Event: Lets Talk Menopause
We shouldn’t normalize suffering | 3 min
‘Women may be the one group that grows more radical with age.’ - Gloria Steinem
Rachel Hardeman opened Let's Talk Women in Minneapolis by reflecting on Gloria’s legacy, and the importance of creating spaces for women to tell stories that matter.
Then we heard these:
- ‘I’ve been to multiple doctors, and I still don’t have an answer.’
- ‘This almost ruined my marriage and my relationship with my kids. ‘
- ‘I was trying to perform my best at my job – while being a good wife and mom, and trying to figure out what was taking over my body.’
- ‘I spent a year and a lot of money on tests. No provider ever said ‘maybe this is perimenopause’. I pieced together the care I needed myself.’
Real stories make the problem harder to ignore. Then, come the stats:
Black women are more likely to experience perimenopause earlier, with more severe symptoms.
1 in 5 women, at the peak of their careers, consider leaving their job because of menopause symptoms.
Only 30% of OB/GYNs today receive even 1 day of menopause training.
$1.8B is lost annually from missed work related to menopause symptoms.
Yesterday Rachel Hardeman, Ariana Chehrazi, and Lindsey Mehran pushed us to dream about what better healthcare could look like:
🌟 Clinicians trained to connect the dots
🌟 More time + access via telehealth to actually listen and help
🌟 Care that anticipates midlife (instead of waiting for women to reach their breaking point)
🌟 Longitudinal data that tells a woman's whole health story
🌟 Health systems, payers, employers + clinicians aligned around better midlife care
This transition is normal. But being miserable and feeling helpless shouldn’t be.
📣 Here’s what you can do to change the story now:
- Check out Midi Health for care
- Join Women's Health Advocates (new MN chapter launched yesterday!)
- Help build the new Menopause List for MN providers here
- Talk openly about what you’re REALLY going through with your family, friends, and employer
As Ariana said: ‘We shouldn’t normalize women’s suffering. You don’t need to suffer.’
So let’s get more radical with age – and use our voices to build something better for the next woman.
Thank you, Katie Severt, for creating space for women to speak up, for changemakers to dream about what’s next, and for all of us to take action.
Follow the conversation on LinkedIn.
Read more about what I’m fighting for.
