It’s time to take the M word more seriously

MeNOPAUSe. There, I’ve said it. Big deal, you might think, but for many women it really is. Yet while you cannot move on social media for Mummy blogs revealing ‘the truth about pregnancy’ or escape TV shows about childbirth, the menopause is woefully under-represented in mainstream society.

To be honest, I’ve seen more documentaries about garden sheds – remarkable, really, given it’s an issue which will eventually affect half of the population. Yet if women talk about it, they do so in private and in whispers. We never hear the end of MumsNet, but what about a MenopauseNet?

So full marks to BBC Scotland’s Jackie Bird, who this week spoke out about her own experiences of the menopause, and the short shrift she received from her superiors when she suggested a radio series on the issue.

‘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 maybe this is indicative of the problem.’

Well, quite. For many women, the menopause is debilitating and disorientating. Bird talked about how she felt her head was in a fog, that she had lost her self-confidence and suffered from anxiety. Then there are all the physical problems such as hot flushes, night sweats, weight gain and sleep problems. A walk in the park it is not.

And yet such is the dearth of information and discussion, few women are prepared for what’s heading their way, only to find themselves the subject of sniggering when it arrives. ‘You’re not warned about it,’ said Bird. ‘everyone should stand up and talk about it.’ And she’s quite right. Why is it that women are supposed to just… get on with it? Keep quiet and carry on? Call me a cynic, but if men went through the menopause then, good god, we’d never hear the end of it.

Support is limited, and often unreachable. Bird says that last month she went to the only place in west central Scotland offering a menopause clinic, only to be told she couldn’t get an appointment until next March. She eventually resorted to a place in dumfries. dumfries! The woman lives in glasgow.

Things are changing, albeit slowly. On World Menopause day, earlier this week, South Lanarkshire Council became the first local authority in the world to launch a ‘menopause policy’ for staff, meaning that 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.

THAT the policy was pushed through by a woman, South Lanarkshire depute Provost Collette Stevenson, is unsurprising. That it is the first such policy of its kind worldwide, however, is astonishing.

But even more than understanding employers and bosses who ‘get it’, what women really need is to be heard. To be able to discuss their concerns with each other, and listen to others talk about them, too, whether that’s on the TV, online or in newspaper columns like this one. The menopause needs to be normalised, not hidden away in a cupboard like something to be ashamed of.

And I, for one, am sick of hearing about garden sheds.