Beyond "HRT or Not?": Supporting the Bodies of Future Wise & Well Grandmothers - Jane Hardwicke Collings

About this episode

The episode explores a broader perspective on menopause beyond the binary choice of hormone replacement therapy.

Perimenopause & menopause are often framed as a problem to fix- and the conversation quickly collapses into a single question: HRT or not? But women's bodies are rarely that simple. In this episode, Jane Hardwicke Collings and I explore a more expansive and grounded approach to the menopause transition. Rather than asking whether hormones are the right answer for everyone, we look at a deeper question: how can we support the complex physiological process the body is already moving through? Our conversation examines the growing tendency to position hormone replacement therapy as a universal solution for perimenopause symptoms, and how that pattern echoes earlier chapters in women's healthcare, such as when the pill was prescribed for nearly every hormonal concern or when medical intervention became the default in birth. This isn't an anti-HRT conversation. It's an invitation to widen the lens. We talk about the many systems that influence the menopause transition and why supporting the body's foundations can be just as important as the hormonal conversation itself. For some women, HRT may become a meaningful part of their path. For others, it may not. But reducing the entire…

People in this episode

Host: Amber Magnolia Hill

Guest: Jane Hardwicke Collings

Topics covered

• menopause
• HRT
• women's health
• physiological processes
• supporting women's bodies

Keywords

• menopause
• HRT
• perimenopause
• women's healthcare
• hormonal concerns
• body support
• physiological process

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