At this credit union, menopause care gets personal with Progyny

• Key insight: Learn how fertility vendor Progyny's menopause benefits are broadening midlife care offerings.
• Expert quote: Kelly -offering menopause care was an easy, impactful executive decision.
• Forward look: Expect vendors to package menopause as standard midlife benefits for competitive employers.
  Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review

At Baxter Credit Union, fertility and women's health platform Progyny was brought on to help employees grow their families. Its success inspired Megan Kelly, BCU's senior director of HR, to see what other populations Progyny could support. Turns out, it was women experiencing menopausal symptoms — something she knew all about. 

Perimenopause and menopause symptoms commonly include hot flashes, night sweats, mood changes, brain fog, and changes to hair, skin and weight. Women can start experiencing these issues as early as in their 30s, and often find they last for 10-15 years. Without the right resources, solutions can be scarce.     

"I happen to be in that demographic, and knew that we had a population that most likely was experiencing some of the same things I was going through," says Kelly. "We realized, holy cow, we have an opportunity to really give [this demographic] a specialized benefit as well." 

Thanks to Progyny's existing reputation with leadership, adding its menopause and midlife program was an easy call for the executive suite, Kelly says. The platform offers access to healthcare professionals who specialize in menopause, coaching in areas like nutrition and career, and educational resources. 

"It wasn't a hard sell at all," she explains. "It was very much, here are the numbers, here's what we're looking at, and this is why we need to try it. It's based on utilization, so it's a little less scary for the folks who are paying the bills to say, 'Yeah, let's give this a whirl.'" 

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Elevating engagement with communication

BCU operates more than 30 locations nationwide, with just shy of 800 employees. Well-constructed communication strategies are a must for raising benefit awareness, says Kelly, and she makes sure to partner with vendors who make this easier. 

"​​Progyny will proactively send me communication all the time such as, 'Hey, here's all of the webinars that are coming up,' and we simply advertise them on our SharePoint site," she says. "That gets it out to our entire employee population. They're handing me the content that I need."    

BCU also discusses the benefit in some of its employee resource group meetings and newsletters, and Kelly goes out of her way to use company events as a communicaiton platform. Last year, she set up a table at the company cookout. 

"We had what we dubbed 'Hot Girl Summer' — that was our advertising theme for the menopause benefits at that point," she says. "We wanted folks to come up to the table to learn about them. We invited men to come up as well, so that they could help their spouses out, because it's available for them as well. Sometimes, if you have a little bit of fun with it, it becomes less taboo."

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'I felt seen, I felt heard'

One of the most impactful ways to get the word out has been sharing her own experiences, Kelly says. After becoming frustrated with a lack of understanding or answers from her regular providers, she called Progyny on the way home from work one afternoon. She connected with a care coordinator right away and spoke with a doctor two days later. 

"They immediately started to help out and say, 'Hey, here's our goal, here's our plan. They make the appointments for you. They sent them to me in my app," Kelly says. "For a demographic of women who are trying to make everybody happy but themselves, this is so important, because it makes getting help really simple."

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Kelly appreciates that Progyny is available for women who do not wish to share their menopause experience at work, including with HR, but she has enjoyed being able to advocate for more conversation and a benefit that can help women in this stage. If she could, she'd broadcast her experience on a billboard, she jokes. 

"Personal perspective is so important, especially for this particular topic," she says. "When I can talk to somebody and say, 'Hey, not only is this a really great benefit, but I used it myself, and let me tell you about my experience,' all of a sudden they feel a real-world connection. If I can get people in touch with a doctor who can tell them, just like my doctor told me, like, this is not all in your head, and I can help you fix this, I'm all for it."