The Power of Our Stories: A Personal Journey Through the Three P's
World Menopause Day 2025
Today marks World Menopause Day, and this year's theme focuses on lifestyle medicine. Encouraging us to look at our activity, nutrition, sleep, mental wellbeing, relationships, and habits. It's a holistic approach that recognises something we've known all along: there's no one-size-fits-all solution to managing this life stage.
This theme reminds us that:
We need a holistic approach that combines lifestyle changes with both medical and non-medical interventions.
Small changes make a difference and can lead to even bigger transformations.
It's time to start putting ourselves further up the priority list – if not at the top!
We need to look at the bigger picture, not just individual symptoms.
We need to support each other.
Why Stories Matter
One of the most powerful ways to raise awareness and effect change is by sharing our stories and experiences. It's not always easy to be vulnerable, but it reminds us how much we have in common, despite each of our journeys being unique.
So today, I'm sharing mine.
My Journey Through the Three P's
Today also happens to be the day our youngest turns 18 – quite the milestone! As you can imagine, he's thrilled about sharing his birthday with World Menopause Day.
I could never have predicted all those years ago, after the most challenging series of events for my body, that I'd be speaking so openly about the journey women's bodies go through during our lifetime.
The "Three P's" – Puberty, Pregnancy, and Perimenopause – are the hormone-fueled transitions that shape so many women's lives, showing up uniquely for every one of us.
Each of mine came with unexpected challenges.
Puberty
The first signs of my body's hormonal chaos appeared early – horrendous PMS from a very young age. I learned to live with monthly pain and just had to "get on with it" – something so many of us are told to do, as if debilitating symptoms are simply part of being a woman. And the classic line? "Your periods will get better after you have children. Another myth we need to stop perpetuating.
Pregnancy
My path to pregnancy was far from straightforward. It took three rounds of IVF to conceive our daughter, then two more for our son – a journey that's a constant reminder to me that pregnancy isn't always possible or chosen for everyone.
Those 7.5 months carrying my son threw everything at me:
The Surgeries
Two gynaecological procedures under general anaesthetic, both within three months.
The Car Accident
Hit by a driver going too fast on an icy Colorado highway, on our way to the embryo transfer. We literally pulled off the bumper, threw it in the boot, and, shaken but determined, carried on to the appointment. By some miracle, it worked.
The Scares
Two suspected miscarriages sent us rushing to the hospital, only to receive the incredible news that the pregnancy was still viable.
Early Labour
Contractions at 28 weeks, nearly delivering at 30. I'll never forget being told there was every chance I would need to be airlifted to Denver to get the specialist care the baby would need. Three days immobilised on Magnesium Sulphate – which made me desperately sick and unable to move – but it was worth it as we managed to slow things down.
Bed Rest
For seven weeks! My mum was amazing and jumped on a plane from the UK to help with childcare for our daughter. Living on the other side of the world, with a limited support network, meant we needed help fast. My husband did a fantastic job holding the fort and keeping things going, but we needed to call for backup from the grandparents!
Premature Birth
Baby arriving at 35.5 weeks, healthy but underweight, requiring time in the NICU.
Through all of this, I was supported by some truly extraordinary people. I still keep in touch with two of the most incredible nurses anyone could possibly meet – Jodie, who looked after me before the birth, and Shanti, who cared for Luke in the NICU. And I made a lifelong friend, Rachael, in the hospital lift (after embarrassingly asking which part of Australia she was from, when she's actually from New Zealand!).
Perimenopause
I'm now navigating a really challenging perimenopause, and that journey deserves its own story, so we’ll save that for another day. But it's this lived experience across all three hormonal transitions that's driving everything I'm building now.
Here's what I've learned:
Women are phenomenally resilient. We navigate profound physical and emotional transitions, often while juggling careers, caring for families, and somehow still putting ourselves last on the priority list.
We deserve better. We've been underserved for far too long.
We're not alone. Every challenge, every symptom, every moment of uncertainty – chances are, someone else understands exactly what you're going through.
Change Is Happening
It's time – and long overdue – for female health to become a priority. We're 51% of the population, and we've been living with healthcare systems that weren't built with us in mind.
“So many women I’ve talked to see menopause as an ending. But I’ve discovered this is your moment to reinvent yourself after years of focusing on the needs of everyone else”
To every woman navigating any of the Three P's right now, know that things are starting to change as we speak up. If you've not reached perimenopause yet, or you're currently muddling your way through it, please know there's a movement to join. There are so many amazing women (and men) working to change things for the better, so that you get the care you deserve when you need it.
This life stage definitely isn't something to fear. With the right understanding, advocacy, and support, it can be transformational. A time when we finally learn to start putting ourselves first.
This lived experience – every challenge, every scare, every moment of uncertainty – is now fueling my determination to build solutions that genuinely support women through peri/menopause.
Today is about celebrating how far we've come and committing to how far we still need to go.
And yes, there will be birthday cake. 🎂
Thank you for reading my story
Jo 🧡