What are the Stages of Menopause? @DartmouthHealth
What are the Stages of Menopause?  @DartmouthHealth
Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
There are key stages of menopause that you can expect. The first stage, perimenopause, begins 10-15 years before menopause itself, and is often more impactful in daily life. This is where estrogen production starts to decline and symptoms associated with menopause begin. Menopause itself is a benchmark defined by a full calendar year without a menstrual period. The stage after menopause, postmenopause, is life-long after menstruation ceases. Symptoms that began in perimenopause can persist, but many find the post-menopause stage to be more comfortable or predictable.

Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire's only academic health system and the state's largest private employer, serves patients across northern New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,000 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH, as well as across its wide network of hospitals, clinics and care facilities. DHMC is consistently named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes its Dartmouth Cancer Center, one of only 51 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation, and the only such center in northern New England; Dartmouth Health Children’s, including the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, the state’s only children’s hospital and clinic locations around the region; member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene and New London, NH, and Windsor, VT, and Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and more than 24 clinics that provide ambulatory services across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its historical partnership with Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually, and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials recognized across the globe with Geisel and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT. Dartmouth Health and its more than 13,000 employees are deeply committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in our communities, and to providing each of our patients with exceptional, personal care.

Learn more at dartmouth-health.org/.
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What are the Stages of Menopause?

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