Menopause - see your midwife! A project leading to change in women's healthcare has been launched!

As many as 93% of Polish women cannot give a correct definition of menopause. It is still discussed too little and rather quietly, even though it is a natural, another stage in every woman’s life. For years, the Kulczyk Foundation has been promoting reliable knowledge on this topic and advocating for systemic change. A pilot project, implemented by the Kulczyk Foundation in collaboration with the Supreme Council of Nurses and Midwives and the National Consultant in Gynecological and Obstetric Nursing, has just been launched, and it has the potential to revolutionize the approach to women’s health. The initiative is under the patronage of the Minister of Health, Izabela Leszczyna.

Women’s health issues have been underrepresented, both in doctors’ offices and in social discourse. The Kulczyk Foundation is researching and promoting the topic of menopausal transition. It will soon be introduced as part of health education, a new subject in schools. And this is not the end of the systemic changes that may come.

A program has just been launched that will provide women with long-term support during their menopausal transition at their clinic. Every Polish woman chooses a midwife within her primary care system, in addition to her family doctor. However, not everyone knows that midwives can support women in their health care at every stage of life.

This medical group has extensive training in supporting women during the perimenopausal period. Midwives are primarily associated with care during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period, but their expertise extends significantly. Therefore, in January, a free continuing education course, “Counseling during Menopausal Transition,” was launched. This pilot project is organized by the Kulczyk Foundation under the patronage of the Ministry of Health in partnership with the Supreme Council of Nurses and Midwives. The National Consultant in Gynecological and Obstetric Nursing oversees the course.

“Midwives’ support in caring for women during the perimenopausal period is great news for millions of Polish women! Until now, we have been left to our own devices with this issue, without adequate support and understanding. We are changing this – menopause will no longer be a taboo subject. A topic that is shameful, irrelevant, unnoticed, and incomprehensible. It is a normal stage in the lives of women – our grandmothers, mothers, sisters, wives, and partners,” emphasizes Dominika Kulczyk , founder of the Kulczyk Foundation, adding, “Midwives, with their knowledge, experience, and sensitivity, accompany women at important moments in their lives. Thanks to our project, they will be ready to support them during the menopausal transition as well. We are pleased that our foundation’s initiative has gained widespread support. The course for midwives is another domino, the horizon of which is systemic change and a real improvement in the quality of life for women in Poland.”

“We assume that – with the significant support of the Ministry of Health – this will become a specialized course in the future, thanks to which society will gain a guaranteed benefit in the form of midwifery consultations for women during menopausal transition,” adds Grażyna Iwanowicz -Palus, National Consultant in Gynecological and Obstetric Nursing. The Minister of Health, Izabela Leszczyna, is open to this solution. Therefore, the project’s evaluation will be crucial, providing conclusions and solutions for the future. “We want midwives’ work in this area to be included in the health benefits package,” concludes Sylwia Lis from the Department of Health Equality at the Ministry of Health. And if this happens, as Mariola Łodzińska, president of the National Institute of Labor and Social Policy , notes, it will benefit both women and midwives.

“Already across almost all of Europe, midwives are involved in women’s reproductive and sexual issues. And I’m very pleased that Polish midwives will be joining this standard,” emphasizes Alicja Długołęcka, a sexologist and psychotherapist, who led one of the modules. Bożena Kulesza-Brończyk, a midwife and one of the course lecturers, in turn, adds, “Participating in a project like this allows us to expand the responsibilities and competencies of midwives, especially in primary care. Midwives can educate women during menopause, and if this is followed by a service financed by the National Health Fund, it will bring tangible benefits.”

We also invite you to watch a video reporting on the course inauguration, which also explains its assumptions:

Menopause is the last period. But it’s preceded by a series of physical and mental processes that are simply worth preparing for as we enter the next stage of life. This is especially true given the current aging society, which is a topic that affects everyone, as it has a real impact on GDP. According to the “Invisible at Work” report, one in five working people in Poland is a woman of perimenopausal age (40-55). Failure to address this issue leads to poorer performance at work for many Polish women, and some, especially women at the peak of their careers, give up or limit their professional activity [2].

^{[1],[2] https://menopauzabeztabu.org.pl/nasz-raport/}

Details of the program can be found at: menopauzabeztabu.org.pl

The “Counseling during Menopausal Transition” training course for midwives is a pilot program organized by the Kulczyk Foundation under the patronage of the Ministry of Health in partnership with the Supreme Council of Nurses and Midwives and the Warsaw Chamber of Nurses and Midwives. The National Consultant in Gynecological and Obstetric Nursing is supervising the course’s content. Several dozen midwives from across Poland are participating in the course. After passing the knowledge tests, they will be able to serve as menopause educators , providing support to women in their region and teaching other specialists. The course will undergo a two-stage evaluation, allowing for better adaptation of the content to the needs of practicing midwives.

The course consists of five thematic modules and takes place in the first quarter of 2025:

• Cultural and social aspects of the perimenopausal period
• Medical conditions of menopausal changes
• Urogynecological health support
• Sexuality during the perimenopausal period
• Emotional and psychological support for women during menopausal transition

The course is the first step in the process. Next, each midwife, upon returning to their workplace, will share the information acquired and updated during the training. Participants will lead educational meetings in their districts – separately for midwives and patients themselves. Organizers are committed not only to popularizing knowledge about menopause education but also to disseminating information about the broad competencies of midwives. Only 3% of respondents know that this is a medical group that provides support during the menopausal transition [3]. The pilot will conclude with an evaluation, which will allow efforts to include the course in the postgraduate education program for midwives as a specialized course, and to include counseling during the menopausal transition in the primary healthcare package. The Kulczyk Foundation will create a database of midwives with up-to-date knowledge about menopause, so that women will know who to turn to in their region for support. All indications are that the coming months will bring us concrete, needed, and anticipated changes in improving the comfort and safety of life for millions of Polish women.