femalegp

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Women’s health Specialist GP and educator specialising in perimenopause, menopause, and mental health; offering 1:1 consultations, business education, local community walks and resources that improve access to care

04/04/2026

For years, menopause hormone therapy (MHT) has been shaped by fear.

That fear largely came from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study (2002) - which led to a global drop in prescribing and the addition of an FDA “black box” warning in 2003, highlighting risks like breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, and dementia.

👉 But here’s what we’ve learned:

The original messaging was overly broad. Many women in the study were older (average age ~63) - not typical of when treatment is started and the hormone types don’t reflect modern practice

Over the past 20+ years, evidence has clarified:
✔️ Timing matters -> starting closer to menopause changes the risk profile
✔️ Type and delivery matter -> transdermal vs oral, different progesterones
✔️ Risk is individual -> not one-size-fits-all

The FDA has now REMOVED the boxed warning requirement.

Why? Because it didn’t reflect current evidence or practice and likely contributed to years of under-treatment and unnecessary suffering.

⚖️ What this means now

We move from:
❌ Fear-based prescribing
➡️ To confident, informed, individualised care

Because menopause care isn’t about avoiding risk at all costs,
it’s about balancing risk with quality of life

For too long, many women have been:
Dismissed
Misinformed
Left to cope
And suffered unnecessarily

🇳🇿 Want to understand your options?
If you’ve ever been told hormones “aren’t safe”-
or felt unsure about what’s right for you…

I’ve created a NZ-developed course/resource, grounded in evidence and clinical experience.

Designed to help you:
✔️ Understand your options
✔️ Make informed decisions
✔️ Feel confident

✨ Check out my course/resource (link in bio)

🎁 Easter offer:
DM/or comment EASTER for a 50% off code (limited available) (RRP $140)

🌟⭐️✨
“I wish I had know this earlier”
“This gave me confidence to ask”
“Tears… because things now make sense”

The time is now.
I don’t hear women say “I started too early” but I hear frequently “why did I wait?”

🥚Easter egg hunts are a tradition in my whānau! This year, it made me reflect on my relationship with chocolate. I didn’...
04/04/2026

🥚Easter egg hunts are a tradition in my whānau! This year, it made me reflect on my relationship with chocolate. I didn’t actually eat chocolate until university because, as a teenager, I would always get really bad migraines after chocolate (and ice cream!).

🔍Interestingly, over the last few years, my migraines have gotten considerably worse. More recently, there have been a number of times where I’m sure that about an hour after eating chocolate, I get that strange brain-foggy and thirsty feeling.

Putting this into the context of hormones - it’s funny that I was told by an endocrinologist “you’re too young to be peri-menopausal” it’s more likely PMS (or PMDD). You are your own expert, right? I have noticed other changes (physical and psychological) too…

This experience has reinforced for me the importance of the work and the changes we need to achieve in the women’s health space. Most women don’t receive a diagnosis of perimenopause. This week I have been even clearer with my management plans for my patients, and spelling out a diagnosis of perimenopause and what that means. For years I’ve talked about ‘perimenopause hormone change’ causing symptoms- but I’ve never actively said ‘this is a diagnosis of perimenopause’. When preparing for my recent presentation I came across this poster by (link at bottom/bio). And this reinforced to me how I need to be using perimenopause as a positive diagnosis because there is safe, effective, appropriate treatment.

Have a lovely Easter 🐣. Right now, my Easter treat is sitting on the sofa with my book! And debating whether later I may have some chocolate… 😉
https://d2931px9t312xa.cloudfront.net/menopausedoctor/files/information/632/BMS%20poster%20Louise%20Newson%202021.pdf

How many diagnoses in your late 30s and 40s are influenced by hormones?Honestly, we don’t have a neat number.But we do h...
03/04/2026

How many diagnoses in your late 30s and 40s are influenced by hormones?

Honestly, we don’t have a neat number.
But we do have evidence AND physiology.

Estrogen receptors are found throughout the body.. brain, gut, joints, heart, immune system. So when hormones fluctuate, it doesn’t show up as one symptom… it can (and does) show up as multiple diagnoses.

And this is where things get missed.

We use antidepressants for anxiety.
We treat (badly) migraines.
We investigate palpitations.
We manage fibromyalgia.
We dismiss ADHD.
We prescribe for pain.
We validate stress.
We say rest for fatigue.
We sedate insomnia.
We support sick days “burnout.”

…but we don’t always ask what’s driving it.

I think we miss hormones.

I’ve just shared this with a room of 200 healthcare professionals.. because this isn’t just happening to patients, it’s being missed in clinics too.

And this is exactly why I created my course. Because I wish I could see every female and whanau (but I can’t).

I made it based on my experience AND the science.
Not for everyone just to understand hormones,
but to know what to do with that information.

✨ When hormones are part of the picture
✨ When treatment (including HRT/MHT) might help
✨ What to do if things aren’t working
✨ How to understand your options and your needs

🚨 I’ve released a limited 50% off code 🚨
Only 50 available

📩 Comment or DM me “EASTER”
and I’ll send you the link + code

Includes:
📘 Hormonal Hīkoi downloadable booklet
🎓 2 years access
💬 Opportunities to ask questions

Happy Holidays
Dr Sam xx

02/04/2026

Why are dogs so good for our health? 🐾

They get us moving (even when we don’t feel like it)
They help regulate our nervous system with a single cuddle
They bring routine, connection, make memories and a whole lot of joy
They open the door to conversations, friendships, and community
And somehow… they always know exactly when we need them most 💛

Turns out there’s real science behind it too..
they lower stress, support our heart health, improve immunity and help us feel more connected.

I’m so looking forward to four days with my three four-legged friends my boys 🐶🐶🐶

I never really understood what people meant when they said
“dogs are family”…

Until I got them 🤍

Here are my boys now I’d love to meet yours
Drop a photo below - to celebrate Easter with our whānau 👇🐾

28/03/2026

What a day out at Tussock Traverse. Running in the peace, reflecting, and being forced to stay present (because otherwise I tripped 😅).

I’m pretty tired now, but feeling so lucky to be able to run (walk!) through our beautiful national parks right on our doorstep. The people made it even more special, everyone was so lovely, friendly, and supportive. And my husband at the finish line (with much-needed water!) 💛

Huge admiration for those taking on the 100k, so encouraging, motivating, and genuinely inspiring!!!

It’s been a hectic couple of weeks (written as I’m on an hour bus ride in Tongariro to the start of a 32k run). Yesterd...
27/03/2026

It’s been a hectic couple of weeks (written as I’m on an hour bus ride in Tongariro to the start of a 32k run).

Yesterday I attended a Health Forum run by the charitable trust, New Zealand Women in Medicine (NZWIM) to look how the health system can be improved.

I attended to learn, but also to share my experience, and ideas and advocate how through Womens health can improve the future of the health system. Through my mahi I have realised, that I must always see patients 1:1 and journey with them, but that’s not enough. The system isn’t set up for women’s health, despite the extensive data demonstrating huge inequities and worse health outcomes, and I want this to be at the forefront- because there are some small things we can start with/ive already tried to start. Sadly there wasn’t an opportunity for me share my experience, and I have come away slightly deflated. (Perhaps I’m slightly naive…)

But.. I will be channeling my experience and connecting this week even more with my community, the wāhine toa that support me and any to support their whānau too. Because stories matter.

And we need to find out how to share them.

Because the speakers that inspired me, and who are walking ahead of me are sharing their stories of their patients. It’s an honour, but also when you see potential- it’s a responsibility that we take seriously.

I don’t have time to wait for policy change to start improving the hauora of our wāhine. So, let’s start tomorrow.

Who’s along for the ride? (It’s probably going to be a bit bumpy)

“Neuroses of the menopause.”Published in 1897.1897.. yes. 1 8 9 7Because here we are in March 2026…and I am still standi...
23/03/2026

“Neuroses of the menopause.”
Published in 1897.

1897.. yes. 1 8 9 7

Because here we are in March 2026…
and I am still standing in rooms explaining the link between hormones and mental health.

That’s why I chose this topic for my talks this weekend.

Not because it’s new..
but because it isn’t.

We have known for hundreds of years that midlife hormonal changes can affect mood, behaviour, and emotional wellbeing.

And yet, historically (and currently) women have been (are still being):
😡labelled “hysterical”
😡admitted to psychiatric institutions
😡dismissed
😡recommended and prescribed inappropriate and/or ineffective medications
– or simply not believed

So I have to ask…

How are we still here?

How is there still no standardised, global education on women’s mental health across the lifespan?

How are we still separating hormones from the brain - when they are fundamentally connected?

This isn’t fringe.
This isn’t rare.
This is physiology.

It’s time to stop rediscovering what was already written
and start actually applying it.

PS And slight rant - please don't just blame your GP. We have feelings too, and our doctor friends do as well. We need to work together, not against each other. We want to help. The misogyny isn’t ‘just’ our fault now.

When it comes to MHT, it’s not about a simple yes or no - it’s about the why. This was the core of my talks this weekend...
22/03/2026

When it comes to MHT, it’s not about a simple yes or no - it’s about the why. This was the core of my talks this weekend. People don’t seek medication for fun; they want relief. Our job isn’t to rush to treatment without understanding the root cause; it’s to gather evidence.
✨ Are these symptoms hormonal?
✨ What’s behind them?
✨ Why are they surfacing now?
✨ How will the body react?

With these answers, we can build a plan that truly fits. MHT might be part of it, or it might not be. Focusing on why leads to more personalized and effective care. You deserve more than just a yes or no; you deserve clarity.

The evidence is clear: considering hormones leads to better outcomes, especially for women.

21/03/2026

Feeling really lucky to be supported by an amazing community here in Aotearoa and world wide- to have the confidence to teach about hormones and mental health. I’m motivated by my patients, and the stories I hear, and fundamentally how- when we get it right, hormone can change their lives, and those of their whānau. We need to learn from each other, and make our own pathway for our community, our Wāhine here in Aotearoa. I thank , , (Prof Kulkarni), , , and for giving me the confidence to stand up and share my stories underpinned with evidence. We can’t wait for the guidelines to change our practice. We don’t have that long to wait.

20/03/2026

90 mins on hormones, mental health and perimenopause. The hardest thing was choosing what NOT to say. I hope I’ve selected the ‘best’ bits!

20/03/2026

Session 1: Hormones and mental health across the lifespan. And Session 2: Is it perimenopause? Early clues and clinical confidence in making a diagnosis. That’s 90 mins to start to change the world… right?!

Ongoing perimenopausal symptoms?What are you actually treating?You’re not treating “low.”You’re treating change. Big cha...
27/02/2026

Ongoing perimenopausal symptoms?

What are you actually treating?

You’re not treating “low.”
You’re treating change. Big change.

And a low-dose estrogen patch (eg 25mcg or 1 pump.. or even 2) while your ovaries are still surging and crashing -
plus progesterone for 12–14 days isn’t always going to cut it.

Because the problem isn’t absence. It’s change.

Perimenopause isn’t a gentle decline. It’s a hormonal recalibration.

And huge change needs a thoughtful plan, not a one-size-fits-all script.

Follow for evidence-based practice-informed hormone education. Because if you think it is hormones. It often is. You just need the right evidence to guide you.

If you feel (like I do) that everyone deserves to understand what perimenopause actually is, tag a friend.

More info in bio.

Comment (or PM) MORE and I’ll send you a discount code, plus access to free lessons to explore first.

Address

140 Carlyle Street
Napier
4110

Opening Hours

Wednesday 9am - 3pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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