As women across the world marked International Women’s Day this past week with speeches celebrating empowerment, resilience, and the steady march toward equality, I found myself reflecting on a far quieter transition. One that rarely makes it into the language of celebration, yet touches millions of women in ways both intimate and profound. Perimenopause. My introduction to the subject arrived unexpectedly during a routine monthly catch-up with a dear friend from elementary and high school, now working in education in Connecticut. Our conversations usually drift easily - family updates, travel stories, the occasional global headlines. But midway through our call, she paused and asked a question that left me uncharacteristically silent. “So how are you managing jet lag alongside perimenopause sleep deprivation?” Surely, she had mistaken me for someone else. Yes, my sleep schedule bends itself around time zones and airport lounges. But perimenopause felt like a word belonging to another chapter of life entirely. Yet my friend did not retreat from the suggestion. With the calm authority of both an educator and someone paying attention, she began gently listing the small disruptions I had casually dismissed over the past year: restless nights, fatigue that hydration alone cannot repair, subtle mood shifts that arrive without warning. Then came the counsel only an old friend can offer with such ease. “You need to review your vitamins and minerals.” Naturally, I mounted my defence. I explained perhaps a little too quickly that I eat clean, a discipline instilled by my cautious mother. I drink at least three litres of water a day. I practice yoga with near-religious devotion. My mornings begin with collagen-laced smoothies made from blends carefully curated by my brother, who approaches nutrition like a sacred craft. And yes, I faithfully swallow my Costco multivitamins. Surely that should count for something. What followed was less a lecture than a quiet awakening. Many women, particularly African women, are entering the turning years with very little information about what is actually happening within their bodies. And that turning has a name. Perimenopause is the transitional phase before menopause, when the hormonal architecture that has guided a woman’s body for decades begins to recalibrate. For some it begins in the late thirties; for others, in the early forties. It can stretch across several years before menopause itself finally arrives. Unlike menopause, which arrives with a clear definition, the absence of menstruation for twelve consecutive months; perimenopause is far more subtle. It slips quietly into daily life. Cycles may become irregular. Sleep may grow fragile. A woman who once slept deeply through the night may suddenly find herself awake at three in the morning, her mind alert while the world remains still. Behind the scenes, hormones - the silent conductors of the body’s orchestra are shifting. Estrogen and progesterone fluctuate unpredictably, influencing metabolism, emotional regulation, bone density, cardiovascular health, and even cognitive clarity. The results can feel bewildering. Weight may redistribute despite disciplined diets and regular exercise. Energy may surge one week and collapse the next. Some women speak of brain fog that makes concentration strangely elusive. Others describe unexpected waves of irritability or anxiety in personalities once known for calm. None of this is imaginary. It is biochemical. Yet what struck me most during that conversation was not the science; it was the silence surrounding it. Across many cultures, discussions about women’s bodies have long been wrapped in discretion. Menstruation itself was often treated as something private; something whispered about rather than openly discussed. By the time women approach the turning years, the expectation frequently remains the same: handle it quietly. Carry on working. Raising families. Supporting partners. Showing up for community and career. But bodies do not negotiate with silence. Perimenopause is not merely a biological milestone; it is a recalibration of the body’s internal systems. Hormones influence sleep, metabolism, emotional balance, cardiovascular health, and long-term wellbeing. Ignoring those shifts does not delay them; it only postpones the adjustments needed to navigate them with clarity and strength. And those adjustments matter. Women today are leading organisations, raising children, caring for ageing parents, building creative legacies, and often travelling across continents in pursuit of opportunity. Managing those responsibilities while sleep-deprived and hormonally depleted is not simply uncomfortable; it can become unsustainable. Which is why the conversation matters. Speaking openly about perimenopause allows women to recognise early signals and respond thoughtfully: through improved nutrition, targeted supplementation, medical consultation, restorative rest, and the radical act of acknowledging that the body is asking for new forms of care. My friend’s question startled me at the moment. But perhaps that silence was necessary. It created space for a realization many women eventually reach: the turning years are not a quiet decline, nor a biological betrayal. They are a threshold. And if we are serious about celebrating women, not only on International Women’s Day, but across the full arc of their lives, then the transitions shaping their bodies deserve as much attention as the achievements shaping their careers. Because the truth is simple, Too many women have been entering the turning years alone. Laura Noella Rwiliriza is a communication specialist who continues to work across both the private and public sectors.
