It’s not you, it’s perimenopause

As midlife specialist Jo Ibbott takes over the menopause column, she unpacks the confusion around this significant life event 

As I go into workplaces and talk to people about menopause men are often surprised that women have no idea what is going on for them! The trouble is, we have been left woefully in the dark about this significant life stage. At school we were taught about periods and pregnancy but menopause was never mentioned. Our mothers didn’t talk about it, or, if they did, they told us they ‘sailed’ through it. Menopause isn’t part of the curriculum at medical school so many doctors don’t receive the training they need either. There’s a huge understanding gap, one major result of which is one in ten women leave the workforce due to symptoms and the consequent impact on their emotional, psychological and financial wellbeing. Workplaces are suffering too, as they are losing skilled, talented, experienced women and having to re-recruit and replace, all of which is costly.