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