I was delighted to get the opportunity to speak in the Seanad this afternoon about the work that Edenderry woman, Mary McHugh, also known as ‘Mary Menopause’, is doing to raise awareness around Menopause care in Ireland.
Mary has been telling her story, to anyone who will listen, about how "Menopause depletes us of all the hormones that make us natural” and is sharing the debilitating symptoms she has been experiencing for years without treatment.
I chose to speak on this topic today following an event, held by Mary, in Rhode Co. Offaly, last Monday. At this event, there was an outpouring of support and similar stories from the other women in the room, each with their own accounts of the difficulties associated with menopause and for some women these difficulties lasted over a decade.
Listening to those stories, I thought "this was no way to live".
Menopause will affect 50% of our population, yet many are suffering in silence. Women have stopped working because of menopause symptoms - women in their forties, their working lives cut short.
And while December marked an important milestone for menopause care in Ireland, with the opening of the first of four publicly funded specialist Menopause Clinics, the rest needed to be rolled out as quickly as possible and that access to specialist advice and proper treatment is essential, and this is something I have and will continue to pursue with the Minister for Health.
Women need to know they are not alone. That’s why all of us in that room last Monday night were so grateful to Mary - for her courage and her relentless determination to rectify this situation.
You are a true champion Mary.
Watch the full video here;
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