95% of people say they were not taught about menstrual cycles in school

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Sims IVF, a Medical Consultant led group of fertility clinics in Ireland, has launched a new awareness and education campaign to coincide with the group’s annual Fertility Awareness Week, which kicks off today. The ‘Know Your Period’ campaign aims to educate women of all ages about their menstrual cycle. In advance of the campaign, the clinic ran a short survey to understand how much people know about their menstrual cycle, and their subsequent behaviours during their time of the month, which came back with some shocking results. The results highlighted that only five per cent of people believe they had adequate education in school on period related topics. 91 per cent of people admitted that they would always hide their period products when going to the bathroom during their schooldays and this behaviour has continued into adulthood as 76 per cent of people still make a conscious effort to hide their period products in work and in their shopping trolleys. Speaking with us today about the campaign, Amy Murphy, Nurse Manager at the Sims IVF clinic in Swords said:

“Periods and menstrual cycles are often topics that people tend to shy away from, either because they are embarrassed or have always felt that it is a ‘woman’s’ problem that should be dealt with privately. This can cause a number of issues for women of all ages, including not knowing vital information about their cycle and the factors that can affect it. Over the next two weeks, we want to bring the menstruation conversation to the fore, to educate, inform and break to the taboo through the ‘Know Your Period’ campaign. We want women to feel empowered to learn more about their bodies, talk about their periods among friends and family, and not feel that they need to hide period products in the supermarket, work or in school.”