Running a Navigating Periods with Confidence Talk
Change begins with education and empowerment.
6th Class Students from The Mercy National School In Waterford City with their free Cloth Pad Kits from Healthy Waterford and Waterford Council
A Plan Ireland Study in 2018 found that 50% of girls and people who menstruate between the ages of 12 & 19 find it difficult to pay for sanitary products and didn't find school a useful source for information or advice.
61% have missed school as a result of having their period and 55% were embarrassed by their period.
*1100 girls surveyed by Plan Ireland's Youth Advisory Panel
Unfortunately Period Poverty is very much a reality for girls, women and people who menstruate in Ireland.
6th Class Students from St. Mary's School in Dungarvan
with their free Cloth Pad Kits
kindly sponsored by Healthy Waterford and Waterford Council
My Navigating Periods with Confidence workshop focuses on opening up the conversations surrounding all aspects of periods thus helping to build confidence and breaking the stigma for young women, girls and people who menstruate.
This programme is suitable for both Junior and Senior Cycles in post primary education and also senior primary classes. It will tie in with each strand of SPHE Learning through the following topics:
- Stories
- Anatomical Discussion
- Period Products Breakdown
- Period Hygiene
1 Stories:
- Open Discussion - Reflecting on any Positive, Negative Experiences with their first period (should they choose to share their story)
- Who did they inform and what was their reaction?
- What changes have they noticed in their friends?
- Questions about changes in their own body
2 Anatomical Discussion:
- How a period works.
- What the different reproductive organs do and how they function
- 4 Phases of the Menstrual Cycle
- Average cycle length
- What’s normal and when to talk to your doctor
- Tracking your Cycle
- Vaginal Discharge What’s Normal and What’s not
- Premenstrual Symptoms and how to manage them
3 Period Products Breakdown
- Different types of period products
- How each Product works
- Reusable Period Products available
- Demos on how they work
- How to use and care for your cloth pads in your starter kit.
4 Period Hygiene:
- Changing your pad/Tampon/period underwear or menstrual cup
- How often and why
- Hygiene during your period
- Importance of resting during your period
- Benefits of gentle exercise during your period
- PMS Symptoms - How to recognise and manage them
- Endometriosis, what it is, symptoms and treatment
- TSS, what it is, symptoms and what to look out for.
Participants will also be provided with a free Eco Femme Cloth Pad Starter Kit which includes:
- 4 Cloth Pads,
- A Menstrual Cycle Tracking Chart
- Tips and instructions on caring for the cloth pads.
Having worked with Eco Femme for the past 5 years, I couldn't think of a better company to provide the Cloth Pad Starter Kits.
Working with an amazing global empowerment initiative like Eco Femme is a definite highlight.
Their Pad for Pad programme means that for every pad bought Eco Femme donate 4 pads to a young woman in Rural India through their educational programmes.
Workshops are €195 and last for an hour and a half