Menstrual Hygiene Day 2020: 14 women talk about how periods are No Big Deal – more lifestyle

Each month for a period of five to seven days, a woman menstruates. It is a way for the womb to prepare for a possible pregnancy and when this does not happen it sheds the lining of the womb which results in a period or menses or the menstrual cycle. This usually happens once a month for a healthy woman and she bleeds on an average for five days. The normal cycle varies from 21 to 35 days. Having a regular period most often indicates that a woman is ovulating every month, meaning that it is your monthly reminder that you are capable of having a baby.

While this is a matter-of-fact statement about the natural bodily process of menstruation, it is however, surrounded by a plethora of myths and stigma – right from how period blood is impure, tampons are not for Indian women to even tampons being the cause of losing one’s virginity and all and sundry. The taboo attached to menstruation makes it difficult for women to reach out and have their doubts cleared about the basic rules of maintaining proper menstrual hygiene. This is probably why women end up believing whatever is available off the internet or give in to the hearsay passed on by other women around us, which might not be factually correct too.

This Menstrual Hygiene Day, HealthShots–a unique health and wellness platform for Indian millennial women from India’s lead media group, Hindustan Times–is pledging to change this narrative.

With a week-long campaign starting May 27 to June 2, HealthShots will attempt to demystify the menstrual cycle with expert-backed content from India’s leading female healthcare institutions, featuring the voices of over 10 gynaecologists and other medical practioners.

The campaign titled No Big Deal, HealthShots is also celebrating the invincible female spirit by bringing you stories of 14 women from different walks of life on how their periods don’t dictate their lives. Actress Eisha Chopra, influencer Dolly Singh, Chef Bani Nanda, US-based fashion influencer Kompal Matta Kapoor, makeup artist Leena Bhushan, bodybuilder Yashmin Chauhan, Covid-19 frontline doctor Manjusha Agarwal, Pilates expert Vesna Jacob, and digital creator Aakriti Rana are just a few of the unstoppable women who will be sharing their period stories through #NoBigDeal.

“What we want to do with #NoBigDeal and our Menstrual Hygiene Day campaign is to bridge the gap between how periods are perceived by society and the reality of how women live through it. The aim really is to get the right information out there and bust some of the myths that still exist,” shares Ramesh Menon, Chief Business Officer at HT Media.

HealthShots will also be launching an e-guide on menstruation to mark the occasion of Menstrual Hygiene Day 2020.

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