Francheska Julia P.

Juliano
Science 5

What is Menstruation?

Menstruation is a woman’s monthly bleeding, often called your “period.” When you
menstruate, your body discards the monthly buildup of the lining of your uterus (womb).
Menstrual blood and tissue flow from your uterus through the small opening in your cervix
and pass out of your body through your vagina.

During the monthly menstrual cycle, the uterus lining builds up to prepare for pregnancy. If
you do not get pregnant, estrogen and progesterone hormone levels begin falling. Very low
levels of estrogen and progesterone tell your body to begin menstruation.

What is Menstrual Cycle?

The menstrual cycle is the monthly hormonal cycle a female’s body goes through to
prepare for pregnancy. Your menstrual cycle is counted from the first day of your period up
to the first day of your next period. Your hormone levels (estrogen and progesterone)
usually change throughout the menstrual cycle and can cause menstrual symptoms.

The typical menstrual cycle is 28 days long, but each woman is different. Also, a woman’s
menstrual cycle length might be different from month-to-month. Your periods are still
“regular” if they usually come every 24 to 38 days. This means that the time from the first
day of your last period up to the start of your next period is at least 24 days but not more
than 38 days.

Some women’s periods are so regular that they can predict the day and time that their
periods will start. Other women are regular but can only predict the start of their period
within a few days.

Ovulation is when the ovary releases an egg so it can be fertilized by a sperm in order to
make a baby. A woman is most likely to get pregnant if she has sex without birth control in
the three days before and up to the day of ovulation (since the sperm are already in place
and ready to fertilize the egg as soon as it is released). A man’s sperm can live for 3 to 5
days in a woman’s reproductive organs, but a woman’s egg lives for just 12 to 24 hours
after ovulation.
Each woman’s cycle length may be different, and the time between ovulation and when the
next period starts can be anywhere from one week (7 days) to more than 2 weeks (19
days).

At different times in a woman’s life, ovulation may or may not happen:

 Women who are pregnant do not ovulate.

 Women who are breastfeeding may or may not ovulate. Women who are
breastfeeding should talk to their doctor about birth control methods if they do not
want to get pregnant.
 During perimenopause, the transition to menopause, you may not ovulate every
month.
 After menopause you do not ovulate.

What are the problems encountered during menstruation?

 Dysmenorrhea
Pain that you get with your menstrual period is called dysmenorrhea (dis-men-uh-REE-uh).
Pain is the most common problem women have with their periods. More than half of
women who have periods get some pain around their period. Some women may get just a
feeling of heaviness in the abdomen or tugging in the pelvic area. Other women experience
severe cramps different from premenstrual syndrome (PMS) pain.

 Irregular periods
Your periods are considered irregular if your menstrual cycle is shorter or longer than
average. This means that the time from the first day of your last period up to the start of
your next period is less than 24 days or more than 38 days.

Your periods can also be irregular if your cycle length varies by more than 20 days from
month to month.10 An example would be your cycle jumping from a normal 25-day cycle to
a 46-day cycle the next month and then back to a 25-day cycle the following month.

Irregular periods are normal for teenage girls and perimenopausal women. Teen girls’
periods may be irregular for the first few years before becoming more regular. During the
transition to menopause, called perimenopause, menstrual cycles may become more
irregular over time.

 Missing periods (amenorrhea)

 The absence of menstrual periods before menopause is called amenorrhea (ay-men-uh-
REE-uh). You may have amenorrhea if you:

 Haven’t had a period for three months in a row

 Haven’t had your first period by age 15
 Amenorrhea happens in 3% to 4% of women.

Amenorrhea that is not caused by pregnancy or breastfeeding could mean that your ovaries
stopped making normal amounts of the hormone estrogen. Missing this hormone can have
serious effects on your health.

 Menstrual migraine
About four in 10 women will get a migraine (a painful, severe headache) in their lifetime.
About half of those women report that their migraine happens around their periods.

Researchers are not sure what causes migraine. Many factors can trigger migraine,
including stress, anxiety, and bright or flashing lights. Also, hormones that control the
menstrual cycle may affect headache-related chemicals in the brain.

Should you be embarrassed when having a period?

It's common to feel self-conscious about our period at first, but lots of girls are making
those crinkling sounds in the bathroom. When things are new you notice them more, but
it's unlikely anyone else is listening intently to whatever you're doing on the other side of
the bathroom stall.

So do what you need to do and get to class. And on the bright side, remember that lots of
other sounds going on in the bathroom are more embarrassing than the rustle of your pad
wrapper!

We should remember that having a period is completely normal and there is nothing to be
ashamed of. The body is just having its natural course of preparing for God’s purpose of
creating life. We have our period because we are special. God created us as a special
creature.

How should boys react when girls have their period?

Boys should not shame their classmates who have their periods especially when they have
accidental blood stains on their uniforms. It is just natural to have periods and boys should
learn to respect that because their moms and sisters have it too.
I trust the school and the teachers when it comes to teaching my classmates about respect
especially relating to treating girls with esteem.

What have you learned about the lesson?

I have learned that having a period is a natural stage that all girls go through. We should
always respect our body by being clean and neat all the time especially during the days of
the month that we have menstruation. We should appreciate our teachers who give their
best to teach all of us about reproductive health and having good attitude, like respect,
towards the opposite gender.