A thread for @SeneddWales @SeneddCYPE about my experiences in school as someone who menstruates & why menstrual wellbeing should be taught in schools in Wales.
Content warnings: graphic descriptions & discussion about periods that some may find traumatic.
@EndometriosisUK

I got my first period the Summer before I started comprehensive school. It was what I thought was a pretty normal period. From the age of 12 onwards, I was layering my underwear & sometimes inserting clumps of toilet roll as well as wearing pads because I bled so heavily.

At my school, we had registration at 8:45am, lessons started at 9am & we breaked at 11am. There was little time between the two lessons to go to the toilet & many teachers would not let you leave class to use the toilet during lessons, which meant I was going between 8:30-11ish

without being able to change my pad, hence the toilet roll for extra protection. We'd break for lunch at 12:20(if I remember correctly) & were back in lessons from 1/1:10-3:15. I had to get the bus to & from school & wouldn't get home until 4pm. There was no time between

the end of school & the bus leaving for me to go to the toilet & change. Meaning I'd have to go from 12:45/1ish-4pm without changing my pad. When I got home, I'd go straight to the toilet. I often had to use so much toilet paper during the day at school that it would clog the

toilet when I got home. My underwear would be stained & so would my trousers. I would spend the evening getting the blood out of my trousers because I only had one pair. The trousers we had to wear for school uniform were 'tailored trousers' & because of my height & figure

for someone my age, the types of trousers that were allowed in school were very limited. My trousers were loose fitting, which meant blood would often not get caught by the fabric & would instead run down my leg into my shoes. I would sit in class, often knowing this was

happening but unable to do anything. I would also sit knowingly bleeding through my trousers onto chairs, most of which, thankfully, were plastic so I could subtly wipe them down at the end of class. I had terrible anxiety in school, I didn't feel I could ask to go to the toilet

every half hour in class because I didn't want the whole class knowing I was on my period, I was already bullied, they didn't need more ammunition.

As I got older, 14+, my periods became worse, the pain became worse. I had a gynaecological haemorrhage on holiday & although it was uncommon, no doctors investigated anything. I was given painkillers & mefenamic acid to reduce the amount of blood & pain I was in. These were

strong painkillers for someone my age & I had to take them three times a day during school, which meant I spent most lessons trying & failing to stay awake. I was also anaemic which was made worse by my period. The fatigue made it hard to focus, engage & work in lessons.

When my periods were too bad, I simply didn't attend school. I would be at home & my mum would have to take the day off work because I frequently vomited, passed out & was in excruciating pain because of my periods. I now believe I was rupturing ovarian cysts.

The fact that I was missing a week of school every month became known amongst my peers & by the time I got to 6th Form, I kind of owned it, I learned to laugh at myself, my horrific periods became kind of a gimmick. I would walk into classes with hot water bottles

& everyone would know what was going on. My Welsh teacher/class in particular were very supportive & we laughed about how I would always miss a double Welsh session every month. It was funny, but I missed huge chunks of my Welsh A-Level because the double session always covered

one particular part of the module. My teacher was great & she'd meet with me at lunch times to catch me up. She knew my periods weren't normal, so did I, but our knowledge was limited. She wanted to help but she was at a loss.

The extent of menstrual education we received in school was in an early biology class & we touched on periods in sex education but there was nothing about what is & isn't healthy & normal for a person who menstruates. I knew it wasn't normal, but I had no tools to prove it.

Menstrual wellbeing needs to be taught to help remove the taboo around periods. I often wonder how few chairs I would have bled onto if I could have raised my hand & said I needed to be excused because of my period, although, students should not need an excuse to be excused.

Menstrual wellbeing needs to be taught because if young people are able to identify unhealthy periods sooner, it will increase their understanding of their bodies, their health & shorten the time it takes to get diagnosed with conditions like endometriosis.

Menstrual wellbeing needs to be taught because education is the foundation of healthcare. We are raising & teaching future doctors, if menstrual wellbeing is taken more seriously in education, perhaps it will change how healthcare perceives menstrual health.

Menstrual wellbeing needs to be taught because education is sometimes a person's only source of support. If their parents are unsupportive or absent, education can provide someone with the tools to fight their own battles, as I had to.

Menstrual wellbeing needs to be taught & accompanied by free menstrual products available in schools, period pants should be a necessity & not a luxury because they would have enabled me to spend more time in school & drastically improved the time I spent there.

Menstrual wellbeing should be taught in order to protect young people from embarrassment, shame & fear that comes with having your period in school. For many, it can be a traumatic experience, this should not be & tackling this starts with education, empathy & understanding.

Menstrual wellbeing needs to be taught & done so in such a way that does not exclude students who are questioning their gender identity. Menstrual wellbeing should be inclusive to educate students that periods are not an experience limited to cisgender women & girls.

Menstrual wellbeing should be taught not only to discuss the physical aspects of menstruation, but also the mental. Students should be educated about what is & what isn't normal to experience during the premenstrual stages & about premenstrual syndromes.

Menstrual wellbeing should be taught to both students & teachers because menstrual wellbeing is wellbeing, it is healthcare, it is & should be a part of everyone's education.