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Privacy NoticeShe’s an accomplished businesswoman, mum of two, grandma, doting wife and dream daughter, and now Meera Bhogal is speaking out to challenge cultural stigmas around the menopause. “People like me are definitely under-represented on our menopause journeys,” says the 55 year old, from Northwood, Middlesex, who feels that her own 10-year issues with peri-menopause came down to a lack of conversation around women’s health in her South Asian community. Speaking exclusively to OK! Meera, who runs Don’t Pause for Menopause workshops, says, “Women of all ethnic communities have got to come to terms that we’re going to go from fertile to infertile. “But research shows that 58% of Pakistani women feel that the current spotlight on menopause in the media is focused on the experiences of white women. I hear this all the time.”
Meera at Holland & Barrett store launching the Every Menopause Matters Campaign
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“Women’s health isn’t talked about generally in our community, so when I started experiencing perimenopausal symptoms at 40, I had no clue what was happening to me. I wish I had been equipped with the right information. Now I really want to help remove the stigma of the menopause and open-up conversations to help all women access the advice and support they need.” Growing up, Meera’s Indian parents were always forward thinkers, but there was still work to do. “Our society is very patriarchal, it’s focused on men, and women looking after men. That is what we do; it’s how I was brought up.” “But my parents both run a business together. My mum used to go to yoga and keep fit even in her 30s which is unheard of but still, she would say to my dad I was ‘going to marry an Indian boy and be expected by her in-laws to cook and slave’.” Meera tells us she fell into that situation with her first marriage. “That’s how it is for a lot of women in this community, it’s how you’re brought up.” Now Holland & Barrett is bolstering its menopause campaign work to make ‘every menopause matter’ by launching several new initiatives to make its information and support on menopause more inclusive. They offer diverse and personalised advice and content, tailored to different needs and cultures and have materials available in Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi and Gujarati.
Meera with her beautiful daughters, Aneka (right) and my younger daughter Riya (left) on holiday in Portugal
Meera, who also runs The Training Club, says: “There are about 4000 colleagues across the country, all of whom have had training on how to advise and support women through menopause. They’ve created an online hub that’s easy to access for 1-2-1 consultations, or you can pop into your local high street branch, which is vital because women in the South Asian community don’t always want to go to a doctor. They feel there’s nothing wrong with them and they don’t want to trouble their GP. ” Meera’s own perimenopause journey started when she was just 40 years old and resulted in an experience so terrible that she lost her faith in doctors and believed she had cancer or cardiovascular issues. “I had practically every symptom you can ever think of, most of which I didn’t know about. My bloating was getting worse, I was getting really fatigued and although I was a real cardio junkie, I was even struggling with that. I was getting anxious and I didn’t understand why, I was having palpitations, my skin was itchy. Yet there was no diagnosis. I thought I was going mad! “I remember saying to my yoga instructor, ‘I literally feel like an alien has taken over my body! I don’t know who I am, I don’t know this person I’ve become.” Inspirational Meera, who is also training to become a PT, started the Don’t Pause for Menopause initiative during lockdown, and now has helped 110 women in her community with advice and support. She remembers all too well researching her symptoms and struggling to find anything on South Asian women experiencing the same thing.
Meera in her yoga studio – one the ways she manages her menopause journey a little easier
“I’m hearing symptoms from others like marriage breakdown, no communication between partners, ‘I can’t go to work’, ‘I can’t concentrate’ and I suggest it could be perimenopausal. Their reaction is always ‘this can’t be right, I’m not that old’ and one even got really cross with me. “She was South Asian too and said ‘no, no this is a white woman’s disease but if you keep yourself well and you’re not white you’ll be fine.’ Some women truly believe menopause is something that has been fabricated.” An invite to a Cross Parliamentary inquiry on menopause with Carolyn Harris MP was the unexpected starting point for Meera’s campaign and she finally had her say when it counted. “I said, ‘It’s about giving women choice and you’re leaving behind the women where language and access are barriers. It needs community-based help.” On hearing that her prayers had been answered via Holland & Barrett’s plans, Meera admitted she “nearly cried” and just couldn’t believe there was a retailer willing to willing to work with her. With 31% of women from ethnic minority backgrounds believing that being able to speak to a female healthcare professional of the same ethnicity would improve their menopause experience, it seems the health issues of women in some cultures has a long way to go. “Women’s health in general, and in particular in South Asian communities, feels like it’s at the bottom of the pile,” says Meera. When Meera started her periods, her mum didn’t want to talk openly about it. “She said to me, ‘’Do you know what to do?’ And I was very much ‘yeah kind of, I was taught at school’ and that was the end of that chat. It was never spoken about again.” “A lot of people I know are told they’re not allowed to the Temple, or not allowed to cook because they have their period and it’s ‘unclean’. When you’re pregnant you don’t really talk about it either, you just have the baby. Anything to do with women’s health is very unspoken about. It’s always seen as a negative.”
Meera and daughter Riya looked sensational at Aneka’s civil wedding at The Kennels in Goodwood
And whilst Meera praises the platforms that celebrities have used to put menopause chat out there in recent years, this still hasn’t solved the lack of accurate representation. “Ladies will say to me, ‘I don’t see you Meera, where are you?’ I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing and reach as many women as possible.” Holland & Barrett has also partnered with leading health charity, Wellbeing of Women , to launch ‘The Women’s Health Community Fund’ which will provide resources to under-served communities. This will focus on those from lower income families, ethnically diverse communities, those with disabilities and LGBTQ+, to raise awareness and provide information on menopause in the way that best reaches and serves the needs of their community. Leaving us with food for thought, Meera adds, “It’s a slow process, but it’s about finding the new you. There’s so much more to come, but I can appreciate it’s the beginning of more inclusivity and accessibility.” Meera’s Don’t Pause for Menopause symposium , featuring GPs, a pelvic floor specialist, a sex therapist, a dentist, nutritionists and a psychotherapist, is on Saturday 1st July, 10-4pm, at The Bull hotel, Buckinghamshire Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnHealth
