We support the pause
Donating during menopause
Donating blood while going through perimenopause or menopause is safe. As long as you meet other eligibility criteria, you’re good to go.
Some things might change for you
Iron requirements
Your risk of low iron decreases when you stop menstruating. That means we won’t recommend a course of iron supplements anymore. We’ll still check your haemoglobin before every donation and your ferritin after every tenth, just to keep an eye on things.
Hormone replacement therapy
Good news! Hormone replacement therapy doesn’t affect whether you can donate. But if you’re experiencing any side effects that make you uncomfortable, let us know and we can see what we can do. We can refill your water, get you a fan, give you a private space, or help you out with period products.
Stay a little longer
Things are changing for you, and might keep changing for a while. Your body will respond to things like blood and plasma donation differently than it did before. To keep you safe and well, please stay a little longer after your donation. It’ll help your body recover and make sure you can get back to your regular life quicker.
What do we know?
We started our internal commitment to ‘Support the Pause’ in 2024. It’s really important to us that every team member experiencing peri/menopause symptoms feels understood, supported and safe. That’s how they perform their best.
So, we’ve been listening, learning, training and growing ever since.
We even got a Menopause Friendly Accreditation and were recognised for the Best Health And Wellbeing Strategy at the AHRI Awards 2025.
