Hello, I'm Dr Louise Newsome. I'm a GP and menopause specialist, and I'm also the founder of the Newsome Health Menopause and wellbeing centre here in Stratford-Pon-Avon.

I'm also the founder of the free Balance app.

Each week on my podcast, join me and my special guests where we discuss all things perimenopause and menopause.

We talk about the latest research, bust myths on menopause symptoms and treatments,

and often share moving and always inspirational personal stories.

This podcast is brought to you by the Newsome Health Group,

which has clinics across the UK dedicated to providing individualised perimenopause and menopause care for all women.

Today on the podcast, we're going to talk about a hormone that we haven't spoken about

much before, actually, although it is a really important hormone, we're going to talk about

progesterone, but also talk about other hormones and the importance of not just hormones when

we're perimenopausal or menopausal, but in younger people as well, so women who've had PMS, PMDD.

And I've got with me one of the doctors who works with me, Hannah Ward, who I've known for a few

years now and is one of the key doctors who works with me in Houston Health. So thanks, Hannah,

for coming today to the podcast. Thanks for having me. So I love connections, some of you might know,

and the more I find out about people, the more I realize there are connections. And Hannah,

you'd been working for us for a few months, really.

And then you said, you know, my husband, don't you?

That's right.

And your surname Ward is quite a common surname, so I hadn't had the connection.

But after I came back from New Zealand, I did a cancer job down in Southampton.

It was quite a hard job and one of the

doctors who I got on very well with who made the job far more enjoyable than it would have

...