menopause marketing – An OB-GYN argues that the boom in menopause “supplements” and pay-to-learn seminars is built on thin evidence, while pregnancy and childbirth care in the U.S. face deeper funding and access crises. She points to the maternal mortality rate being the highest am
On Instagram, it’s a familiar pitch: a physician in a white coat, promising to “balance your hormones.” For many women navigating perimenopause and menopause, the message arrives with urgency—and a price tag that turns relief into a checkout cart.
As Dr. Jennifer Lincoln. an OB-GYN board-certified and practicing as an OB hospitalist. describes it. the current menopause “moment” is also a business opportunity. She says doctors are hawking perimenopause supplements for $150 with dubious claims. while $125 seminars aimed at “demystify[ing]” menopause appear in major cities—often led by doctors who also sell supplements.
Lincoln argues the incentives behind that marketing help explain why menopause care remains uneven, even as public attention grows. “I should be celebrating. ” she writes. describing a shift from decades of menopause being dismissed as “just hot flashes” by both laypeople and much of the medical community. Instead, she says she’s “angry,” because she believes the visibility is coming with evidence shortcuts and profiteering.
Her core claim is that the same country that struggles to fund women’s health research can quickly rally investment around products marketed directly to consumers. She cites a projected menopause market size of $24.4 billion by 2030. and frames it as proof that the commercial appetite for solutions is real.
She then lays out a contrast she says is impossible to ignore: pregnancy and childbirth care is in crisis. but it does not attract comparable investment. The stakes, in her telling, are stark. The U.S. maternal mortality rate is the highest in the developed world, and preterm birth rates continue to climb.
Lincoln also points to racial disparities she says are persistent and lethal. She writes that Black pregnant people are more than three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than White counterparts. She adds that maternal care deserts are expanding as hospitals close obstetric units.
In states with abortion bans, Lincoln says OB-GYNs are fleeing to avoid risking prosecution for providing standard medical care.
The editorial tension in her argument is that the solutions are known, yet the incentives pull in the opposite direction. She says comprehensive prenatal care. better postpartum support. addressing racism in health care. protecting physicians who provide evidence-based care. and bolstering rural health care infrastructure are strategies that can improve outcomes.
Lincoln insists the issue is not only medical—it’s economic and structural. “You can’t sell a subscription box to fix maternal mortality. ” she writes. and she argues there is no wellness powder equivalent for systemic racism in health care. or for the loss of OB-GYNs who leave places where they fear arrest.
She also describes misinformation as a barrier to care. In her view, influencer doctors promoting unproven treatments do not merely waste money; they erode trust in medical science and make it harder for patients to access options that work.
The competing realities she highlights—rapid consumer marketing for menopause alongside stagnant investment for maternal health—turn into a single question in her piece: what counts as “progress” for women’s health.
Lincoln says too many people accept attention that looks like help but functions like extraction. She rejects what she calls a myth that “any investment in women’s health is progress,” arguing that centering what can be monetized over what improves health outcomes becomes a cycle of exploitation.
In her proposed way forward, she argues menopause and pregnancy should not compete for resources. She lays out specific interventions she says would save lives and help close racial disparities: comprehensive postpartum care extending beyond a single six-week checkup. mental health screening and treatment for every new parent. paid family leave. protection for physicians providing pregnancy care. and investment in training more OB-GYNs and midwives in underserved areas.
Those steps, Lincoln argues, require policy changes, health care system overhauls, and sustained investment—rather than venture capital and viral marketing.
She ends by returning to her headline claim about priorities: women going through menopause deserve accurate information and effective treatment, and pregnant people deserve not to die. She says those should be part of the same commitment to women’s health, not competing business opportunities.
Dr. Jennifer Lincoln is a board-certified OB-GYN, practicing OB hospitalist and author of “The Birth Book: An OB-GYN’s Guide to Demystifying Labor and Delivery.”
menopause care hormone therapy supplements OB-GYN maternal mortality preterm birth racial disparities abortion bans healthcare investment venture capital women's health policy
Hot flashes are literally just hot flashes, right?
So are they saying supplements cause maternal mortality or what? Like I get people get scammed but this article feels kinda all over the place.
My sister bought some $150 menopause thing off Instagram and swore it fixed her, but now I’m like… did they just sell her hope?? Also $125 seminars sounds insane when actual maternity care is falling apart. The “balance your hormones” line is so salesy, I can’t with that.
Not to be dramatic but why is anyone surprised. If there’s a market, docs will jump on it. The maternal mortality stat being highest in developed countries is wild though, like how are we not funding that more. I feel like half these menopause claims are just placebo + advertising, but then they act like it’s medicine. Preterm… I saw that and immediately thought it was the same “hormone balance” stuff, which may not be true, but still, the incentives part makes sense.