There is a freight train coming at all of us… and its rhymes with shmenopause. It’s not a sexy topic, but it’s relevant to this community...

It strikes me as odd, as I approach my mid-forties, that while I was fairly well prepared for puberty (“here’s a pad… you can have babies now”) and inundated with books, classes and resources when I was pregnant with my children (Birth with confidence! Birth from within! Hypnobirthing!), as I approach the third and most-significant hormonal shift of my life, I’ve heard nothing. It’s crickets. 

Given that half the population go through this, and it’s by most expert’s estimations a huge adjustment and at times debilitating, it seems odd that women are not briefed on what’s to come or shown much compassion. For the 70 percent of women who experience moderate to severe symptoms, it impacts work and career considerably. Dare I say, if the other half of the population went through this we’d know all about it.

Recently, a study in Australia found that 83 percent of respondents who experienced menopause said it negatively affected their work, but 70 percent would not feel comfortable talking to their manager. Not surprising, given that until the pandemic forced us to work from home, and videos of toddlers with cabin-fever invaded our workspace—sometimes on national television—we barely acknowledged people had children at work. And I don’t know anyone who would ask to reschedule a meeting until next week due to heavy flow and a thumping headache. 

In part, that’s on us. Most women, this writer included, would rather white-knuckle through all of this than admit we a little leeway. I heard an interesting perspective the other day from a woman on the other side of all this, that really stuck: it was that we see pain and our bodies as being inextricably linked. From as early as 10, many of us have abdominal pain and aching breasts for at least one week a month. Our moods and energy-levels can plummet. We loathe our own reflections. Then we have babies, which doesn’t tickle. Sex can hurt sometimes too, even when it’s good. And when we get to our late forties and early fifties, menopause starts. By now, we are almost resigned to it. So when we experience a dramatic drop in oestrogen… and the symptoms include heavy periods, low mood, increased anxiety, difficulty sleeping, brain fog and joint pain, most of us just soldier on. And chalk it up to our body doing what it’s always done: cause pain. 

So should we there be compensation for this at work? I honestly don’t know. I can guess what women the generation or two above me, known for their stoicism, might say: ‘What utter nonsense. We battled through it, so should you.’ But I wonder: are we getting to the point where just battling through doesn’t cut it?  The truth is that women leave the workforce in droves when they hit this stage, unable to keep juggling the workload with the debilitating impact of this hormonal shift, which ultimately does pass and stabilise. 

In London a few years ago, British broadcaster Channel 4 caused quite a stir by prioritising women’s health, and announcing it would offer its female employees flexible working arrangements, tailored work spaces and even paid leave if they experienced menopause symptoms. They created a private and cool space to help someone having hot flashes, and a human resources employee was appointed “menopause champion.” 

At the time, the company’s chief executive, Alex Mahon, said that “this is Channel 4 living its remit, normalising a taboo subject by making it more visible.” Upon reading this I immediately googled whether Alex was female: Yes she is, and also the first woman to be a chief executive in Channel 4’s 37-year history. It’s quite significant, because while we’ve seen breastfeeding rooms and pads in the toilet, rarely is anything done to accomodate women going through this specific change.

Should all workplaces follow suit? Given that I have a mortgage that won’t be paid off until I’m 75 (true story), I don’t want to have to leave the workforce at 50 because it doesn’t leave space for this upheaval. Perhaps it’s time we try something new. By workplaces talking about women’s health more, perhaps there will be less secrecy and shame. Perhaps more women will stay. And we know we’ll be all the better for it.

Have you signed up for our Australian menopause summit on Friday July 23rd at 930am AEST?

We’ll be hosting our virtual summit, in proud partnership with QV Skincare. A brand which like AllBright, wants to reframe the conversation around menopause.

We have an incredible panel of speakers lined up:  Faith Agugu, the founder of Silver Sirens; Dr Ginni Mansberg, a celebrity doctor and author of The M Word; and Belinda Kerr, a midwife who has experienced early menopause.

Sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au