Menopause is a natural part of aging—but bladder leaks don’t have to be.
More than 1 million women in the U.S. enter menopause every year, and up to 40% experience new or worsening bladder leaks during this transition. Yet only 1 in 4 women seek help.

The We Count campaign is part of NAFC’s ongoing effort to shine a light on all aspects of women’s bladder health—from pregnancy and postpartum to menopause and beyond. Each month, we highlight a different area of women’s lives where incontinence can have an impact. This month, we’re focusing on menopause, a time when bladder symptoms often begin or worsen—but also when help is available and effective.

Our new Bladder Health and Menopause Fact Sheet breaks down what’s happening in your body, why bladder control changes, and what you can do to feel confident again.

Keep reading to learn more about urinary incontinence during menopause and what you can do to fight those leaks.

AVOIDING BLADDER LEAKS DURING MENOPAUSE

A lot of us tend to think of menopause as a sort-of dividing line, a before-and-after marker of our reproductive years, but it’s better to think of it as a series of stages that create a gradual transition – in some cases, it can take as long as a decade to fully complete the process, impacting bladder health during perimenopause & menopause.

The first years are referred to as “perimenopause,” which literally means “around menopause,” and those initial changes are often imperceptible – it can take a while before you register that something different is happening to your body. For some women, perimenopause can occur quickly – in less than a year – but for most of us, it usually lasts anywhere from 4 to 8 years.

Beginning anywhere from your late 30s to early 50s, your ovaries will begin producing less estrogen – that’s your primary sex hormone, and its responsible for puberty, preparing your body for pregnancy, and even regulating your menstrual cycle and body weight. Other hormones change, too – progesterone, testosterone, and inhibin, to name a few – and these changes are responsible for many of the symptoms you’ll notice during the transition.

In fact, it’s actually during the perimenopause stage that you first begin experiencing many of the symptoms that are typically associated with menopause.

COMMON SYMPTOMS OF MENOPAUSE

The urge to urinate & increased bladder leaks

Estrogen plays a role in supporting your bladder, so when your estrogen levels drop, you may feel like you need to go more often and more urgently than you’re used to.