𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗳𝗳!

𝗙𝗶𝘃𝗲 - 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗱

Having your first period can be difficult, especially if you don't have someone to guide you such as a mother figure. Well, don't fear, this chapter can assist you in having your first period or helping someone who's having their first period.

W H E N : Every girl is different and you can get your first period from as early as 8 to as somewhat late as 16. The average age is 12-13 and you can find out when you'll roughly get yours by tracking genetic patterns such as when your mother or sister got theirs. If not, you also tend to get your first period two years after you first start to develop breasts. Please speak to a Doctor if you do not have it until after 16, however, as this can be cause for concern.

H O W L O N G : Again, every girl is different so your period can be light for 3 days or heavy for as long as seven days. Anything longer or shorter is considered as irregular so please speak to a Doctor if there are problems there. You won't fully know how long your period lasts until you've had a few. Even then, chances are that your first period will be irregular for the first two years so there's no cause for concern. Just always be prepared and ensure you're protected if in a sexual relationship.

H O W & W H A T: Don't be alarmed if your period isn't red and heavy the first time. Most girls only have a brown discharge and it's of a light flow. For your first time, you can either use a pad or a tampon. Both are as protecting but it depends on what your comfortable with. Also, a pad is worn on the outside of the body and a tampon is worn on the inside of the body.

Tip ~ Try and normalise periods in your friendship group as it is a normal issue and from personal experience I can say that talking about periods can actually assist friendship bonding!

One more thing for this chapter, if you can't access sanitary products then your school should most definitely have a system in place to help but if that doesn't work, women's charities are also around to help.