Why supporting women’s health is just smart business

Until recently, Paula Bradbrook was a corporate executive leading transformation and digital initiatives in major organisations. But after years of heavy menstrual bleeding, perimenopause and surgical menopause following a hysterectomy, she found herself struggling in ways she never expected.

“It wasn’t just ‘brain fog,’” she recalls. “Everyday tasks such as emails, strategy decisions and even simple planning became slow, exhausting and overwhelming. My executive functioning effectively shut down.”

Bradbrook now works as a strategic leader, menopause coach and doula, and helps organisations understand the economic impact of ignoring women’s reproductive health at work.

“It is an experience that is biologically universal for women, yet it remains invisible and misunderstood,” she says. “We are losing experienced female talent because the broader spectrum of women’s reproductive health is still largely unaddressed in the workplace.”

And, just as society cannot function without women, no organisation can truly thrive without them, says Hailan Pan CPA, chief of staff at Tencent, Hong Kong, and member of CPA Australia’s Women in Leadership Committee, Greater China.

Workplaces rely on diverse skills and perspectives, and women contribute strengths that are critical to innovation, leadership and long-term success, she argues.

“Employees are an organisation’s most valuable asset, and its goals are achieved through their performance and engagement,” Pan says. “Neglecting employees’ wellbeing and personal growth ultimately undermines the organisation’s ability to achieve its objectives.”

The 4Ms and their impact on women’s working lives 

Women’s reproductive health is sometimes described as the 4Ms — menstruation, maternity, motherhood and menopause — and while it coincides with peak earning and promotion years, it remains largely absent from formal people and risk strategies. Periods, pregnancy, caregiving and menopause continue to sit outside workplace decision-making, treated as personal matters rather than material business risks.

The scale of the impact is substantial. According to the McKinsey Health Institute, women spend around 25 per cent more of their working lives in poor health than men. Nearly 90 per cent of women experience premenstrual syndrome, often with pain severe enough to limit productivity, while menopause contributes to one in 10 resignations.

 

"It is an experience that is biologically universal for women, yet it remains invisible and misunderstood. We are losing experienced female talent because the broader spectrum of women’s reproductive health is still largely unaddressed in the workplace."

 

During pregnancy and maternity, women are often perceived as less competent and are sometimes judged as less committed to the workplace in the medium term, which can limit promotion opportunities.

Pregnancy can bring assumptions of “baby brain” or heightened emotionality, and parenthood can amplify these challenges, with perceptions of reduced commitment, depleted energy and ongoing work–life conflict impacting both career progression and leadership opportunities.

These reproductive stages translate directly into slower promotions, constrained leadership pipelines and higher attrition, which is a risk to any business in the long term, says Belinda Zohrab, regulations and standards lead at CPA Australia.

The sidelining of women during these transitions not only undermines confidence and psychological safety but also risks discriminatory practices, Zohrab explains. 

“Failing to support employees through reproductive health issues can erode morale and loyalty, as colleagues notice how these types of challenges are handled. In contrast, when an organisation rallies around employees facing health challenges, it reinforces loyalty and strengthens workplace culture,” she says.

Zohrab argues that while these issues are often seen as HR or wellbeing matters, they also belong in leadership and governance conversations. 

“Supporting women at key reproductive milestones isn’t just the right thing to do — it is a business opportunity,” she says. “If we can show that workplaces offering flexibility, personal leave, and reproductive health and menopause policies actually perform better financially, then supporting women becomes a measurable advantage.”

The stakes for organisations are clear: attrition at peak seniority is a major risk, Bradbrook says. “When one in 10 women exit during menopause, businesses lose significant institutional knowledge and experience accumulated over decades.”

The cost of stigma and insufficient workplace support

In Australia, lost productivity from menstrual symptoms alone is estimated at A$14 billion annually, and McKinsey calculates that addressing women’s health gaps could add US$1 trillion (A$1.42 trillion) to global GDP by 2040. Yet silence, stigma and insufficient workplace support continue to undermine women’s performance, advancement and retention.

Macquarie University’s latest findings highlight how each reproductive milestone can represent a career setback: PMS impacting productivity, pregnancy assumptions hindering promotions, motherhood bias closing leadership pathways, and menopause driving one in 10 women out of the workforce.

 

"Supporting women at key reproductive milestones isn’t just the right thing to do — it is a business opportunity. If we can show that workplaces offering flexibility, personal leave, and reproductive health and menopause policies actually perform better financially, then supporting women becomes a measurable advantage."

 

Despite the substantial economic rationale for government and workplace policies to help people manage menstrual symptoms, the stigma associated with menstruation means many women feel they must work very hard to conceal period problems at work, argues Emma Fabbro FCPA, founder of Fusion Accountants.

“Even with the research available, there’s still a stigma around it,” she says. “We are talking about menstrual conditions, endometriosis, fertility issues, pregnancy loss, perimenopause and menopause, and how these milestones can affect women’s ability to be productive, attend work consistently and progress in their careers.” 

The importance of language and speaking up

Despite policies aimed at gender equality, the personal and professional challenges of reproductive health often remain invisible. So why is it so easy to dismiss these as “not workplace issues”?

“In order to maintain their professional competitiveness, women often tend to endure silently,” Pan says. “However, while these are challenges uniquely faced by women, it does not mean men are free from struggles. Issues like family responsibilities and emotional wellbeing are common to all.

“In my view, a truly gender‑equal workplace should value the personal challenges everyone faces and provide space and support for both individual wellbeing and family life,” she says.

Awareness alone, however, is not enough. Talking openly about women’s health is equally critical, explains Fabbro.

 

"Employees are an organisation’s most valuable asset, and its goals are achieved through their performance and engagement. Neglecting employees’ wellbeing and personal growth ultimately undermines the organisation’s ability to achieve its objectives."

 

“When you are young, you don’t mention menstrual cramps to colleagues. Early miscarriages are often kept private. The more we openly discuss these experiences, the more we remove fear and start normalising these conversations rather than keeping them hidden.”

Language is important, agrees Zohrab, and normalising respectful language is the first step towards changing workplace culture. “We need to stop weaponising health symptoms through terms like ‘baby brain’ or ‘menopause brain’, because it implies women are less capable of performing their roles and just adds to the existing preconceptions.”

How organisations can support women through reproductive health milestones

As with most other workplace issues, real change requires senior buy-in, Bradbrook says. 

“Initiatives should go beyond box-ticking or virtue signalling and be treated as a leadership priority,” she says. “Managers should be trained to recognise when a staff member is struggling and to initiate supportive, confidential conversations.”

Flexible working arrangements are critical. Staff should have autonomy over where and when they work, including options to work from home without question and adjustments to meeting schedules to accommodate those struggling with sleep or fatigue. 

“Allow a certain degree of autonomy for small teams to decide, as long as the quality of the team’s output is maintained. This also means flexibility can be exercised regarding fixed working hours,” Pan says.

Implementing reproductive health or menopause-specific leave is also crucial, as is providing specific environmental adjustments, such as access to quiet rooms, cooling spaces, heat packs or on-site menstruation products, which can also make a tangible difference to productivity. 

Large organisations can also provide specialised support pathways, including mental and physical health advocates, menopause coaches and Employee Assistance Programs that explicitly cover reproductive health issues, Bradbrook says.

“Awareness about women’s health is not just on individuals; workplaces need policies and understanding, too,” she says. “We’ve come far, but there’s still work to do.”

In 2026, CPA Australia is collaborating with Monash Business School in a joint project with CA ANZ conducting research into how things like menopause, caring for family, parenting and invisible workload can affect women accountants’ wellbeing and work. 

If you would like to learn more or be a participant in research currently underway, register your interest via the QR code or link here.