With the so-called #MenopauseRevolution Bill getting its Second Reading in Parliament today, Folk Features asks those who make menopause their business – including someone at Parliament Square today – what they think of the prospect of better support and services
Janette Sarginson, Founder of Mind Body & Menopause:
I have been in Parliament square today when the Menopause Bill was read out in Parliament. What I would like to see is for all women to be able to access support and advice from the NHS and free HRT on prescription. Education for the younger generation and for Menopause no longer to be a taboo subject.
Kathy Payne, Registered Nutritional Therapist, BA(Hons), dipION, mBANT, CNHC:
My view is that women should be served by healthcare professionals who are well trained to serve their specific needs. In my field as a registered Nutritional Therapist, I teach women how to take care of themselves through diet and lifestyle change for better health, hormone balance and happiness because there is much we can do ourselves. I also believe that we should have informed choice in healthcare including access to sound, balanced information on HRT, so that we can choose what’s best for us. If we choose HRT, I think it should be free or at very least subsidised. Peri menopausal and menopausal women are the backbone of many families and contribute so much to our workplaces, enterprises and society. It’s time our needs were better met for everyone’s sake and that menopause is a topic we openly and unashamedly discuss.
Jessica Barnard, Founder of The Hormone Hub:
The support for women is terrible with many having to seek out private help. I struggled and was prescribed antidepressants. This made me set up a closed Facebook group. I invited around 15 menopause experts around Norfolk who could offer women, like me, support which wasn’t just for the well off. The cost of HRT can be very expensive, even on the NHS. I required two hormone types, so for me HRT is £18.70 each time.
Tracey Tait, Founder of the Menopause Training Company:
‘It’s so good that menopause is being discussed in the House of Commons, and to hear Carolyn Harris MP and others talk so openly and emotionally about it highlights the importance of this Bill. Change is long overdue. Let’s not just talk about menopause but be sure there’s help, support, compassion and empathy for those that struggle with their symptoms both psychological and physical, where and when they need it.’
Emily Barclay, Menopause Educator at Menowhaat and Founder of the Perimenopause Hub:
I am so glad the subject of HRT prescription costs is finally being debated in Parliament (and even happier that great progress seems to be being made). Of course, this is just one part of the bigger picture of what needs to change around the whole subject of menopause.
The women in my FB group, and those who access my website, regularly complain of not being heard by their doctor, of being dismissed, of being told they’re “too young” and much more. I am so glad that the topic of prescription costs has finally been addressed but I am still waiting for the day when women can be offered HRT by their doctor in much the way that they would be offered other medications, rather than having to really labour their case.
Sam Grainger (Free the Mind) Hypnotherapist specialising in Menopause Symptoms & woman going through menopause:
Cutting the cost of HRT prescriptions is one step further forward in improving services for women living with menopause symptoms. The symptoms are challenging, and women have found it hard to be heard. I see women who are really struggling with little or no support. The Bill brings the problem to the fore now, but let’s hope this positive trend continues.
Miranda Ellis, of Miranda Ellis Coaching:
I do hope this Bill will be taken seriously as these improvements are much needed and long overdue. I support professional women in mid-life who are often facing very difficult physical and emotional challenges that are a direct consequence of the menopause. The lack of support in the workplace and from healthcare providers is frankly woeful in the 21st century. It’s an inequality that affects half the population and needs to be addressed urgently.
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