By Haddy Ceesay
Phebian Ina Grant-Sagnia, principal investigator at the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, has said they have realized through their findings that many adolescents do not understand their menstrual circles.
“We just ask for information about how adolescents get to know their reproductive health issues, and in our research, we have found out that there is gap in communication. Adolescents do not communicate with their parents as well as parents do not communicate with their children,” she said.
Speaking on the many concerns of the lifestyles of adolescents, especially on the reproductive health of girls, Madam Phebian said what they have found out was if they ask them about their mensural circles, they do not know anything about it, adding that all they know is that every month they see blood.
Phabian further revealed how dangerous it is for one to use a single pad on for three hours.
She added that the adolescents have mentioned they use one pad from morning to evening which she said is unhygienic and unhealthy.
“We knew that the disposable sanitary pads should not be used more than 3 hours, but most of the time the young girls use it from morning to evening, and that causes health hazards and infection as well because blood is coming out and once the blood comes out it turns into brown and if it overstays, it turns to green which causes infection. The infection can cause infertility and the young adult will not know,” she lamented.
She said during that stage the girl is young but she grows and turns into adult to get married and then goes on to have a child, then some complications show up.
Phabian urged parents to communicate with their children and children to communicate with their parents about their reproductive health to avoid certain harm.
The menstrual cycle is a term used to describe the sequence of events that occur within a woman’s body as she prepares for the possibility of pregnancy each month.
According to research, a menstrual cycle is considered to begin on the first day of a period. The average cycle is 28 days long, however, a cycle can range in length from 21 days to about 35 days.
