Lesson 14: Menstrual Care

Objectives:

Students will:

• Demonstrate how to properly dispose of used menstrual hygiene products.
• Describe ways that a girl can be prepared for her period.
• Understand the need to wash the vulva area carefully.

Vocabulary:

Review: period, pad, tampon, vulva

Materials: Picture Cards 23, 24, and 25, toilet paper, pads, trash can, red food coloring, cup, water, measuring spoons.

Procedure:

1. Read Picture Card 23 and go over discussion questions.
2. Using toilet paper and a pad, demonstrate how to fold a pad and then how to roll it in toilet paper. Have each student take a turn practicing how to do this. Then take girls into the restroom and show them (or see if they can figure out) where to dispose used pads. Discuss where they should dispose pads at home too. Emphasize that pads are never flushed down the toilet. Remind students that they need to wash their hands after changing a pad.
3. (Before class - Mix 1 tablespoon of water with 2 drops of red food coloring in a cup. Get three pads. Drop 1/4 of teaspoon of this mixture on one, 1/2 teaspoon on the second and 2 teaspoons on the third.) Discuss with students how a girl should decide to change her pad. Then show the girls the three pads explaining that red food coloring and water was used. Ask students to identify which one needs to be changed, and which one does not need to be changed. The pad with 1/2 teaspoon is the hardest to decide about. Suggest that if it has been worn for 3 hours or more a girl should change it to prevent body odor, but otherwise it can be left on.
4. Read Picture Card 24 and go over discussion questions.
5. Read the following situations and have students tell what they would do in each case. Each situation can be assigned to 1 student, a pair of students, or a small group.
1. A girl is in class and she thinks she feels her period start. (She should ask to go to the restroom and when she gets there she should put on a pad.)
2. A girl looks on her calendar and sees that her period is supposed to start this week. (She should put 2 pads or tampons in her purse or backpack.)
3. A girl, eating at a restaurant, goes to the restroom and sees that her period has started. She does not have a pad with her. (She could buy one from the machine or go tell her mother/friend or whoever she's with and ask to borrow a pad or a tampon.)
4. A girl starts her period for the first time when she is at home. (She should go put on a pad and tell her mother.)
5. A girl has her period and some blood gets on her underpants. (At home she should change underpants and put on a new pad. At school she should try to wipe the blood with toilet paper and then put on a new pad.)
6. A girl starts her period and the blood soaks through her clothes. (Reassure girls that this sometimes happens to almost all girls and women. It can be embarrassing but all women understand how this can happen. She should get a teacher, school nurse or mother to help her.)
7. A girl is at her friend's house when she has her period. She needs a new pad and doesn't have one. (She should ask her friend or her friend's mom for one.)
8. What should a girl do with her used pad when she is in a bathroom:
• at home
• at school
• at a restaurant
• at a park
• at a bowling alley
• at a friend's house
• where there is no trash can (She should wrap the pad carefully and put it in her purse/backpack and throw it out in the bath- room trash can as soon as she gets home.)
6. Read Picture Card 25 and go over discussion questions.
7. Explain to students that although it is important to wash the vulva carefully, the vagina is self-cleaning, just like the eye. Advertisements sometimes tell women to use vaginal sprays, vaginal deodorants or douches. Encourage students not to use these products. They can irritate the vulva and vagina and cause infections. If a girl's vulva has a bad smell, she should see a doctor because this can be a sign of an infection.