"Nobody wants to talk about this Big M, that everybody, more than half of the world’s population is going to experience it, it’s not a maybe, it’s going to happen."
Amina Farah on the #OVAReactPodcast
Last night the eleventh episode of OVAReact Podcast aired on Capital FM Kenya, featuring women's health and wellness advocate Amina Farah, founder of Fab-U-Las living, a facebook group where women can openly learn and discuss Perimenopause and Menopause. Throughout the show we worked to demystify the conversation around Menopause, provided informative details about this phase women experience while normalising the conversation.
The genesis of the show started around three years go, when my mother walked my sister and I, through her journey of Menopause. I was horrified and flabbergasted to say the least because I honestly wondered when do women get a break and which phase of a woman's life is more tolerable. The journey of periods already comes with it's fair share of trauma and this goes on for, most of us, a good 40 years of our lives. I won't lie, I have been deliberating coming back in my next life should I have the opportunity to as a man because life comes across less challenging health wise.
Other than the huge case of shock of reality, I did wonder where do women really learn about menopause? Why don't we talk about it? Why is this not taught in schools? Why is there not a huge amount of content available on the subject? If my mum didn't talk to us about it would I have just landed on my fifties and awaited the day Menopause would hit? Upon doing my own research it became clear that the topic on Menopause has as much stigma as Menstruation does, if not more.
The big M as is often referred to, is often a topic avoided and Amina put it best by stating the reason this happens is because it is linked to ageing and most women never want to be referred to as old. During our discussion with Amina we learnt about the three stages of Menopause one can experience, what symptoms your body can go through and how best to live the second half of your life vibrantly and healthily.
The more we speak about Menopause the more knowledgeable women will become about what to expect and it will also leads women to pay attention to their bodies should they inhabit these symptoms much earlier than expected. As studies now show that women are experiencing this phase menopause even as early as in your 30s and so it is important for us to normalise it and ensure information about it is reachable.
"It is not a hopeless phase of your life, it is an opportunity for you, just like when you were younger to learn about the changes happening to you. You can get the information and you can get the support. "
Amina Farah on th
Listen to this week's OVAReact Episode on a conversation on Menopause.
You can also listen to the podcast through the following platforms:
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3FV8FgY
Anchor: https://bit.ly/3wj5yMh
Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/3PqQ28D
We also asked the public questions around Menopause, take a look to hear the varied responses by women.
Tune in LIVE to the OVAReact Podcast on Capital FM Kenya every Monday at 10.30 pm.