Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me This?

Lucy van de Wiel was a Research Associate in the Reproductive Sociology Research Group (ReproSoc) at the Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge. She is currently a Lecturer and Postgraduate Research Director in Global Health and Social Medicine at King’s College London. She has founded and is chair of the Reproduction Research Group at King’s. Her research focuses on the introduction of...

Mel is a solo mother and has used her experience to help others on this journey. She can be found on social media @ the_stork_and_i and is The Solo Parenthood Coach ™   Mel is an experienced Life Coach, with a coaching qualification from CoachMatch and over 15 years of personal development and leadership coaching, with the last 6 years focusing solely on Solo Parenting. She uses the blended approa...

Tim is Associate Professor of Reproductive Medicine in the Nuffield Department of Women’s and Reproductive Health at the University of Oxford. Tim studied medicine at the Universities of Cambridge and London, followed by postgraduate training in Oxford and a 2 year Fellowship at McGill University in Montreal where he worked on oocyte In Vitro Maturation, a drug-free version of IVF. He then returne...

Athena Lamnisos is CEO of the leading women’s health charity, The Eve Appeal which is focused education about the five gynaecological cancers and their prevention. Athena is experienced at forging partnerships between private, public and not for profit sectors. She has a track record of directing successful change programmes in the arena of public health and oncology and is passionate about making...

Susan Saunders is a health coach helping women over 50 reduce dementia risk and optimise brain health with science-backed habits. She's the author of three books about healthy ageing and longevity. She co-wrote the bestseller The Age-Well Project (and the blog of the same name) and authored The Age-Well Plan. Her most recent publication is The Power Decade: how to thrive after menopause - and it's...

Mel Berry is co-founder of Her Spirit with her friend Holly Woodford. Mel is an experienced triathlon and swimming coach and leads the swimming coaching groups and the development of the overall Her Spirit coaching programme. Mel has worked with some of the best athletes, coaches and business owners in the world. Supporting these experiences has been her chance to help so many people transform the...

Laura Spoelstra has been involved in the fertility sector as an expert in donation issues for almost 15 years. During that time, she was involved in various national policy working parties including the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the Nuffield Council on BioEthics and the Joint Committee on the Human Tissue and Embryos Bill. More recently she has been focusing on wellbeing of you...

Tessa is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the University of Sydney School of Public Health. Her research focuses on the psychosocial impacts of disease labels, overdiagnosis and evidence-based reproductive healthcare for women. Her PhD research examined the benefits and harms of a polycystic ovary syndrome diagnosis, and this research has been published in high impact journals in the field. In th...

Dame Lesley Regan is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Imperial College, St Mary’s Hospital, London. Having graduated from the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, London in 1980, Professor Regan pursued her career at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, where she first became enthused by clinical & laboratory research, completing an MD on miscarriage, the commonest complication of p...

Lavina Mehta, MBE, is an award winning personal trainer, wellness coach, mum of 3, was awarded an MBE in 2020 for her work in health and fitness over the pandemic and she is on a mission to help all ages feel good physically and mentally. Her slogan is Exercise for sanity not vanity. She has also done a great TED talk in a school to encourage young people to exercise. And is a patron of menopause...

Mike Tipton, MBE, PhD, MSc, FTPS is Professor of Human & Applied Physiology, In the Extreme Environments Laboratory, School of Sport Health & Exercise Science, University of Portsmouth, UK. Mike has worked at the University of Surrey and University of Portsmouth. In addition, he was based at the Institute of Naval Medicine (INM) from 1983 to 2004 and was Consultant Head of the Environmenta...

Philippa is a GP, author, journalist and mother. She is a Londoner and only moved away for three years while studying at Downing College Cambridge, before returning to Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’ medical school for her clinical training. Once qualified she started having babies all in the midst of training in paediatrics, gynaecology, care of the elderly and acute medicine, psychiatry and then ge...

Dr Neil Stanley started working on sleep when he was 16 – working at the neurosciences division of the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine in Farnborough. Since then he has been involved in numerous research studies, a notable one being a study in Pakistan where the team recorded sleep in 8 people for 6 nights at 18500 feet. In 1993 Neil took up a position in the human psychopharmacology research u...

Naomi Sutton graduated from Sheffield Medical School in 2003 and has been working as a Consultant Physician for the NHS at Rotherham Sexual Health Services since 2016. Throughout her career she has developed a passion for education and raising awareness of sexual health, both for other health professionals and the general public. Naomi starred in series 1 and 2 of the E4’s ‘The Sex Clinic’ which “...

Baz, together with Dr Bella Smith and Dr Emma Ross, has set up the Well HQ to ensure we have a future where no woman lacks knowledge and understanding of her body, across the life stages. They are on a mission to ensure that everything that makes us extraordinarily females shouldn’t be medicalised or considered niche, but be fully considered in making us fitter, healthier and happier humans. In th...

Welcome to season 2 of Why didn’t anyone tell me this? This podcast is about health education with an emphasis on reproductive health. We do not cover these topics enough in school or beyond. Professor Joyce Harper and her guests want to give you the tools to empower you to live a healthy, happy and fulfilled life. And on the way, we will debunk some of the myths around our health. This podcast wi...

Clare is an holistic, lifestyle chartered physiotherapist, motivational health and fitness speaker, having qualified from Guys Hospital in 1984 with distinction. She has a diploma in Health Education. Clare runs a number of PhysioYogaLates (a name devised by her!) exercise classes in East Sussex, where she lives and offers one off classes for corporate companies. Clare has just recently sold her p...

Nicky studied medicine at the University of Cambridge. She was part of the international medical team that developed an anti-doping test for growth hormone. Nicky is an honorary clinical lecturer in the division of medicine, UCL. She lectures and researches in the areas of exercise endocrinology. She works mainly with exercisers, dancers and athletes and with women experiencing perimenopause and m...

Claire is a renowned leadership development professional, performance coach and author with over 21 years’ experience as a facilitator, thought leader and global speaker innovating in the field of Physical Intelligence. With a background in science, executive coaching and Contemporary dance Claire created the Physical Intelligence® methodology to bring together neuroscientific research on embodime...

Dr. Elina Berglund Scherwitzl is the co-founder and CEO of Natural Cycles , the women’s health company that developed the world’s first birth control app. The app is powered by an algorithm that uses body temperature to determine each user’s daily fertility status.  As a Class II medical device, the NC° app is cleared by the FDA in the United States and certified to be used as a contraceptive in E...

Rachel Lankester is the author of Magnificent Midlife: Transform Your Middle Years, Menopause and Beyond, and host of the Magnificent Midlife podcast. After a shocking early menopause diagnosis at 41, she scratched her own itch and created what she wasn't able to find to help herself. This includes 1-1 and group midlife mentoring, courses and educational resources to help women vibrantly transitio...

Mr. Vikram Talaulikar is an associate specialist at the reproductive medicine unit in University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and hon. associate professor at University College London.  In this episode, Vikram is asked similar questions to the previous 2 clinicians; Susan Davis and Isaac Manyonda. How does Vikram define the perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause? He explains w...

Sian lives at Pencarnan where her family have been for over 100 years. She runs a campsite above the clifftop and all of her five children, and grandchildren, have all chosen to build their lives here too. Sian is the Founder and Director of The Bluetits Chill Swimmers Ltd. With over 100,000 members worldwide, the Bluetits has become a global phenomena. Sian loves a challenge and has done triathlo...

Isaac has recently retired from being a consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologists at St George's University Hospital in London. Where he specialised in  • Recurrent miscarriage  • Fibroid disease  • Menopause  • Minimal access surgery  • High risk obstetrics  He was instrumental in establishing the first and still one of the few cutting-edge dedicated centres for research and treatment of fibroid...

In this episode, we discuss the definitions of perimenopause, menopause and post menopause. Susan, being an endocrinologist, which is someone who studies hormones, is a world expert on menopause hormones. Is the menopause a hormone deficiency disorder? Susan explains that it is if menopause happens early, it should be treated with hormones, but it is not a "deficiency disorder" if menopause happen...