Dr Nikita Islam is a Gynaecologist turned Perimenopause and Menopause Health coach for Muslim women. She has practiced modern medicine in the UK and abroad for over 20 years. Described by members she has coached as truly inspirational and very resourceful.

In this exclusive Q&A with MWN Hub, Dr. Nikita Islam discusses her reasons for becoming a Health coach, the barriers preventing women from accessing support and how her sessions support women through navigating this critical period of change in their lives.

Can you describe your background?

The idea of taking up medicine as a career was engrained in my mind from a very young age by my father. I specialised as a Gynaecologist and then moved to the UK from India. I continued training and working within the NHS. My husband and I moved to Saudi and lived and worked there with my three children for 10 years, before moving back to the UK.

Why did you become a Perimenopause and Menopause Health coach?

In 2020, I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer (cancer of the womb) and type 2 diabetes. I had to give up my hospital job. I took time to recover from my illness that had taken a toll on me physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

I then started looking at holistic ways of healing, as I realised that modern medicine is very limited for health maintenance and disease prevention. I trained in the College of Naturopathic Medicine as a health coach. As I implemented all that I learnt, my health improved, Alhamdulillah and the diabetes was reversed. I didn’t need to take medication any more.

As a spiritual person, my deen is very important to me. I took the best practises from mainstream and holistic medicine, and infused it with practises and beliefs from our deen. Soon, sisters started approaching me, as I shared my journey of healing. I started coaching and noticed that the sisters achieved great results - whether it be improving their periods, energy, moods or reaching their target body weight.

This was the start of my coaching journey.

What's your coaching philosophy?

One of the most important things to achieve success is the right mindset.  My approach is always to start with the deen and focus on what the Quran and Sunnah says about looking after our health. We are encouraged to eat food that is halal and tayyib. We are endorsed to look after our body, an amanah from Allah swt.

As Muslim women, we often forget to take care of ourselves, while juggling the different roles that we have in our family and society.

I have also trained in modern methods of coaching like NLP (Neuro- Linguistic Programming), where we learn the mind-body connection and the importance of optimism and positive thinking.

Once you help sisters believe that change is possible, and important, they start taking steps and get off the procrastination mode.

I try to keep things simple and teach things in a step-wise manner, so that they don't get overwhelmed.

Any kind of change is outside our comfort zone, and we need to use all these tools to make sure that sisters achieve success in their health journey.

What have you identified as being barriers for minority ethnic women who are either peri/menopausal/postmenopausal in accessing support?

One of the main barriers is that they don't believe that they are worthy of time and effort to invest in themselves and their own health.  There is always that guilt that comes with seeking knowledge and prioritising their own health. This is a mindset that is generational and the best way to make them believe in themselves is to help them understand that this is fundamental to our belief as Muslims.

Something else that I have noticed is that by the time you reach 50, most women have given up on themselves. They feel that they have lived their life and any changes that they go through is just part of ageing.

Once I explain to them that this is just another phase of their life that needs to be lived differently, it brings about a mindset shift. The average life expectancy of women is 81 years, and with the average age of menopause being 51, you're likely to lead a third or half of your life in menopause. So, it is incumbent upon us to know more about it and live it well.

What are some common misconceptions about menopause that you encounter?

Some women feel that menopause symptoms always have to be treated by medication. This is very much a mainstream medicine way of thinking, where every symptom is treated by a medication. Anxiety is treated by the anti-anxiety medication, heavy periods are treated by suppressing periods, anti-depressants are prescribed to a third of women in menopause, and of course there is HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) that is being offered as the ultimate cure for all symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. While HRT has a place, diet and lifestyle changes are the most important.

The reason why we are seeing so many hormonal symptoms in women as young as 35 is because of the change in our diet and lifestyle. Unless we fix this, we are not going to be seeing lasting, sustainable changes.

The other extreme is that women tend to give up on themselves and don't want to do anything to look after themselves and improve their health.

How do you support peri/menopausal women to navigate the hormonal changes?

I help Muslim women navigate through this phase and achieve high levels for focus, energy and confidence through holistic wellness practices that are safe and effective, easy to follow, and aligned to our deen.

This takes the form of mindset shifts, learning about specific foods that are beneficial, the right ways to exercise, how to reset metabolism, the importance of sleep and stress reduction, and the best ways to do intermittent fasting.

How does your coaching sessions work?

I have a closed community of sisters called the Muslimah Vitality Hub, where I teach a 10-step framework. Unlike a coaching programme, this is an open-ended membership, and sisters can go through the modules in their own time. I do group coaching calls twice a month with them. There is a closed Facebook group where they have contact with me and other sisters to support them in their journey. I hold master classes once a month, sometimes with guest experts, where we discuss one topic in detail. This can range from productivity, building happier marriages, herbalism, fitness, etc. This is so that sisters get a truly holistic experience and all their needs are met under the umbrella of Muslimah Vitality Hub.

I do 1:1 consultations with sisters who need this service. I also offer a free workshop, HormoneWise, for women who are looking to learn more about this phase of their life with an Islamic lens.

Dr. Nikita Islam will be holding a FREE 90-minute live online workshop titled, ‘Make sense of the hormonal changes our bodies undergo during perimenopause,’ on Monday 28th October 2024 at 3pm. There is still time to register, click here.   

Further information:

For advice and support on menopause, visit Dr. Nikita Islam’s website or email her at admin@drnikitaislam.com