Schools to teach about endometriosis, periods and cancer screenings

Young women say they are taught how to open a bank account at school, but not how to change a tampon or spot signs of cancer.

“As a person from an ethnic minority background, in some communities this is actually taboo and quite a sensitive subject to talk about, so if you can’t learn these things at school then where are you going to learn them?” said Athika Ahmed, 23.

She was among young people involved in the design of new school resources to increase understanding of women’s most common health problems in Wales.

Brochures and posters covering menstrual health, endometriosis, pelvic health and menopause will be distributed to secondary education institutions.

Athika, a member of the Cardiff and Vale health board’s youth panel, said they could help shape the information in these resources.

She said that when she started menstruating at a very young age, she was nervous about talking to her family, but the lack of support at school also made her feel “one step behind.”

He was left with questions such as “When should you change your pad, what type of pad do you want to use, what type of products?”

“I didn’t know the difference between a pad and a tampon,” she said.

“Simple things like hygiene can help young people grasp these things and become the confident young women they can be.”

The menstrual cycle is already a compulsory part of the curriculum in Wales, but this material is the first designed to include conditions such as endometriosis, which affects approximately 155,000 women in Wales.

As well as covering basic information, the resources also direct young people to online resources such as Sexual Health Wales, Brook, Bloody Brilliant and Endometriosis Cymru.

Molly Fenton is also on the youth panel and said periods can indicate more serious health problems.

“I live with a brain tumor that affects my optic nerves and my pituitary gland, the house of your hormones and my periods were one of the first symptoms,” she said, adding that she experienced her first bleeding when she was six, before she started menstruating at eight.

“They really took over my life, then I lost them when I was 16, which had huge detrimental effects all over my body and I live with long-term damage because of it, so my periods were a big driver in getting diagnosed and getting the support I needed.

“We still hear about so many people who can’t even say the word dot or poop, for example.

“Having this conversation might be a start. Mine is a very unique situation; not everyone is going to be diagnosed with a brain tumor or something really serious, but being able to have these conversations and advocate for yourself is huge, and these materials need to fill the gap to make that happen.”

Natalie McDonald, specialist community health nurse in Cardiff and the Vale, said young people would often seek advice about symptoms rather than specific conditions.

She said school nurses are now trained on issues such as endometriosis to better guide young people, but also to reach out to family members or teachers when appropriate to help them understand the impact it has on young people.

“Some of the young people we see in schools do not often go to the GP or there are barriers.

“We seek to develop a therapeutic, trusting relationship so these new resources will amplify our message.”

The resources are a result of the women’s health strategy for Wales published a year ago.

Elen, 17, said that the boys on the youth panel play a big role in contributing to the design of new resources, but boys and girls are usually present separately in these lessons at school.

“There’s almost a stigma around it and you’ll be listening in different rooms, which makes you think it’s only about one gender, which of course isn’t true,” she said.

“Everyone has relatives who will go through these things. Many people around me have endometriosis or are struggling with menopause, so a basic understanding from a young age is important.”

Sarah Murphy, Wales’ minister for mental health and wellbeing, said the women’s health lead centers were expected to come online “within the next few months”, building on existing services to “create a third level of support”.

“The biggest change we will see is a change in education (for health professionals) and how women are treated.

“That’s the key part of the whole women’s health strategy – not being laid off, not having our pain alleviated, and knowing that those services are there and how to access them. That’s what every health board will offer.”