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Jenna Bush Hager is using her platform as a Today co-host to speak openly about perimenopause, hoping that by having frank discussions about the hormonal changes will help other women. The Today with Jenna & Friends host, who is 43, recently spoke with People about her work with the virtual clinic Midi Health, which specializes in perimenopause and menopause. Bush Hager said that since she started talking publicly about her experiences, she has received so many messages from friends thanking her for being so open. “There was no conversation when I was young. My mom and her friends weren’t really talking about it, and now it’s all my friends are talking about,” she told the outlet. “Since I posted about it on Instagram, a million friends have texted me and they’re like, ‘Oh my God, thank you for this.'” Bush Hager, the daughter of former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush, noted that there is “still such a lack of information about women’s health.” However, on her morning show, where she can have open conversations, she said, “It was time for me to start talking about it.” The popular news personality said her symptoms so far include mood swings and restless sleeping, which she initially thought “was related to work or being in my forties with more to worry about, my three little kids, who I love, but no, it’s very hormonal.” “I have mentors and friends and colleagues who are 10 plus years older than I am,” she added. “I watched Hoda [Kotb] be like, ‘I’m having a hot flash!’ So, I’ve had conversations that I don’t know that many 43-year-olds have had.” After praising the likes of Naomi Watts and Halle Berry for speaking about their menopause symptoms on the show, Bush Hager touched on when she first found out about menopause as a teenager. Surprisingly, she revealed it was her dad who first spoke to her about it. She recalled a Christmas Eve when she and her fraternal twin sister, Barbara, where “going through puberty” and “being awful” to their mom “as teenage girls can sometimes be.” “My mom started to cry, which is so unlike her. She’s from West Texas. She’s preternaturally calm, unflappable,” Bush Hager shared. “And my dad was like, ‘Girls, Mom is going through this. Go apologize.’ And we did. I’m glad he told us because it helped us sort of understand what was happening, which I think is such a sign of a wonderful partner. He was ahead of his time.” Speaking on her work with Midi, Bush Hager shared her hope that “women feel like they can have these conversations with their friends, with their mothers, with their partners.” She also noted that if there aren’t friends and family to speak to, there are doctors who specialize “in women our age.” “There are solutions, and I want us to arm ourselves and our friends with them,” she concluded. More Headlines: ‘Wheel of Fortune’: Snow White ‘Lookalike’ Wins $80,000 & Cracks Up Ryan Seacrest With Gaffe‘Dancing With the Stars’: Were Jennifer Affleck & Whitney Leavitt Feuding?‘Stranger Things’ Final Season Trailer Teases Hawkins’ High-Stakes Battle Against Vecna (VIDEO)‘Today’ Host Jenna Bush Hager Opens Up About Big Life Changes & Her HealthLaurence Fishburne Joins ‘The Witcher’ Season 4 as Regis — What to Know About the Fan Favorite Vampire
