{"id":82232,"date":"2025-10-18T05:40:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T05:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/82232\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T05:40:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T05:40:12","slug":"more-menopause-support-in-singapore-from-clinics-to-apps-and-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/82232\/","title":{"rendered":"More menopause support in Singapore, from clinics to apps and events"},"content":{"rendered":"

SINGAPORE \u2013 Ms Joyce Chung was walking her four-year-old daughter to pre-school one morning in 2020 when the girl turned to her and said: \u201cMama, you haven\u2019t scolded me yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was speechless, but her sentence was so powerful. I felt like there was something wrong because my temperament used to be calmer,\u201d the 49-year-old recalls. She realised she had been snapping at her two young children. Her kids are now seven and nine. <\/p>\n

She initially dismissed these incidents as her being over-caffeinated or stressed about her then new bakery business, Guilt Free Food, which was deluged with orders after going viral. <\/p>\n

But something had felt amiss since 2019, when she moved back to Singapore after being retrenched from a tech marketing job in Hong Kong. Besides erratic periods and mood swings, her hair had started falling out. <\/p>\n

It took Ms Chung five years to find an answer. <\/p>\n

In 2023, she chanced upon a book titled The Hormone Fix: Burn Fat Naturally, Boost Energy, Sleep Better, And Stop Hot Flashes, The Keto-Green Way by American gynaecologist and obstetrician Anna Cabeca.<\/p>\n

It helped her realise she was in perimenopause, the phase leading up to menopause, when a woman\u2019s periods stop. Perimenopause, which can last up to a decade, is often marked by symptoms such as joint pain, hot flushes, night sweats and brain fog. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It took Ms Joyce Chung, 49, five years to figure out that her mood swings, erratic periods and hair loss were due to perimenopause. <\/p>\n

PHOTO: COURTESY OF JOYCE CHUNG<\/p>\n

On average, women in Singapore hit menopause at age 49. <\/p>\n

Ms Chung tried practising mindfulness to regulate her emotions, and cut down on sugar, which helped with mood swings. <\/p>\n

A year later, she made an appointment with KK Menopause Centre by KK Women\u2019s and Children\u2019s Hospital (KKH) to explore possible menopause hormone treatment \u2013 MHT is the new name for HRT (hormone replacement therapy). She is now seeking the centre\u2019s help with frozen shoulder, another possible perimenopause symptom. <\/p>\n

\u201cMenopause is such a prominent life stage, but there\u2019s not enough awareness and publicity\u00a0about it compared with pregnancy and motherhood. I noticed that people started talking about it only around the end of last year, and many of my friends are still clueless,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

As Ms Chung observes, the stigma around perimenopause and menopause is slowly but surely lifting. <\/p>\n

A host of new services and support avenues have sprung up since The Straits Times documented in January 2024 the <\/p>\n

impending wave of menopausal women<\/p>\n

<\/a> in a superageing society, where one in four citizens will be aged 65 and older by 2030. <\/p>\n

According to United Nations\u2019 figures, more than 1.1 billion women, who represent one in five of the global workforce, will be menopausal in 2025.<\/p>\n

Hospitals here, like National University Hospital (NUH) and KKH, which see large numbers of menopausal patients, are building menopause-focused services. <\/p>\n

NUH is set to launch a dedicated service to provide holistic care soon, says Professor Yong Eu Leong, head and emeritus consultant of its Division of Benign Gynaecology at the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology. He also leads the Integrated Women\u2019s Health Programme, a longitudinal study on menopausal health that began in 2014. <\/p>\n

Patients can expect customised management plans that address commonly overlooked menopausal symptoms such as joint pain and muscle aches, poor sleep, anxiety, weight gain and poor mental well-being, he says.<\/p>\n

At the clinic, women will be able to seek help from specialists on menopausal care, weight management and related health issues, including hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis multidisciplinary team will bring the latest evidence-based, state-of-the-art interventions to help women sail through this challenging period, so they can continue to be in charge of their lives and be the pillars of their families, professions and society as before,\u201d Prof Yong says.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

KK Menopause Centre has seen a gradual increase in patients, says Associate Professor Rukshini Puvanendran (right), its co-director.<\/p>\n

PHOTO: KKH<\/p>\n

KK Menopause Centre has seen a gradual increase in patients since it opened two years ago, with 60 to 70 new cases a month since May, says Associate Professor Rukshini Puvanendran, its co-director, who is also head of and senior consultant in KKH\u2019s Family Medicine Service. <\/p>\n

She expects the number to rise in line with increasing awareness and Singapore\u2019s ageing population.<\/p>\n

\u201cKK Menopause Centre has helped shift the conversation around menopause awareness among both the public and healthcare providers. Our multidisciplinary approach has highlighted that menopause affects the entire body \u2013 from brain function to bone health, skin and emotional well-being \u2013 and not just reproductive health,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

In June, the centre launched Singapore\u2019s first Menopause After Cancer Clinic in collaboration with KKH\u2019s gynaecological oncology team. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis clinic addresses the unique needs of cancer survivors, which are particularly important given rising cancer rates. Cancer survivors often experience more severe menopause symptoms and may face early menopause due to cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy,\u201d says Prof Rukshini. <\/p>\n

Drawing on clinical observations that patients need psychosocial support, KK Menopause Centre collaborated with KKH psychiatrists and clinical psychologists to offer more comprehensive care for mood changes and sleep disturbances.<\/p>\n

The centre\u2019s Menopause Interest Group has expanded significantly with more members and activities, Prof Rukshini adds. <\/p>\n

KK Menopause Centre will host its annual menopause public forum on Oct 18, and is holding talks at workplaces to help employers and employees understand menopause and create better support systems.<\/p>\n

More midlife women are also seeking perimenopause and menopause support from complementary health practitioners. <\/p>\n

Ms Beatrice Liu, co-founder and chief executive of Oriental Remedies Group, says her traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) health tech business sees up to 100 women with menopause-related issues across its five clinics. <\/p>\n

Patients have been getting younger \u2013 typically in their early 40s now, compared with 48 to 55 years old three years ago \u2013 as women proactively seek advice on symptoms such as irregular menstruation, brain fog and weight gain. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Oriental Remedies Group has seen more women in their early 40s seeking traditional Chinese medicine support for perimenopausal symptoms in recent years. <\/p>\n

PHOTO: ORIENTAL REMEDIES GROUP<\/p>\n

\u201cThey tend to bring their blood tests reports, sometimes even before they experience full symptoms. This could be related to better knowledge of perimenopause,\u201d Ms Liu says.<\/p>\n

Similarly, physician Huang Wen Ru from Shang TCM, which has three branches islandwide, has observed a 20 per cent increase in the number of women seeking help for perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms over the last few years.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the pandemic, patients became more focused on improving their vitality and immune resilience. This meant they no longer ignored symptoms like fatigue, insomnia and mood swings, and instead viewed these as legitimate health concerns requiring proactive management,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

Each month, chiropractic practice Dr Chiro founder Nicholas Lim sees four to five new cases of women seeking help for perimenopause and menopause symptoms, up from two to three in 2021. <\/p>\n

Their top concerns are joint and muscle pain, sleep and fatigue issues, as well as weight gain or bloating. Most are professionals aged 42 to 58, although he says more women in their late 30s to early 40s have come with early perimenopausal symptoms.<\/p>\n

He has collaborated with partners to offer a personalised Women\u2019s Longevity & Hormone Balance Programme. It includes chiropractic adjustments, alignment and mobility plans, as well as a body recomposition programme and metabolic assessments.<\/p>\n

As women may consult different medical and wellness practitioners who do not communicate with one another, some providers are looking to bridge the holistic health gap, such as Hey Taylor, which seeks to be Singapore\u2019s first hybrid women\u2019s health clinic and platform. <\/p>\n

It launched in 2024 with online care and mobile clinics, and opened a clinic in Robinson Road in April. On its eponymous app, patients can book appointments, track their periods and get alerts for abnormal health symptoms. <\/p>\n

Women in midlife can opt for a customised menopause care plan, which is anchored by a women\u2019s health doctor and may include consultations with a trainer, dietitian, physiotherapist and TCM practitioner. A care advocate checks in regularly, coordinates updates and ensures providers cater to the patient\u2019s evolving needs. <\/p>\n

Hey Taylor charges $74.10 for a consultation. Fees for other services vary according to what the patient chooses. The clinic will also work with a patient\u2019s existing wellness providers. <\/p>\n

\u201cBefore coming to us, many women shared that they were already seeing physiotherapists, dietitians or TCM practitioners. Yet, they often felt like the project manager of their health, trying to make sense of conflicting advice,\u201d says Ms Eve Lee, its co-founder and chief executive. <\/p>\n

She says about 70 per cent of its eligible patients have opted for the customised menopause care plan, although not all go the MHT route. <\/p>\n

One patient, who had been struggling with poor sleep, joint pain, weight gain and anxiety attacks for about 1\u00bd years without a doctor connecting the dots, found respite with MHT and started sessions with a trainer experienced in midlife physiology to rebuild strength. <\/p>\n

Another chose non-hormonal medication for hot flushes, started pelvic floor therapy and saw a dietitian for nutrition support. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe had stopped running because of stress urinary incontinence, but with aligned care and physiotherapy, she\u2019s beginning to regain the confidence to exercise again,\u201d Ms Lee says. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hey Taylor held a mobile women\u2019s clinic for perimenopause and menopause in Joo Chiat on Aug 30. There, women could book consultations and attend a talk with health experts.<\/p>\n

PHOTO: HEY TAYLOR<\/p>\n

Hey Taylor also held a mobile women\u2019s clinic for perimenopause and menopause on Aug 30. About 50 women came in for tests and consultations that Saturday afternoon, a time when most clinics are closed. <\/p>\n

\u201cMany told us they had been feeling unlike themselves for months, sometimes years, but never realised these were signs of menopause until they spoke to our team. Some had seen multiple doctors without getting a clear answer, and said they finally felt like help was within reach,\u201d Ms Lee says. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we plan to continue bringing our mobile clinics into neighbourhoods and workplaces. Meeting women where they are often makes the difference between delaying care and finally getting answers.\u201d <\/p>\n

A number of femtech start-ups focusing on menopause have launched in the last two years, giving midlife women more avenues for resources and support.<\/p>\n

Surety Singapore, run by Gen Zs Valery Tan, 28, and Elmer Yap, 27, grabbed headlines by organising <\/p>\n

Singapore\u2019s first Menopause Festival<\/p>\n

<\/a> in November 2024.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Start-up Surety Singapore has held four Pause & Sip events since May. The free monthly meetups allow women to talk and connect, and feature medical or allied professionals as headliners. <\/p>\n

PHOTO: SURETY SINGAPORE<\/p>\n

Since that sold-out event, which attracted 150 participants, Surety has organised four Pause & Sip events from May to September that saw between 15 and 40 participants each time. <\/p>\n

The free monthly events, headlined by a doctor or allied professional, aim to create a safe space for women to talk and connect. Topics have included mental health, bone health and hormonal health. <\/p>\n

Besides its WhatsApp chat group, which has almost 100 members, Surety took over the Menopause Support Singapore group on Facebook in July after its previous administrator left the country. The closed group has more than 780 members and allows for anonymous posts, which Ms Tan says encourages women to share more. <\/p>\n

The duo, who also run corporate awareness and education programmes, are now busy with their Midlife Festival on Oct 24 and 25. The two-day event \u2013 with early-bird tickets priced from $73.40 until Oct 20 \u2013 in town features topics on wellness in the workplace and midlife health for both women and men. <\/p>\n

Ms Tan says, following feedback, Surety has broadened the festival\u2019s scope to include midlife topics that appeal to men as well. She expects an audience of 300 for the 2025 event and plans to launch a similar one in Kuala Lumpur in 2026. <\/p>\n

Ms Grace Oh, a South Korean based in Singapore, started out sharing practical, evidence-based information on menopause online in 2020, after experiencing perimenopausal symptoms and years of seeing how women\u2019s health concerns were often belittled by medical professionals. <\/p>\n

In 2024, two years after she moved here from Hong Kong,\u00a0she rebranded her YouTube channel and website into Sol. <\/p>\n

Short for Spring of Life, Sol aims to be an app, platform and community for women in Asia, where women are especially prone to being misunderstood and ignored during midlife, says Ms Oh, who declines to reveal her age. The Sol app has just launched\u00a0on Apple\u2019s App Store and an Android version will be released soon.<\/p>\n

Sol\u2019s first annual conference, Flash Forward, held in April, attracted almost 200 registrants and featured 39 speakers across keynote addresses, panels and flash networking sessions where women could speak directly to experts. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Femtech start-up Sol\u2019s Flash Forward event in April featured 39 experts, including doctors, mental health professionals and complementary health practitioners. <\/p>\n

PHOTO: SOLMENOPAUSE.COM<\/p>\n

Dr Loh Foo Hoe, past president of the Menopause Research Society (Singapore), and Dr Chua Yang, past president of the Asia-Pacific Menopause Federation, were among the key speakers. <\/p>\n

Sol has also organised Flash Connect events every month since June. The free sessions feature experts who facilitate open conversations or lead an activity and typically attract 12 to 17 participants. Its next one is on Nov 14 with British clinical psychologist Emma Waddington on mental health in midlife.<\/p>\n

At one of the sessions, Ms Oh recalls a woman saying she finally felt normal after years of being told she was \u201ctoo young\u201d for perimenopause. Another participant nodded and said: \u201cThat was me too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin minutes, they were swopping stories. It reminded me that beyond science and technology, women simply need safe, understanding spaces to be heard, and that\u2019s what Sol is building,\u201d she adds. <\/p>\n

While Surety and Sol hold regular consumer activities, workplaces in Asia are the focus of HeyVenus Integrated Healthscience. It is helmed by former human resources (HR) and business transformation expert Christina Ang, in her early 50s, who saw up close how working women struggled in the workplace during midlife. <\/p>\n

\u201cEven with access to healthcare, the experience was confusing and isolating,\u201d she says of her perimenopause journey.<\/p>\n

In March, HeyVenus and the NUS Bia-Echo Asia Centre for Reproductive Longevity and Equality (ACRLE) at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine launched <\/p>\n

a <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

ground-breaking<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

white paper<\/p>\n

<\/a> that revealed the economic cost of ignoring menopause at work.<\/p>\n

Two in three working women in the Asia-Pacific region aged 45 and up said menopause symptoms disrupted their professional and personal lives, while almost seven in 10 Singapore-based female respondents had experienced at least two menopause-related symptoms which interfered with their jobs and reduced their quality of life. <\/p>\n

The white paper polled 1,741 working women and managers aged 20 to 60 across five countries, and a quarter of the respondents were from Singapore.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Adjunct Assistant Professor Huang Zhongwei, deputy director of the NUS Bia-Echo Asia Centre for Reproductive Longevity and Equality (front row, second from right), and Ms Christina Ang, founder and chief executive of HeyVenus Integrated Healthscience (front row, fourth from right), at the Menopause & The Bottom Line event in April. <\/p>\n

PHOTO: NUS MEDICINE<\/p>\n

HeyVenus and ACRLE followed this with a by-invitation-only event in April, Menopause & The Bottom Line, which brought together over 80 senior leaders from the private and public sectors. <\/p>\n

\u201cFeedback was overwhelmingly positive. Many said it was the first time menopause had been framed as a leadership and economic issue, not just a personal one. Working with NUS Medicine, we showed how menopause affects productivity, retention and healthcare costs, sparking conversations about how organisations can respond,\u201d Ms Ang says. <\/p>\n

Besides existing one-to-one health coaching that its clients\u2019 employees can sign up for, HeyVenus plans to launch AI-powered workplace and personal health tools that help women take care of their well-being at work and in everyday life. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make menopause support accessible and relatable, blending medical expertise, technology and cultural relevance to give every woman the confidence and tools to take charge of her health,\u201d adds Ms Ang.<\/p>\n

Zora Health, a two-year-old femtech start-up known for its fertility care resources, also offers menopause-related content and support. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Zora Health founder Anna Haotanto plans to launch a Menopause At Work corporate programme in Singapore and Indonesia in 2026. <\/p>\n

PHOTO: ZORA HEALTH<\/p>\n

Founder and chief executive Anna Haotanto, 40, says she started it partly because she thought she was going through perimenopause at the time and wanted to provide evidence-based and culturally relevant support to women and couples through different life stages. <\/p>\n

In late 2024, it launched its Zora Menopause Reset online course with 22 lessons, which costs $49 for 12 months of access. The content is fact-checked with medical journals and research, says Ms Haotanto. Over 100 women, mostly based in Singapore, have taken it.<\/p>\n

\u201cA user messaged us that she cried halfway through the perimenopause lesson because she realised she wasn\u2019t \u2018going crazy\u2019. Another said that after taking our Menopause Reset course, she brought her husband into the discussion so he would understand what she was going through. Many women I spoke to mentioned that they wanted to understand their symptoms first instead of jumping straight to MHT,\u201d Ms Haotanto says. <\/p>\n

Women seeking non-medical guidance can book a 30-minute Menopause Clarity Call for $29\u00a0with a care navigator, who can direct them to relevant professionals.<\/p>\n

Zora also created the @menopauseasia Instagram account in March to reach out to younger women who may not realise how early in life perimenopause symptoms can start. It has over 1,600 followers.<\/p>\n

Ms Haotanto, a Singaporean, is planning to launch a Menopause At Work corporate programme across Singapore and Indonesia in the first quarter of 2026. This will include workshops, e-learning modules and practical toolkits for HR teams. <\/p>\n

While awareness of the menopause transition has improved and the menopause space is filling up with exciting new initiatives, Prof Rukshini acknowledges that much remains to be done. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that on the ground, most obstetricians and family physicians are not confident in managing patients on MHT. This stems largely from outdated safety concerns about MHT, based on a flawed study from 30 years ago,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

Recent evidence, however, supports MHT\u2019s safety and effectiveness for most healthy women under 60 within 10 years of menopause, and the United States\u2019 Food and Drug Administration is expected to update these warnings soon, she adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cKKH is working to standardise menopause care practices in Singapore, including MHT use,\u201d Prof Rukshini says.<\/p>\n

Ms Haotanto adds: \u201cThe challenge isn\u2019t only medical, but also awareness and language. Women don\u2019t have the vocabulary to describe what they\u2019re experiencing and most of us aren\u2019t trained to connect the dots early.<\/p>\n

\u201cMenopause support is about helping women to stay healthy, productive and confident in the prime of their careers. When we start seeing it that way, society changes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SINGAPORE \u2013 Ms Joyce Chung was walking her four-year-old daughter to pre-school one morning in 2020 when the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[163,521,85,46],"class_list":["post-82232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}