Women’s health shouldn’t be taboo, says doctor

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on March 13, 2025.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

The University of Lethbridge hosted their second annual International Women’s Day Leadership Conference Wednesday under the theme “Leaders Who Change the Conversation.”
Dena McMartin, vice-president research and master of ceremony, said they brought together women from the university and broader community to spend time together, learn from each other, network and celebrate the excellence we have in the community.
“A couple of colleagues and I realized a few years ago, that we’re one of the few universities in Canada with an all-female team at the vice-president level, and we see this as an obligation and an opportunity to celebrate women in leadership and empowerment,” said McMartin.
She added that part of that involves working with the community to celebrate all the amazing women in leadership, while also working with the men who want to be supportive and advocate for more women in leadership.
“Our opening keynote speaker is Dr. Jen Gunther, and we have a group of local leaders about their experiences as being women in different kinds of fields, sometimes being a different voice at the table, and we finish it off with the natural resources Canada Chief Scientist Ranjana Sharma,” said McMartin.
She said Sharma has been dealing a lot with the recent tariffs issue and was bringing some topical information to those in attendance.
Gunther, an obstetrician and gynecologist, said her goal during the conference was to talk about topics that have been taboo in society for far too long, to minimize the stigma and to open the conversation that many women should be having.
“I’m here to talk about menopause and get the conversation going,” she said. “For too long, this has been a subject that has been shrouded in shame, which is ridiculous, and people haven’t had conversations about it and I’m here to open up the space.”
She said she was going to do that by talking about the different empowering aspects of menopause, the medical aspects of it, in hopes that this will move the conversation forward in other women’s lives.
“Everything I do is taking off taboos,” said Gunther. “I am a gynecologist, and I write about vaginal health, sexual health, menstrual health, menopause, and it seems like everything I do is a taboo, which is ridiculous because is just medicine.”
She said she realized soon after getting into practicing medicine that her whole field was something people did not really talk about.
“People talk about having babies, but they don’t talk about any of the practical aspects or the reasons why people need to go to the gynecologist, or how do you know if your bleeding is too heavy,” said Gunther. “Because we have an inability to talk about reproductive health in our society, and my whole career has been dedicated to changing that.”
She said that people should be able to talk about their vaginal health, menstrual health and menopause as easily as they talk about their elbows or their knees.
Ultimately, said she wants everyone to realize that menopause is not something to be feared.
“Like many changes in life, like puberty and pregnancy, there can be some health repercussions associated with it, and that is why education is important,” said Gunther. “But I also want people to know that menopause has been an important part of evolution and women are the wheel that drives humanity.”
She added that these conversations are important to have now more than ever before due to the rise of misinformation online.
“There are so many messages that people are being exposed to that are filled with misinformation that it’s very important that people fact-check everything they see, find a reliable sources to double check because misinformation is so pervasive.”

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