19/10/2025
We started this group with babes in arms and under foot but while maternity and paediatric health are our focus we also look at women’s health issues more broadly. On we found this reflection worth sharing …
⬆️ me nearly 10 years ago…When I look back on the last decade, I now realise how deep into the depths of menopause I had been propelled.
The brain fog, the anxiety, the aching body, the slow fade of self — it crept in like fog at dawn.
Subtle at first, then suddenly everywhere.
Every decision felt impossible.
Every task, like dragging a boulder.
I thought I was just lazy.
But with the clarity of hindsight — it was menopause.
My body swirling in a quagmire of symptoms I didn’t even have a name for.
It shook me so deeply, I left a career I loved after 25 years.
It just “wasn’t me anymore.”
The truth? I wasn’t me anymore.
Doctors told me I was too young.
That it was depression.
That I needed to lose weight.
They didn’t listen. They didn’t see me.
I tried to start my own business — with zero confidence and max self-doubt.
I tried a few roles. Landed one.
It’s satisfying, but learning new things has felt like climbing uphill in the dark.
All the while, menopause burned like wildfire beneath the surface — unpredictable and consuming, scorching the woman I used to be.
In desperation, I turned to the internet.
Then — everything changed.
✨I found a podcast: The Imperfects with Dr. Louise Newson.
She described me. I felt seen. I felt less alone.
✨Then I found Welfemme.
A menopause GP listened, I felt hear - and treated me with oestrogen gel.
And within a week?
🎵I sang in the car — LOUD.
It had been years since I’d heard my own voice like that!
Now?
😂 I’m laughing again.
💃 Dancing in the rain.
🏃♀️ Hitting health goals.
Living with confidence that was gone for far too long.
If you meet me now — you’re meeting the real me.
Not the menopause monster that haunted my body for almost a decade.
I’m so grateful for those raising their voices, for those who supported me, and for those who
forgave the version of me that was simply trying to survive.
💜 You are not alone 💜
