Michelle Obama is keen to break taboos surrounding women going through the menopause as she opens up about her own experience on her podcast, The Michelle Obama Podcast.
The former first lady wants to use her platform to speak about the menopause as she said women are “living like it’s not happening” for fear of talking about it.
In the latest episode, What Your Mother Never Told You About Health, Michelle spoke to gynaecologist and friend, Dr. Sharon Malone, about the menopause.
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“'I have a very healthy baseline, and also, well, I was experiencing hormone shifts because of infertility, having to take shots and all that. I experienced the night sweats, even in my 30s, and when you think of the other symptoms that come along, just hot flushes, I mean, I had a few before I started taking hormones.”
Michelle, 56, spent eight years as first lady at the White House and raised her two daughters, Malia and Sasha, while Barack Obama was president.
And now she’s opened up about suffering symptoms of the menopause during a ride on Marine One - the presidential helicopter.
“It was like somebody put a furnace in my core and turned it on high,” she explained. “And then everything started melting. And I thought, ‘Well this is crazy, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t do this.
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“What a woman’s body is taking her through is important information. It’s an important thing to take up space in a society, because half of us are going through this but we’re living like it’s not happening.”
She went on to discuss body image and ageing and said, “The woman always looks a lot better than her husband in the movies, and it’s like, well, how is she with him? I’ve heard a lot of women my age … they feel less seen in a public place … no longer do heads turn.
“Women are rewarded for not looking their age, you know, it’s like, oh, she snapped back, she doesn’t even look like she ever had a baby – so that’s essentially saying, she doesn’t look like she’s maturing.”
