Member Article

Straight Talking Menopause Coach, Who Works With Women, Businesses & Organisations Across the UK, Celebrates International Podcast Success

This month, 55 year old, Maria Anderson, originally from Jarrow, Newcastle now living in Inverness, Scotland, who has supported thousands of women and is a huge advocate for women’s health, is celebrating having gone full circle from midwifery to menopause with the launch of her new podcast - ‘HRT is not the ONLY solution’ - which is flying up the charts, already having reached number 14 on the international apple podcasts charts in the in Self Improvement category and number 39 in the Education category, overtaking TV host, Entrepreneur and Philanthropist, Marie Forleo, named by Oprah as a thought leader for the next generation and Marisa Peers, a world-renowned Rapid Transformational Therapy trainer.

Maria is often invited to share her story and speak at events across the UK and is currently providing training and workshops in association/partnership with many businesses and organisations.

Created as part of her mission to reach millions more people globally with her menopause message; ‘HRT is not the ONLY solution’ is a podcast to empower midlife women. Maria, who is now known as ‘The Straight Talking Menopause Coach’, spent the last 38 years working as a nurse, midwife and lecturer within the NHS, and retired early to set up her own coaching business, after suffering at the hands of menopause symptoms herself. She is now determined to help others see menopause through new eyes, so they don’t fall into the traps she did.

Maria is concerned that we are constantly looking for ways to ‘fix’ women going through the menopause, and that as a nation we are too reliant on HRT being the only answer to all menopause symptoms. Maria, who has experience of knowledge sharing on a wide scale, after her ‘Tales of a Midwife’ book became a Sunday Times Bestseller in 2012, is passionate about supporting women to be able to access the right information to help them live their lives to the full.

Within her podcast, which is here to challenge the status quo of HRT being the only solution to perimenopause/menopause, Maria, who is a member of The British Menopause Society, shares approaches that changed her own life, and the lives of many of the women she’s worked with, taking them from a place of suffering to one of ‘absolute joy’, as she works towards her mission to help a million women master their menopause in small simple steps, so that they can find joy again.

Rather than it being viewed as a problem to “solve” with people on the hunt for solutions that make menopause symptoms magically disappear overnight, Maria is keen to educate and empower women with knowledge about what’s actually going on in our body and mind during the menopause, so that they can step back from all the ‘hype and chaos’ and think logically about what their body needs. She is passionate about ensuring that as a part of this process women realise that HRT is not the only thing they can turn to, when looking to manage their symptoms.

Maria said: “Over the last couple of years as the fear of HRT has been removed, as more and more studies have been done on it and it becomes more recognised in mainstream society it has created a new problem - HRT has been offered as THE ONLY solution for women suffering with menopause symptoms. Society has gone from one extreme to another. The impact has been equally confusing for women, and the medical profession is unprepared for this turnaround with only 40% GP’s having any training. It is not part of the medical training curriculum, so it is no surprise that when women are visiting their local GP for advice – they are continually being faced with GP’s scratching their heads, no interest and inappropriate advice, disregard for women experiencing these symptoms.”

“The solution of a “blanket approach” of HRT for everyone has led to an excessive demand for these products – and supply in so many areas of the country is limited, which has created a black market for this product. The hysteria around the lack of HRT has recreated a fear that is worse than when it was branded unsafe. There are situations where women are supporting each other by sharing their HRT prescriptions with their friends to help them out in this shortage. This is very scary for women’s health, but there seems to be a belief that this is acceptable. Would women take an insulin vial left on their doorstep? The answer is no, so once again a problem has been created by this focus on HRT as the solution for women. This fear is impacting women’s health and driving women to behave in a way that is out of character and irrational.”

“Today’s society is missing the point of menopause in my opinion. Women are not “problems” that need to be fixed – Menopause is not a chapter that needs “sorting”, it is a life chapter full of opportunity for women to learn how to optimise their health and start planning how they would like to live their life in their 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s - but it’s only exciting if you feel empowered - not if you feel overwhelmed.”

She continues: “I work closely alongside so many women suffering with menopause symptoms. I serve women who take HRT, don’t take HRT, women who are confused about what to do, women who have been taking HRT for 10 years + and have found NO difference in their menopause symptoms. There is so much information on the internet, in the media about menopause/peri- menopause but it is still confusing, women feel lost, unsupported and find themselves in a state of “fear” during this chapter of their lives.”

When Maria first entered perimenopause, it was at a time when she should have been riding high, having just achieved Sunday Times Bestseller with her book - yet she let so many opportunities that were presented to her slide, as she had lost all confidence in herself, she was feeling lost, isolating herself and she felt like she was losing her mind. She describes wanting to crawl back into the background, feeling very self conscious and uncomfortable about being visible, sharing her message. She explains: “I didn’t understand who I was anymore- I got my hair cut and started wearing clothes I wouldn’t normally wear – I was hiding- I couldn’t talk about the book. Whilst waiting to do a book signing outside Waterstones the guy from the store came outside to see me- “Are you coming in?” Yes I replied “In a minute” I felt so nervous, lost and out of my depth.”

“I promised that I would get to the bottom of what was wrong with me and I decided I could not live my life like this anymore. It was impacting every area of my life and it had to stop. It was only through research, understanding my own hormones and personal development did I start to join the dots together of perimenopause. Oh my goodness, I thought that surely I couldn’t be the only woman who felt this way and so I promised to myself that I would find a solution for myself and when I did I would share it with other women to stop anyone else from feeling the way that I did. Now at 55, I have the most energy, confidence and an incredible relationship with myself and others and I feel it’s a responsibility to share what I’ve learnt along the way.”

Maria believes that : “Breaking the silence of this topic, without shame, will empower women to feel confident within their body , have the ability to have open conversations about symptoms, solutions and take back the reins in their own lives.”

‘HRT is not the only solution’ is a podcast that will have frank open conversations that Maria feels women and wider society need to hear. It will tackle a huge range of topics and offer women an alternative approach to mastering the menopause – which puts women back in control, as they explore new ideas of how to optimise their health and the aim is that these new conversations will also positively influence their family and friends, so that relationships, the economy, and workplace environments are all improved as a result.

The podcast can be accessed via apple and spotify.

Maria’s Top 5 Tips for anyone who believes they may be entering perimenopause or menopause:-

1.Tell someone how you are feeling - It’s so easy to feel alone and think what you are feeling is “just you”.It’s not and by simply sharing how you feel will make such a difference and also give that person an understanding of what is going on for you.

2.Ask yourself “Could this be the Perimenopause?” - It sounds like a simple question but a lot of times every other avenue is explored apart from the obvious, by asking this question and asking the same question to a health professional, it could save you so much time and effort to understand what is going on for you.

3.Write down your Menopause Symptoms - By simply writing down what you believe are your menopause symptoms (even if you are not sure), it will help you start to understand you.

4.This is a long term hormone deficiency! - You are not going crazy! A lot of women don’t recognise that this is a physiological condition that is impacting you on a daily basis, the solution needs to be specific to you.

5.Start prioritising yourself immediately - Until you become a priority in your life, nothing will change and your menopause symptoms will become worse over time - give yourself a gift now and start prioritising your; health, time and energy right now - your future self will thank you for it …

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Chocolate PR .