Peri-menopause

Natural midlife changes have begun when your periods become irregular. Peri-menopause refers to the time leading up to menopause when the cycle length and menstrual flow can vary significantly. You may skip a period or your flow may become heavier or lighter.

What is menopause?

Every woman will experience menopause and every women will experience menopause in her own unique way.

Menopause literally means the last monthly period of a woman's life. However, it is confirmed when a woman has not had a menstrual period for 12 consecutive months. The gradual decrease in the ovaries production of oestrogen during this time is simply the body's natural evolution from the fertile child-bearing years to a whole new stage of life.

For most women, menopause usually occurs between the ages of 45 to 55 years and for the UK woman the average age is 51 years.

Oestrogen levels play an important role in a woman's life. They rise at puberty with the onset of childbearing years and then increase and decrease rhythmically with your menstrual cycle. They peak during pregnancy and then decline as you reach menopause and your menstrual cycle ceases.

What is premature menopause?

Premature menopause is defined as the onset of menopause before the age of 45.  It affects one in every hundred women under 40, one in 1,000 under 30 and one in 10,000 under 20.