What Is Menopause?

For South African women, menopause typically happens from the ages of 45 to 55 years .¹

Menopause occurs when a woman’s period (menstrual cycle) has stopped and the woman has not had a period for 12 consecutive months.

In other words, when a woman has not had a menstrual period for 12 months in row (without interruption), and is typically between 45-55 years old, she is in menopause.

The date of menopause is the date of a woman’s last period (called the final menstrual period – FMP).

The important thing to remember is that menopause is a point in time. We only talk about or diagnose menopause after 12 months have passed since a woman has had a period.

The time after the date of menopause is called the post-menopause period.

Natural menopause vs medically induced menopause

What we have been talking about here is ‘natural menopause’ – menopause that happens as part of the natural ageing process.

Menopause can also be a consequence of surgical procedures or medical treatment – this is called medically induced menopause.

Some women may stop menstruating before menopause – if for example they have had certain surgical procedures (such as surgical removal of their uterine lining or they have had a hysterectomy).

Some women may stop menstruating before menopause because they are using certain hormonal contraceptives or other medicines that cause their period to stop or become less frequent. They may still experience other changes related to the menopausal transition.²

In all of the information presented on our website – we talk about or refer to perimenopause or menopause stages. This is because people rarely use, or do not know or understand, the term “post-menopause”.

So, when we talk about or refer to menopause, we are actually speaking to the post-menopause stage or phase. Again, this is because menopause is “a point in time”.

My Menopause SA

Evidence-based menopause information for South African women.

Page last reviewed: 1 March 2026
Next review due: 1 March 2027

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All Understanding Perimenopause & Menopause

Footnotes

¹ Understanding of trans men and menopause will be accounted for in a newsletter edition. Please keep a look out for this. ↩

² WHO: Menopause ↩

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