Paulette Edwards, mid-morning presenter on BBC Radio Sheffield, runs us through a week in her working life.
Monday
This week BBC Radio Sheffield is joining forces with Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour programme for a week-long series looking at the impact the menopause is really having on women’s lives.
Day one starts with a simulcast phone-in with Jane Garvey from Woman’s Hour. I wake up, having not slept very well, but feeling very excited. I wander into work to be told that the simulcast will be filmed. Should I adapt what I am going to say about the menopause for the Look North cameramen in the studio poised with big cameras and very harsh lighting – decision No – the whole point is to be loud and proud with the menopause and get the subject out!
I have a brief chat with Jane off-air and feel as if I have known her for years. We realise we had lots in common and find similar things and people funny. As we start to chat on air and I share my own experiences of being in and out of the menopause, I am slightly surprised to hear the words ‘hokey-cokey’ coming out of my mouth!
I am completely moved by the volume of calls from wonderful women negotiating their lives through the menopause and men wanting to offer their partners support. It’s an hour of extraordinary conversation with the support of Dr Dawn Harper.
Middle-aged women are incredible and older women too – my friend later tells me her 80-year-old mum wanted to call in to say she is still getting hot flushes!
A great day!
Tuesday
I have a brief chat with Jane Garvey before going on air and she is very complimentary about yesterday’s programme. She also has a naughty sense of humour!
I have a quick look on social media and see there are women from all around the country grateful for the opportunity to share their experiences of the menopause.
Woman’s Hour and Radio Sheffield commissioned a poll before Christmas which looked at how the menopause affects British women at work, in their relationships, and the treatments they found effective.
Jane and I reveal the results of the poll on air – the upshot is that women don’t have enough information about the menopause. And it takes its toll on our mental health. We are reluctant to talk about it to our doctors and we are not happy to share what we are going through with employers. Jane and I have a chat with Kathy Abernathy, a menopause specialist, she is not surprised by the findings, neither are the women tuning in. How could we have neglected such a huge subject for so long?
Wednesday
Today is the first day of menopause week that I am presenting without Jane Garvey from Woman’s Hour. It feels a little lonely at first without my menopause buddy! But during the show, I get a lot of response from listeners eager to talk about their experiences. One listener called Victoria gets in touch, she describes herself as ‘vile and stabby’ due to the menopause. I invite her in for a chat on the show later in the week.
Dr Sharron Hinchliff also joins me to talk about libido, lubrication and why some women have actually considered pimping out their husbands. I have never felt so comfortable talking about such an intimate subject.
Thursday
Today, I chat to a former Police Chief Constable who wants to make Nottingham the first menopause friendly city. I also hear from women who gave up their jobs because they couldn’t cope with the stress the menopause placed on them. I am humbled by the openness and the challenges that these women have faced, mostly in silence because they didn’t think there was any help or anywhere to talk about their symptoms.
Professor Amanda Griffiths conducted a big study on the menopause and work – she says things need to change like they did for maternity. She joins me for a chat on air and I ask her does she think there will be a time when we get ‘menopause leave’ or when partners get two weeks off work just to support us through the menopause? She said ‘possibly’ to the former but ‘can’t see it’ to the latter. Oh well!
Friday
Meg Matthews, ex-wife of Noel Gallagher, joins me today and talks very openly about how difficult she found it to get information about the menopause. She has set up a website to share her information. Chatting to her on-air feels like we are sitting in a bar having a coffee; talking menopause is quite a leveller.
Victoria, from Wednesday, comes in for a chat. She is almost in tears as she talks about how the menopause has changed her. She feels she has ‘lost herself.’ She apologises to the men she has been on dates with and thanks her daughter for sitting her down and having a chat with her about getting help. HRT appears to be helping her now which is great.
On a different note, another caller called Jodie says she finds the process of the menopause empowering and that her husband was her biggest cheerleader – I was slightly disappointed I wasn’t able to play OMI – Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix).
I end the week by interviewing Jenni Murray who wrote a book nearly 20 years ago about the menopause. She says she is surprised by how little things have changed.
I can’t believe how much we all needed that menopause chat. I think we may need another…
