Calls for more education about menopause in schools and workplaces
MPs will be scrutinising the Women's and Health Minister today
There are calls for more education about the menopause in schools and workplaces on the Yorkshire Coast.
Today, the Women's and Health Minister will be scrutinised on action taken so far and MPs will assess whether the situation has improved.
Helen King heads up a 'Menopause Matters' support group in Scarborough and said: "I think when they're doing the curriculum at school, as we go through sex education, I think it should be included because at some point they're going to come across mum, grandma or great grandma that's going through the menopause.
"We have a couple of ladies on our recent courses that aren't going through the menopause but they have colleagues, very close colleagues or they're personal trainers, who have come along to do the course to give their ladies or colleagues the correct information or support them in the right way.
"We had one woman who was just so angry all the time and she had teenage sons. One day she could be all soft and gentle with them and the next time, she'd go into their bedroom and there was stuff everywhere and they didn't understand why she was shouting at them. Through doing the course, I think she was able to sit down with her sons and say 'look, this is what's happening, this is what I'm going through.'
"Women that are out in really good jobs are giving up their workplace because they can't cope with it because of the menopause. I think it should be in there with the curriculum at school, even if it's just a little bit just to say 'we go through all the other bodily functions, so this is a sign of what's to come.'"