Voices breaking the menopause taboo.... a chat with Louise Minchin

I recently had the opportunity to chat to the wonderful Louise Minchin, the BBC journalist and broadcaster. She has played a pivotal role in raising awareness of the menopause in the UK through her work with BBC Breakfast. We talked about her menopause journey, how it felt to speak publicly about it, and why she believes that the experience has given her superpowers.

At Peppy, we seize the opportunities that present themselves. Louise was talking at an event hosted by the Rewards and Employee Benefits Association (REBA). Max Landry, one of the Peppy co-founders, jumped into the lift with her and within just a few seconds of telling her about Peppy, persuaded her to have a chat with me. Here is what followed..

?MP: Thank you so much for speaking to us, Louise. Given you that you have been one of the most well-known public figures to talk openly about your menopause experience, we were thrilled to hear that my colleague Max chased you into a lift to ask for an interview! 

First off, what was your perception of menopause before you started to experience it yourself? What were the symptoms you personally experienced?

LM: Prior to going through it, my knowledge of menopause was pretty much zero. I had assumed that I might get something called the menopause one day when I was about 55 and that it might result in hot sweats and feeling flushed. But really, I had no idea of the overall physical and psychological effects. I was ignorant and remained so for quite some time, even when I was going through it myself. I only realized what was going on when I talked to a GP friend, I can't even remember what I was talking to her about, perhaps feeling anxious and getting heart palpitations and she put two and two together. She asked if I thought I might be going through the menopause? I thought this is ridiculous, I am only 47 and I'm not going to get menopause now. She suggested I get checked out, and so I did.

I'm now 51, so that's some time ago, but I continued to be pretty ignorant about the symptoms of menopause, until we did our piece on BBC breakfast. We listed the 34 symptoms, and I suddenly realised that I've got maybe 25 of them!

MP: As you say most of us just don’t know very much about this, perhaps because of the taboo. Why did you decide to discuss your experience publicly and was that a difficult decision?

LM: So, the reason I did it, first of all, was that I knew I was having menopausal symptoms, which might affect me in the studio. If I'm getting hotter than most people, I needed to be able to explain why that is, that I have a medical condition and am not just being fussy. I needed the studio to be cooler. I effectively "outed" myself at work and was pretty well supported. At a similar time, we were noticing that whenever we did a menopause story or even just touched on the subject, we were getting a huge response from our audiences.

So, I kept saying to one of my planning editors that we really should do something on menopause. After about a year of discussing she scheduled a whole week focusing on it, to give it enough time to both explore in depth and to blow up the taboo, to talk about stuff that is just not talked about. And she then came to me and said, well, of course, you know, if you tell your story, that's going to make it much more powerful. So, I took a deep breath, knowing there is a whole lot of stuff that people say. There's a fear that people might write you off. It also happened at a particular time when I had come off HRT and was in a slightly vulnerable state, so I could describe in a very raw way that I was not feeling myself. I was uncomfortable in my body then and I don’t think I would be able to do the same interview again now. I genuinely could not describe to you how I felt in that moment. But luckily, I did it then as it meant I was seen in a way that people, not just women, were like, “Oh my gosh, that is what my loved one, my wife, my mum, myself is going through”. But I didn't do it lightly, I felt like I was jumping off the edge of the cliff, not knowing if I was going to land on a trampoline or on the floor. It was amazing and I'm really glad I got to do it.

To start the conversation on BBC One, watched by six and a half million viewers was brilliant. We completely explored it and took all the questions from the audience, who responded so positively, which was really important to me.

MP: That was actually going to be my next question! How was the response to you personally? From my point of view, that BBC breakfast covered the menopause really did feel like a game changer. We saw people begin to discuss this in workplaces, it had a massive impact. Were there any stories that came to you as a result of that week that you found particularly striking?

LM: Yeah! I still get them, I had a call last week from someone I know who was in a desperate state, struggling with work and with life, and she called me because I had talked about the menopause publicly. It has been great to see organisations like Menopause Matters launch and to see the poster campaigns, sharing menopausal symptoms. People making connections and the conversation is changing and that is really inspiring. I have been struck by the number of men who have made contact, to share what their loved ones are going through, and to explain that is happening to people everywhere, it was really rewarding actually in a completely unexpected way as well. 

MP: Fantastic, and thank you, Louise, you have played a massive role in changing the landscape around this topic, as has the BBC more broadly. What kind of responsibility do you think media has for the making these kinds of changes? 

LM: I think the main responsibility is to provide more information and to normalise the topic. Menopause should be something that can easily be talked about anywhere. It affects half of the world!  We need to be able to have these discussions in non-cliched terms, then it can be empowering. And you know, it's not the end of life, it's a change and I think it can be a positive change as well. So yeah, I think we need to embrace it and not be frightened by it.

MP: It sounds like you had a supportive response from the team around you. How important do you think it is for employers to support women?

LM: Yes that was important for me. More generally, I think it is really important that employers support people when they are vulnerable, the menopause is just an example of this, albeit one that affects 50% of the world! I am hearing really positive stories from employers like Manchester police who, following the work of Helen Smith, have proactively approached menopause.

What can make menopause particularly challenging is that it can occur at a point in life when you have multiple responsibilities – dealing with teenagers, elderly parents, holding down a job, potentially at the top of the career ladder – all of which can add to the stresses of dealing with major hormone changes.

To lose women at this stage would be a terrible to workplaces. Small things can make a big difference to people and communicating openly is a good start. 

MP: We hear the same, that little things can make a massive difference, depending on the setting and the workforce.

LM:  Absolutely, the key is for people to be able to feel confident to discuss the things that will help them be the best they can be. There needs to be a culture where people can be open without feeling like they're going to be penalized. Actually, for me I think my superpower has been being menopausal!

MP: I love it! I am definitely including that quote!

LM: Please do! Because the way it has affected me has meant that I literally don't care what people think and that is a superpower sometimes. Just yesterday, someone came up to me and asked do I get worried about speaking out. Th answer is no, I really don't. I will talk about it to anyone in any setting. I have no shame whatsoever when it comes to this subject. So I think in a weird way, I say stuff that perhaps I wouldn't normally, perhaps I wouldn't be brave enough to say otherwise. That's why it’s my superpower. 

MP: Absolutely. And if we can normalize the conversation that they hear, then it becomes okay to do that. 

LM: Some of the things that happen to us are hilarious!

MP: Louise, thank you so, so much. It has been such a pleasure to speak to you and we look forward to speaking to you again!

LM: Please do stay in touch and let’s keep the conversation going. Bye bye!