Improving quality of life with new menstrual hygiene practices among adolescent tribal girls in rural Gujarat, India

Abstract

The Government of India has started a new scheme aimed at offering sanitary pads at a subsidized rate to adolescent girls in rural areas. This paper addresses menstrual health and hygiene practices among adolescent girls in a rural, tribal region of South Gujarat, India, and their experiences using old cloths, a new soft cloth (falalin) and sanitary pads. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected in a community-based study over six months, with a pre-and post- design, among 164 adolescent girls from eight villages. Questions covered knowledge of menstruation, menstrual practices, quality of life, experience and satisfaction with the different cloths/pads and symptoms of reproductive tract infections. Knowledge regarding changes of puberty, source of menstrual blood and route of urine and menstrual flow was low. At baseline 90% of girls were using old cloths. At the end of the study, 68% of adolescent girls said their first choice was falalin cloths, while 32% said it was sanitary pads. None of them preferred old cloths. The introduction of falalin cloths improved quality of life significantly (p<0.000) and to a lesser extent also sanitary pads. No significant reduction was observed in self-reported symptoms of reproductive tract infections. Falalin cloths were culturally more acceptable as they were readily available, easy to use and cheaper than sanitary pads.

Menstrual Hygiene Management in Resource-Poor Countries

“…All of the interventions evaluated have been published since 2000. Seven of these studies were conducted in South Asia, 53–59 whereas the other studies were done in Ghana, 60 Tanzania, 61 Iran, 62 and Saudi Arabia 63 (Table 2). …”

An intervention to empower and engage the self help groups for menstrual hygeine in Karnataka, India

“…Studies have shown that most of the women do not use sanitary pads during their menstruation. 8,9 Menstrual hygiene and social taboos are issues needs to be addressed at all levels. The issues of poor menstrual hygiene management have been ignored or misunderstood by the society as well as the policy makers.…”

“…The issues of menstrual hygiene discussed through health education are an essential resource for improving menstrual hygiene in women especially in less developed countries. 8,10 Thus, it is essential to design a mechanism to address and for the access of healthy menstrual practices. 3,8 There is a need to educate and empower women about safe and hygienic practices during menstruation and bring them out of traditional beliefs, taboos and misconceptions.…”

“…8,10 Thus, it is essential to design a mechanism to address and for the access of healthy menstrual practices. 3,8 There is a need to educate and empower women about safe and hygienic practices during menstruation and bring them out of traditional beliefs, taboos and misconceptions. In this context, the present study was planned with the notion that development and use of Information Education Communication (IEC) material along with active participation by the community ensures delivery of appropriate information and knowledge to people which in turn empowers them to make informed decisions about their health.…”

The effect of wearing sanitary napkins of different thicknesses on physiological and psychological responses in Muslim females

“…This is based on tradition passed down for generations as in the older days there were no napkins and many used old cloths as napkins [8]. In addition, many believe that if used SNs are not washed before being thrown away, one risks being afflicted with hysteria and disturbances and is unhygienic.…”