Dear Agatha,
I am eleven years of age and would soon be starting menstruation. As a mother, please help me out. Tell me everything I need to know about it and what to expect.
Theresa.
Dear Theresa,
At eleven, you sound like a very sensible girl who likes to be prepared for the days ahead. Keep it up, this way you would always be heads and shoulders ahead of your peers.
Menstruation is a woman's monthly bleeding. This is what everywoman must go through to be a normal woman. It is nothing to be ashamed of, because without it, you are no woman. Messy, but it is precious to all women. So, learn from this tender age to be proud of this special gift and of what it signifies.
With its onset in your life comes the awareness that you can become a mother if you don't handle yourself with dignity and strict moral values. Having menstruation means when you allow any man have sex with you as a woman, you could become pregnant if it falls within your ovulation period.
The first menses goes by the name menarche. The average girl starts menstruating from the age of 12 but some begin very early while some don't begin until they are well into their teenage years. In some few cases, some girls are known to have started at the age of 18. A woman will only begin to menstruate when all her reproductive system have matured and are working together.
Also called menses, menstrual period, or period, the menstrual blood is partly blood and partly tissue from the womb. It flows from the uterus, another name for the womb, through the small opening in the cervix, and passes out of the body through the vagina. It lasts between three and five days.
As a young girl, it would do you a world of good to keep records the moment you begin. Doing so would help you calculate your monthly calendar as well as know how many days you are. For instance, some women have a cycle of 28 days while others have 35 or more days. It would also help you calculate your ovulation day, safe and unsafe periods.
A cycle starts on the first day of a period. Knowing how your body works is essential as you would be able to answer so many questions concerning any noticed change in your body.
However, for a period to begin, it takes the combined contributions of the brain, pituitary gland, uterus and cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, and vagina to make it happen. Body chemicals called hormones rise and fall during the month and make the menstrual cycle happen. The ovaries produce two kinds of female hormones, estrogen and progesterone. Other hormones involved in the menstrual cycle include follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinising hormone (LH), made by the pituitary gland. So, you see, the body is a network and the result of the blood you see at the end of every month is the product of an effective network system. In the first half of the menstrual cycle, levels of estrogen rise and make the lining of the uterus grow and thicken. In response to follicle-stimulating hormone, an egg (ovum) in one of the ovaries starts to mature. At about day 14 of a typical 28-day cycle, in response to a surge of luteinising hormone, the egg leaves the ovary. This is called ovulation.
In the second half of the menstrual cycle, the egg begins to travel through the fallopian tube to the uterus. Progesterone levels rise and help prepare the uterine lining for pregnancy. If the egg becomes fertilised by a sperm cell and attaches itself to the uterine wall, the woman becomes pregnant. If the egg is not fertilised, it either dissolves or is absorbed into the body. If pregnancy does not occur, estrogen and progesterone levels drop, and the thickened lining of the uterus is shed during the menstrual period.
During the menstrual period, the thickened uterine lining and extra blood are shed through the vaginal canal. A woman's period may not be the same every month, and it may not be the same as other women's periods. Periods can be light, moderate, or heavy, and the length of the period also varies. While most menstrual periods last from three to five days, anywhere from two to seven days is considered normal. For the first few years after menstruation begins, periods may be very irregular. They may also become irregular in women approaching menopause. Sometimes birth control pills are prescribed to help with irregular periods or other problems with the menstrual cycle.
Sanitary pads or tampons, which are made of cotton or another absorbent material, are worn to absorb the blood flow. Sanitary pads are placed inside the panties; tampons are inserted into the vagina. They come in different sizes to accommodate the volume of flow a woman has. These days, sanitary towels are getting smaller and very convenient.
To ensure you are not embarrassed by sudden flow, ensure you go about once you have passed your half cycle with a sanitary towel. It helps to be prepared.
Women can have various kinds of problems with their periods, including pain, heavy bleeding, and skipped periods. One of such is amenorrhea, lack of a menstrual period.
It is the absence of a period in young women who haven't started menstruating by age 16, or the absence of a period in women who used to have a regular period. Causes of amenorrhea include pregnancy, breastfeeding, and extreme weight loss caused by serious illness, eating disorders, excessive exercising, or stress. Hormonal problems involving the pituitary, thyroid, ovary, or adrenal glands or problems with the reproductive organs may be involved.
Dysmenorrhea is another challenge women go through during menses. It is painful includes several menstrual cramps. In younger women, there is often no known disease or condition associated with the pain. A hormone called prostaglandin is responsible for the symptoms. Pain reliever can help reduce the tension.
Menorrhagia is heavy bleeding or unusually long periods. In adolescents and women approaching menopause, hormone imbalance problems often cause it.
After menstruation comes menopause. It occurs around the age of 51, on average. Menopause means that a woman is no longer ovulating and can no longer become pregnant. Like menstruation, menopause varies from woman to woman. In some, it could come very early as early as in their 30s while for some it may come very late in life.
What is most important to you once you start menstruating is not to get intimate with any man or allow yourself to be alone with one to avoid the danger of being compromised.
To avoid making costly mistakes in your life, please cultivate the habit of asking your mother questions on issues you want answers to or call me. I am just a phone call way, so feel free to call or send a text message.
Wishing you all the best as you prepare for womanhood!
Good luck.
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