Auntie Stella

TARSC

Auntie Stella was produced by Training and Research Support Centre (Zimbabwe)
Box CY2720, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe
Phone: 263-4-795124
Email: admin@tarsc.org
Website: www.tarsc.org

21. My periods are irregular

Theme: Growing up
Relationships with family and community

Dear Pauline

Don’t worry – there’s no reason to think that you cannot have children in the future. It’s quite normal to have irregular periods in the first few years after you start menstruating. Some girls have a couple of periods and then nothing else for a whole year. Your periods should settle down after a while.

Other things affect your periods too – if you are worried or if you either lose or gain a lot of weight or if you’ve been sick for a long time.  And for a girl who has had sex, missing periods are the main sign of pregnancy.

But talk to a nurse or health worker, especially if your periods don’t start again after a year. Try to have a healthy diet, with unrefined foods, lots of fruit and vegetables, and foods rich in iron – like dark-leaved vegetables, peas, beans and lentils, eggs, chicken and fish, other meat, grasshoppers and termites (majuru/ amagenga).

You and your friends need reliable information about your changing bodies.  Talk to a youth-friendly clinic or health worker and organise a meeting where they can answer your questions. Or find out where your nearest youth corner or youth centre is, and ask them for information.

Auntie Stella

Action Points


  • Pauline is afraid that she is infertile. What fears do you have about your body, sex and having children? Discuss them with your group and see if they can help you. If you want to do it secretly, write your fears on a paper and don’t write your name. Put the papers in a bag and mix them up, then take them out to discuss.

  • If your group can’t help, who can you go to for advice?

  • People get information about their bodies, sex and relationships from many different places and people. Where do you get your information from? Make a list. How can you find out what is true and what is false?

  • Draw a picture of a youth-friendly clinic, making it clear why the clinic is youth-friendly. Compare your picture with the clinic you visit. Do you think your clinic treats young people with respect? If not, how can you and other people in your community work together to make it more youth-friendly?