BBC bosses sniggered at my menopause, says broadcaster Jackie
VETERAN newsreader Jackie Bird yesterday criticised male BBC bosses who ‘sniggered’ after she revealed she had begun to suffer from the menopause.
The Reporting Scotland host, 56, also hit out at the NHS for failing to offer enough support for women with symptoms.
She told BBC Radio Scotland’s Mornings show that for the past five years she has been plagued by hot sweats and psychological issues, including confusion and a loss of confidence.
When Miss Bird suggested that the BBC carry a series of programmes about menopause, she said the idea was shot down by male bosses who ‘don’t get it’.
Her comments came on World Menopause Day – and on the same day that South Lanarkshire Council became the first local authority in the world to launch a ‘menopause policy’ for staff.
Employees now have the right to desk fans and strolls to combat hot flushes, counselling to help with anxiety and flexible working for those with sleep deprivation.
Menopause ‘changes your life in ways you can never imagine’, Miss Bird told Mornings host Stephen Jardine yesterday.
She said: ‘You’re not warned about it, you’re not warned that slowly you can lose all of your confidence, you don’t feel like you, your head is in a fog. Those are the psychological aspects of it, but another side, of course, is when you have the hot flushes and you have the embarrassment of that and a whole load of other symptoms.
‘Everyone should stand up and talk about it.
‘I’m now 56 but I started going through this at 51. As soon as I realised how big a thing it was, I went to the bosses of Radio Scotland and I said, “Look, I’m fairly high profile and I really think we should have a radio series on this or at least a few programmes”.
‘A couple of senior male bosses, who shall remain nameless, had a little snigger and I never heard from them again.
‘I’m not trying to advance my career on this, but I’m saying that maybe this is indicative of the problem. How many series about pregnancy do you hear? Lots and lots. How many series on menopause pointing the way for women? It’s just not there.’
Mother-of-two Miss Bird, of Glasgow, also criticised the lack of NHS advice available.
She said: ‘A couple of weeks ago things got so bad I phone-bashed for a day and all I could find in West Central Scotland was the Sandyford Clinic.
‘So I phoned at work, hiding in a corner, and they said, “You are call number 29 in the queue”. I waited a while and it wasn’t going down so I bombed off at lunchtime and went to the Sandyford, and they said we can see you in March.
‘I said, “I will have killed someone by then”, and then I was stuck.’
Miss Bird eventually found help from a gynaecologist in Dumfries – but said attitudes must change.
She said: ‘It’s that loss of confidence, it’s that high anxiety.
‘You’re lost for words, you feel you can’t speak because the normal words that are in your grasp are lost in this fog.
‘I’m not blaming workplaces here but I do think the more we talk
‘You can lose all of your confidence’ ‘Has to be taken more seriously’
about it . . . then perhaps men who don’t get it, who don’t get the depth of change, understandably, would perhaps be more understanding.’
Miss Bird also praised and congratulated South Lanarkshire Depute Provost Collette Stevenson, who was fundamental in pushing through the policy.
She added: ‘It has to be taken more seriously ... we have to normalise it. It’s completely normal.’
A BBC Scotland spokesman said: ‘Our policy is that every proposal should be considered carefully with appropriate feedback given.
‘This is a subject covered in our output. Last year BBC Scotland commissioned a documentary on the menopause, presented by Kirsty Wark, which was shown in Scotland and the rest of UK.’