[ad_1]
Recently, in an interview with a magazine, actor and filmmaker Halle Berry, 57, opened about menopause and said, “I’m smack dab in the middle of menopause. And I am challenging everything I thought I knew about menopause. Things like: ‘Your life is over.’ ‘You are disposable.’ ‘Society no longer has a place for you.’ ‘You should retire.’ ‘You should pack it up.” She added that as women, it’s important to stay in touch with our bodies. “That we stay active, that we put importance on working out. And so, I always try to find the fun in it.” While actors like her are creating a positive environment around menopause and inspire many to keep breaking stereotypes, it’s important to also understand the connotations of it in the working Indian women’s lives.
So, what does the word menopause mean? Dr. Aruna Kalra, Senior Gynaecologist and Obstetrician, CK Birla Hospital Gurugram, says, “Menopause occurs when the woman’s ovaries stop producing eggs and they stop experiencing mensuration for 12 months or more. The average age for a woman to experience a natural menopause is 50 to 51 years. Symptoms of menopause include hot flashes, night sweat, vaginal dryness, difficulty in sleeping, urinary urgency, mood swings, dry skin and irregular periods.” Although many women are increasingly going through premature menopause, Dr Kalra adds, “Some women might experience premature menopause, occurring before the age of 40, leading to a greater impact on physical and emotional well-being. Handling extreme menopause may involve hormone therapy, lifestyle changes, and seeking support from healthcare professionals.”
With extreme cases women can sometimes over bleed which in turn can start affecting their work. Archana Gupta, 56, a principal with a private school in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh says, “I used to bleed a lot and had to go through even some awkward moments where I couldn’t get up from my seat as I had stained my clothes. There were times I used to feel that I should just not leave the washroom. Due to this I was even given injections to cope up. At times I just used to take injections and go to work as I couldn’t miss my work at that time or leave from work early. It affected me mentally as well and I felt anxious and even depressed for a longer time. I used to handle things in an easier manner previously but now I can’t.”
While there can be some women who do not go through excessive symptoms. Sindhu Nair, 50, an accountant with an NGO in Goa, says, “I first did not realise the symptoms as that of menopause. But when I started getting extreme mood swings like getting angry even at menial things or crying sometimes for no reason and when my periods became irregular then I got it confirmed from the doctor. Now working from home has helped me a lot but my workplace doesn’t have any specific policies around menopause. Now a days women are even facing menopause earlier, which makes it necessary for workplace policies to be in place.”
Talking about workplace policies, Laxmi Kuru (name changed), 35, HR of a big corporation in Hyderabad says, “We don’t have any such policies and I don’t think we have that anywhere in India for now. I have not even heard of any kind of conversation where they talk about policy changes for menopause. I don’t think anyone even focuses on that part, they focus mainly on maternity or even mensuration. There are very limited organisations making their work environment friendlier for women. It’s a long way that they start talking about menopause. Even women’s mind set is that as they are dealing with it for months, they can just handle it even while working and hardly have any awareness around it.”
[ad_2]
Source link
