Anna Liumaihetau Darling (Te Aupōuri), Tamsin Vuetilovoni, Nayantara Sheoran Appleton and Sarah Connor share menopause moments from different parts of the journey.
Tamsin proposes ‘menopause’ gets a rebrand.
“It’s not a pause, right? The pause annoys me. It’s a start. Rebrand it to be something that’s hopeful and the next journey in our lives.
In the beginning
The group are sitting around a set of conversation cards, to ask each other questions.
Sarah, who’s an educator and advocate, asks first, “What did you know about menopause growing up?”
Anna replies with, “Absolutely nothing. And it's one of those things as the generations go on, I think we're getting a lot better at being open about things like that.”
Anna likes to educate too, on her early menopause journey.
“I was 23 when I was diagnosed as [having] had gone through menopause... I was having a whole range of hot flashes all through university. And I kind of buried my head in the sand.”
The more you know
Tamsin talks about the symptoms she experienced.
“I wish I'd known about the things that I could do in terms of my own health to try and mitigate some of them, like the sleeping, the food that I ate and its effect on me, and how I could be in control.”
Sarah adds, “I wish I'd known that it wasn't just about my period stopping. There is something like 30 to 40 different changes or symptoms that someone can experience.”
Nayantara, who is a hormones researcher and is pre-journey, makes the point “Historically there has been shame attached to aging, right? Where is the accommodation for women when they've come to menopause? I've heard this from so many women.”
Hello from the other side
Sarah, who is in perimenopause, recalls what friends have told her about life after menopause.
“My older friends talked about having more energy than ever, because they weren't having their periods anymore. Having more clarity about who they were, what they wanted to do and how they wanted to spend their time.”
“There's rarely a party or a celebration post menopause; a celebration to recognise that you’ve transitioned from one part of your life,” says Nayantara.
Everyone RSVPs on the spot with a unanimous yes to the unplanned party – and Nayantara jokingly suggests Sarah should host it.
Tamsin rounds it off, about how she felt after menopause - energsied.
“A sense of empowerment and like, ‘Wooo, I'm woman, hear me roar’."
“Come on, bring it on…. I’m going to go forth and fly."