Member Article

‘Unleash Your Menopause Joy’ - Menopause Coach Who Works With Women, Businesses and Organisations Across the UK Prepares for Huge Event

Maria Anderson, 56, from Inverness, Scotland, a huge advocate for women’s health, has gone full circle from midwifery to menopause, after spending over 38 years working in the NHS as a midwife to recently become a menopause coach after learning so much on her own health journey. Having recently celebrated the international success of her new podcast - ‘HRT is not the ONLY solution’ - which flew up the charts, she is now set to host her inaugural event in September at Laggan, supported by the British Menopause Society, calling for women to gather and ‘unleash their menopause joy’, as part of the celebrations and her continued mission to reach millions more people globally with her menopause message.

This week, Maria is delighted to be able to announce that Dr Heather Currie MBE, Founder and Director of Menopause Matters, is the headline speaker.

This event is set to take place across two days (September 18th - 19th) at Laggan, in Dumfries and Galloway Scotland, where Maria is expecting over 100 guests to join her - and she welcomes both women and men, as she feels passionately that crucial partners are also given information.

Maria is often invited to share her story and provides training and workshops in association/partnership with many businesses and organisations, she hoping to reach even more people via this event. Covering ‘hot’ topics, Maria who is known as ‘The Straight Talking Menopause Coach’, has 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. She says that this event will; “be an experience that will leave attendees feeling energised, re-invigorated and absolute joy!”

“It’s time to stop hiding behind “I’m fine” and embrace your inner Lioness. It’s shocking that menopause support is a postcode lottery (less than half of our GPs have ANY training), a blanket-approach toward HRT (with little understanding around the different types), total disregard for holistic approaches and a put-up-shut-up culture that meant women weren’t getting what they needed.”

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.

On stage, Maria will be joined by Dr Heather Currie MBE, who has an outstanding career within NHS Dumfries and Galloway and in 2021 was awarded an MBE. She is the past Clinical Lead for Gynaecology Modernising Patients Pathways Programme for Scotland and Clinical Advisor for the Scottish Government’s Women’s Health Plan. She is also trustee and immediate past chair of the British Menopause Society, Co-Editor of Post Reproductive Health, the journal of the British Menopause Society, as well as the author of many reviews and original articles in peer-reviewed journals and books.

Dr Heather Currie MBE, Founder and Director of Menopause Matters, said: “Awareness of the consequences and impact of menopause has risen over recent years, but there is still much information, advice and support to share. I am delighted to be able to support Maria at this event, in my home area of beautiful Dumfries and Galloway, where many aspects of menopause, treatment options, and support mechanisms will be covered by inspiring speakers and experts in their own field”

Throughout the conference, Maria, who is a member of The British Menopause Society, will share 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.

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.

Maria said; “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.”

“By 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.”

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