a stark reminder that, for women, giving care and getting care are deeply connected, and that, as a country, we need to do better for women on both fronts.”
— Melinda French Gates, founder of Pivotal, speaking to Motherly
What the Survey Does Not Show
The findings are based on self-reported patient experiences, not clinical audits of diagnoses, so they measure how patients perceive their care rather than verified rates of diagnostic error. The exact sample size, methodology, and fielding dates of the Gallup-Pivotal survey were not detailed in the initial reporting. It is also unclear from the report how rates of dismissal vary across specific conditions, insurance status, geography, or race beyond the general note that women of color are especially affected. The postpartum death statistic is drawn from broader maternal mortality data, and its direct relationship to provider dismissal was not established by the survey itself.
Pushes for Better Training and Patient Advocacy
Clinicians quoted in the report called for better training on women’s health, particularly around perimenopause, menopause, and perinatal mental health, so providers can recognize clusters of connected symptoms rather than treating complaints in isolation. Advocates also encourage patients to speak up directly when they feel dismissed — telling a provider “I feel like you’re dismissing what I’m telling you” — and to seek second opinions or specialists, such as perinatal mental health providers, when symptoms persist. Broader efforts by Pivotal and affiliated organizations to expand women’s health research and access are expected to continue, though specific policy initiatives following this report have not yet been announced.
Key Questions
Who conducted the survey on women’s experiences with healthcare providers?
The survey was conducted by the public opinion firm Gallup together with Pivotal, a group of organizations founded by philanthropist Melinda French Gates.
How much more likely are women than men to report being minimized or misdiagnosed?
According to the report, 51% of women said they had been minimized, misdiagnosed, or ignored by a healthcare provider, compared with 39% of men — a gap of 12 percentage points.
Why are postpartum women at particular risk of being dismissed?
Clinicians say postpartum symptoms such as exhaustion and anxiety are frequently attributed to normal adjustments to parenthood. According to figures cited in the report, more than 67% of pregnancy-related deaths occur after the day of birth, most between one week and one year postpartum. Anyone experiencing persistent postpartum anxiety or depression should discuss symptoms with a healthcare provider.
What should a patient do if they feel their symptoms are being dismissed?
Clinicians quoted in the report recommend naming the experience directly — telling the provider “I feel like you’re dismissing what I’m telling you” — asking questions, requesting follow-up, and seeking a second opinion or a specialist if symptoms continue without explanation.
Are the survey findings based on verified diagnostic errors?
No. The findings reflect self-reported patient experiences over the past five years, not clinical reviews of diagnoses. They show how patients perceive their care rather than independently confirmed misdiagnosis rates.
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