References

Everything you can look up, in one place.

The deep-end shelves: guides, glossary, research summaries, stats, and the printable checklists you might want to take to an appointment.

Guides library
Long-form, evidence-based guides across symptoms, treatments, and life chapters.
Glossary
Plain-language definitions for the terms you'll hear in research papers and at appointments.
Research summaries
Recent studies summarized in human English, with the limitations called out honestly.
By the numbers
The figures that frame menopause: scope, workforce impact, investment landscape. Sourced and dated.
Support organizations
Charities, societies and volunteer campaigns publishing free menopause information, country by country.
Virtual-care checklist
What to look for when you're choosing a telehealth menopause provider.
Membership-care checklist
Direct primary care, concierge and subscription clinics: ten questions before the first payment.
Workplace disclosure scripts
Word-for-word scripts for telling a manager, HR, or a colleague, only as much as you choose.
Editorial scoring rubric
How we grade evidence and vet partner placements. The rubric is published so you can hold us to it.

Newsletters & tools

Newsletters and decision tools we trust

Non-commercial, built by doctors and specialists or independently edited. Useful for a second source or when a friend asks 'where else can I read about this?'

Paper
Chronic pain at midlife
by International Menopause Society (IMS), 2026 White Paper
A review of overlapping joint, migraine and pelvic pain, with a focus on assessment, daily function and coordinated care. Evidence for MHT as a treatment for established chronic pain is limited and inconsistent. The paper reports no funding; several authors disclose industry relationships. A review, not a prescribing guideline.
Tool
Menopause Care Continuum Interactive Tool
by Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC)
A free Canadian reference for doctors and specialists, covering symptom assessment, investigations, referrals and ongoing care across menopause stages. Useful for understanding what an appointment can cover, not for diagnosing yourself or choosing a prescription.
Tool
Menopause and Gender-Diverse Individuals
by Menopause and U · Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC)
Canadian patient education on how ovarian changes, gender-affirming hormones and surgery can shape symptoms. Includes free symptom-tracking and appointment guides, with room for mixed feelings or no particular feelings about gender.
Tool
Gender-diverse individuals: Symptom tracker (PDF)
by Menopause and U · Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC)
A printable week for symptoms, mood, sleep, medication or hormone doses and timing, and your own notes. Skip the cycle column if it doesn't apply. Use it for yourself, or for your next appointment.
Tool
Conversation guide for medical appointments (PDF)
by Menopause and U · Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC)
A two-page appointment guide: name your biggest concern, ask about options and alternatives, then clarify tests, prescriptions, results and follow-up, including how a new prescription could affect gender-affirming hormones.
Newsletter
The Vajenda
by Dr. Jen Gunter
Free Substack. Reliably good at debunking the latest 'bioidentical' or compounded-pellet claim before it spreads.
Newsletter
Hotflash Inc.
by Ann Marie McQueen
Long-running newsletter and podcast covering the menopause beat as actual journalism — including which products and claims don't hold up.
Tool
MyMenoPlan
by UCSF & Massachusetts General Hospital (NIH-funded)
A free decision tool built by menopause researchers: short symptom checker, personalized plan covering hormonal and non-hormonal options.
Tool
Endocrine Society — Menopause patient library
by The Endocrine Society
The endocrinology profession's own patient-facing reference. Strong on the hormone-system side and a useful cross-check.
Tool
Women's Health Pathway — Menopause hub
by Women's Health Pathway
UK-based explainer hub covering stages, symptom lists, causes and timing factors in plain language, with personal blogs and podcasts alongside the medical overview. A good second source when you want the basics in one place.
Tool
Menopause Essentials
by Menopause Foundation of Canada
Interactive Canadian patient-education resource covering symptoms, treatments and workplace impact. Plain-language and free.
Tool
Take Charge of Your Care Guide
by Menopause Foundation of Canada
Free downloadable guide to prep for a menopause appointment — what to track, what to ask, how to push for a second opinion when the first visit doesn't get you what you need.
Tool
MenoPause Symptom Tracker
by Menopause Foundation of Canada (endorsed by the Canadian Menopause Society)
Free symptom tracker built for Canadian patients heading into a GP or specialist appointment.
Tool
Menopause Works Here™
by Menopause Foundation of Canada
Canadian employer campaign with policy templates, manager training and workplace-culture guidance. A useful companion to Hello Nila's employer toolkit.
Newsletter
The Hot Flash
by National Menopause Foundation
Free newsletter archive from the U.S. nonprofit covering education, advocacy and community updates. A useful companion to the Canadian and UK newsletters already here.
Newsletter
WMHPI The Policy Pulse
by National Menopause Foundation
U.S. policy roundup on legislation and workplace actions affecting menopause care. Useful if you want to track advocacy beyond the headlines.
Tool
Menopause Workplace Benchmark Tool
by National Menopause Foundation
Free downloadable self-assessment for employers across policy, environment, benefits, culture and measurement. Pairs well with Hello Nila's own workplace self-check.
Tool
MENO-kit: the menopause and work toolkit
by Lancaster University, with the University of Nottingham and King's College London
Free online toolkit for UK organisations: awareness training, a menopause-and-work magazine, champion training and CBT-based symptom strategies, built from a decade of university research. Set up per employer, so it's an ask for HR rather than a link you hand to a friend.
Tool
Perimenopause & Menopause Community
by National Menopause Foundation + Inspire
Free, anonymous, peer-to-peer support community. Not a substitute for medical advice, but a place to hear how others are navigating the same stage.
Tool
MenoNotes
by The Menopause Society (NAMS)
Free, topic-specific PDF handouts on depression, osteoporosis, bioidentical hormones, menstrual calendars and more. The same source Hello Nila's clinical pages already rely on.
Tool
Consumer Videos and Podcasts
by The Menopause Society (NAMS)
Free archive of expert interviews on YouTube and SoundCloud covering perimenopause, hormone and nonhormone options, breast cancer, heart disease, and the aging transgender woman.
Tool
Menopause services
by Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette
One of the few Planned Parenthood affiliates offering menopause care as a named service line: MHT, GSM treatment, symptom management, sliding-scale, explicitly inclusive of trans and non-binary patients. A useful pattern to point to when you're looking for gender-affirming, affordable menopause care in the U.S.
Tool
Genderqueer Menopause
by Lasara Firefox Allen · Genderqueer Futures
The project behind the book: research notes, first-person accounts, one-to-one coaching, and IAOTH-accredited training for providers, doulas and coaches. The clearest place to watch gender-affirming midlife care being built rather than just described.
Tool
Gender-Affirming Menopause Care Certification
by Lasara Firefox Allen, MSW · Genderqueer Futures
IAOTH-accredited training and certification in gender-affirming menopause care, for providers, doulas and coaches. Small cohorts (15 seats for the Fall 2026 cohort), MD, DNP and PhD guest faculty, and a certified provider directory graduates can be listed in. Useful two ways: search the directory for someone already trained, or hand the course to a clinic that wants to get this right.
Tool
Canadian Gender & Sex Research Equity Toolkit
by Centre for Gender & Sexual Health Equity (CGSHE), University of British Columbia
A free, open-access toolkit for asking about gender and sex in ways that don't erase intersex, trans, nonbinary and Two-Spirit people. Written for researchers, and just as useful for any clinic or program redesigning its intake forms or surveys.
Tool
Breast Cancer Canada
by Breast Cancer Canada
Canada's only national breast cancer organization funding research exclusively, since 1991. Useful here because so much of survivorship is menopause care: endocrine therapy, sudden hormone loss, GSM. Free patient education, advocacy and research updates.
Tool
Provincial breast screening guidelines
by Breast Cancer Canada
Screening ages and intervals differ by province, which is confusing exactly when you're in the midlife window. This is the plain-language map of what applies where you live.
Tool
Patient tools
by Breast Cancer Canada
Free digital tools for managing a diagnosis: education, personalized insights and a route to add your own data to Canadian research. Pairs with Nila's menopause-after-cancer pathway.
Tool
Progress CONNECT
by Breast Cancer Canada
You enter what's on your pathology report (stage, receptor and biomarker status) and it returns a free personalized PDF of your breast cancer type and the treatment pathways that fit it. Useful before an oncology appointment for the same reason our appointment pack is: you arrive with the right questions.
Tool
PROgress Tracker registry
by Breast Cancer Canada
A national patient-reported-outcomes registry. If you've been treated for breast cancer in Canada, your symptom and quality-of-life data goes into research that shapes policy. Survivorship menopause is exactly the kind of thing that stays invisible until people report it.
Tool
Why breast density matters
by Dense Breasts Canada
Dense breast tissue both hides cancers on a mammogram and raises risk, and whether you're told your density depends on your province. Plain-language explainer plus what to ask for where you live.
Tool
My Breast Screening
by My Breast Screening (Canada)
A guide to what screening actually involves in Canada, how to book without a referral where that's allowed, and what happens after a callback. Good companion to the provincial guidelines map.
Tool
Young women's breast cancer resources
by Canadian Breast Cancer Network
Written for people diagnosed young, which is when treatment-induced menopause is most disorienting: fertility, relationships, work and money alongside the medical side. Free, patient-directed, Canadian.
Tool
Patient stories
by Breast Cancer Canada
First-person accounts including women diagnosed in their 30s and 40s, when treatment-induced menopause arrives decades early. Worth reading if you're the only person you know in this situation.

No affiliate links. No paid placement. We update this shelf roughly every quarter.