Robyn Malcolm’s Menopause and Us: Niki Bezzant Helps Change the Conversation

Menopause has spent generations being minimised, joked about or simply not discussed. Robyn Malcolm is helping push it firmly into the open with Robyn Malcolm: Menopause and Us, now streaming on TVNZ+.

The local documentary follows Malcolm as she looks back on her own difficult experience of menopause and travels around Aotearoa speaking with women and experts about what really happens during perimenopause and menopause. TVNZ describes the programme as an exploration of the myths, challenges and truths of the transition, while Malcolm told 1News that she wants women to recognise unusual changes, investigate them and keep talking about menopause rather than suffering in silence.

One of the expert voices Malcolm turns to is Collaborate Management's expert talent Niki Bezzant, one of New Zealand’s leading menopause educators, health journalists and speakers. The Spinoff notes that in the documentary Niki examines the historic confusion around hormone replacement therapy and the consequences that followed for women who went without treatment or support.

That expertise has been years in the making. Niki is the author of the bestselling This Changes Everything: The Honest Guide to Menopause and Perimenopause, also featured as a resource by Meno Central, and has spent years translating complicated health research into practical information people can actually use. The wider conversation around menopause is also continuing across social media, including through this Instagram post.

So what does Niki want people to know? In her menopause guide for AIA, she stresses that experiences vary widely and that perimenopause can involve far more than hot flushes. Sleep disruption, brain fog, mood changes, anxiety, fatigue, headaches, joint pain and changes in libido can all be part of the picture. Her practical advice includes regular movement, nourishing food, good sleep and stress management, alongside talking with a healthcare professional about individual treatment options, including Menopausal Hormone Therapy where appropriate.

She also makes an important point for partners, families and employers: menopause is not only an issue for the person experiencing it. Understanding, empathy and practical workplace support can make an enormous difference.

That is also why Niki’s work extends well beyond television. Through her speaking, media work and signature This Changes Everything menopause talk, she helps workplaces and audiences understand what is happening in the body and brain, cut through misinformation and talk about menopause without awkwardness or judgement.

Robyn Malcolm: Menopause and Us adds another powerful push to a conversation New Zealand has avoided for too long. Niki Bezzant is one of the voices helping make sure that conversation is informed, useful and impossible to shove back into the shadows.

For organisations looking for a menopause speaker, women’s health expert, media commentator or workplace wellbeing presenter in New Zealand, explore Niki Bezzant’s profile at Collaborate Management, discover more of our New Zealand speakers, or read our earlier story on Niki Bezzant and Petra Bagust changing the conversation on menopause.