How My Menopause Centre is getting the best information to women

The founders of My Menopause Centre tell Andy Martin about providing information and guidance to all women

Helen Normoyle (left) and Clare Spencer (My Menopause Centre)

Young mums Dr Clare Spencer and Helen Normoyle first met at the school gates in Harrogate as they were dropping off their kids. But it wasn’t too long before they were comparing notes on the menopause. Now they’ve set up My Menopause Centre to provide information and guidance to all the women out there who want to understand what is happening to them and what they can do about it.

Clare Spencer studied at Girton College, Cambridge, took a doctorate in fetomaternal medicine, spent a year in Ohio studying high-risk pregnancies, married a surgeon, and eventually settled down in general practice in Harrogate with an emphasis on women’s health. Helen Normoyle took business studies with German at the University of Limerick and went on to work in Nuremberg and Chicago before becoming marketing director at the BBC, then at DFS in Doncaster, and more recently Boots.

“I’m a big believer in synchronicity,” says Helen. “If we hadn’t moved to Harrogate and gone to that school and our sons hadn’t become friends, none of this would have happened.” Their school gate encounter took place in 2012. Their friendship was sealed by their sons putting their handprints on a painting. A few years later they were having coffee together and Helen started telling Clare about her symptoms. “She helped me understand. I’m evidence-based, I look at data and I like to know what’s going on. She’s kind and empathetic but also very knowledgeable and I knew I could trust her. I wished I could bottle her up and share her with other women.” Which, in virtual form, is exactly what they have done.