Period Pains need to be a legitimate reason for absence in schools

[3beesinmybonnet]

A father of 3 daughters has started a petition to make period pain a legitimate reason for absence from school, after he was told his daughter's absence for period pains would be marked as unauthorised.
I'm the wrong side of 60, I have no daughters or granddaughters, so I know very little of what goes on in schools nowadays other than what I learn from Mumsnet, but I well remember the pain, vomiting, and diarrhoea I suffered every month along with the humiliation resulting from heavy blood loss from age 11 to late teens when I was put on the pill, which sorted it out. Before that it was just paracetamol, and occasionally I was sent to lie down with a hot water bottle. I think I probably had the odd day off with it (my mother was sympathetic having suffered the same herself) but it was generally seen as just part of being a woman and you should just get on with it. It seems not much has changed.
I've started this thread here because it took me a while to find the petitions board, you have to actively search for it, and its obvious many threads on there never get seen.

www.change.org/p/educationgovuk-period-pains-dysmenorrhea-need-to-be-a-legitimate-reason-for-absence-in-schools

[MiddlesexGirl]

Not sure why this is an issue.
Note to school .... my daughter will be absent from school today with stomach cramps.
Job done.

[tiddlysquat]

If you have pain there is no point being at school as you can't learn. Better to have a duvet day and have a rest catch up the next few days.

It's not always endo either, I've had absolutely awful pains all my life and don't apparently have any reason for it. Thank god I'm old and there can't be long left of them!

[AreYouCursed]

No, no dig intended Mildura - in fact, I challenged NumberTheory upthread.

Those who say they had really bad periods and don't have anything wrong, are you certain? It usually doesn't show up on an ultrasound. You need to have a laparoscopy to diagnose it, and it needs to be performed by a specialist - non-specialist gynaecologists can miss endometriosis when they see it.

[Namechange600]

Utterly ridiculous stance by the school.
Endometriosis and Adenomyosis cause extreme pain, fatigue and nausea.
Hardly anyone is diagnosed in their teens with endo - average diagnosis time is about 8 years.
As for me, well 25 years after excruciating periods And the first of many GP, hospital visits, I was diagnosed with stage 4 endometriosis and adenomyosis (have pcos as well plus other stuff wrong now). It was everywhere, I was riddled with it (diaphragm anyone?! Ureters, Bowel, bladder, pelvic side walls, peritoneum etc)
So no it should be an authorised absence as it starts with period pain and progresses over time, with surgery needed for a diagnosis many will not be diagnosed until their 20/30s or even 40s.

[LoveFall]

The more I think about this the more annoyed I become. Honestly, a girl must come to school with bad period pain or she will be marked as an unexcused absence?

That stance is harsh and discriminatory. Sorry, but your pain is because you are female so suck it up.

[NeverDropYourMooncup]

@LoveFall

The more I think about this the more annoyed I become. Honestly, a girl must come to school with bad period pain or she will be marked as an unexcused absence?

That stance is harsh and discriminatory. Sorry, but your pain is because you are female so suck it up.

Why? That's not what happened, according to the father himself in his poorly written rant.

[MilduraS]

 well now I'm embarrassed. I hadn't realised you were two different posters @AreYouCursed . Funny you should mention encouragement to have a hysterectomy. After surgery 4 or 5, just as she turned 32 (with no children) they started talking about a hysterectomy as a preventative measure to avoid more surgeries. It hadn't come up before but 32 still seemed a bit young to be encouraging it.

[AreYouCursed]

@MilduraS Oh no, I'm not a name-changer! I'm only on here once.
But don't worry. I didn't mean to seem like I was getting at you, I'm just on a bit of a crusade about information.

The figures I've been given about the effectiveness of hysterectomy are not really encouraging. If accompanied by removal of all endometriosis, it apparently reduces the rate of recurrence from about 24% to about 19%. Off the top of my head, I think that's when also accompanied by Total Peritoneal Excision (TPE), which is a) very drastic and b) a procedure that only a few surgeons in this country are competent to perform. So most patients aren't being offered this type/quality of surgery.

This means there's a pretty high chance of recurrence even if you have the full hysterectomy and can get a really skilled surgeon who can get the most disease out and do the TPE. The hysterectomy only really benefits you if you were in the 5% or so of patients for whom it actually changes the outcome. The problem is at the moment we're bad at grouping patients into those for whom the disease won't recur anyway even without hysterectomy, those for whom it likely will recur even with hysterectomy, and those who are likely to be in that 5% for whom hysterectomy changes the outcome - though I think the more severe the case, the likelier that you're going to end up in the 19% who just end up ill again.

These figures assume a type of surgery that isn't available to most patients, and if it turns out the surgeon can't remove all the disease, these statistics then become irrelevant to that particular case.

@NeverDropYourMooncup, this particular case is odd - it seems the father didn't give any reason for the absence and this is why it was marked as unauthorised. But he's right there is a problem - so far as I know, plenty schools are still acting as though there's no reason for girls to be off sick with period pains and they should be just pushing through.

I feel a bit conflicted here because I can't sign this petition - this is not the occurrence that's worthy of taking a stand on, and this man is not the right person to do it. But there is a problem here, and schools need to start to understand that there's a significant number of young girls in every school who have a serious and untreated medical condition, for which they require time off school but for which they currently have no chance of having the GP take them seriously.

A pioneering programme in NZ has significantly raised diagnosis rates by sending teams into schools to educate girls and teachers about endometriosis in a factual and non-scaremongering way, identify teenagers at risk, diagnose and treat them. It's called the ME programme (Menstrual health and Endometriosis).

[IsabelHerna]

Totally ridiculous! We should make sure ALL students have the support they need to learn and be safe and comfortable in schools. Period pains are a real issue that half of the student's body experiences, why don't the schools see that?

[Nomoreusernames1244]

Period pains are a real issue that half of the student's body experiences, why don't the schools see that?

Why doesn’t the medical profession see that and start looking at ways to help that doesn’t take years of investigations, fobbing off and telling women they have to put up with it..

[Lovelydovey]

The problem is that there is such a spectrum of symptoms it’s difficult to give blanket permission to miss school due to periods. You’ll end up with some with minor symptoms interpreting this as an excuse to stay home.

[ChloeCrocodile]

I absolutely agree that severe period pains are a perfectly valid reason for absence - just like any other pain. However, if parents don't tell the school why their child is off then of course it will be marked as unauthorised absence.

Of course we could argue that the decision on attendance is 100% on the parent and schools have no business questioning it, but then how do we (society I mean) ensure that all children get the education they are entitled to? Unfortunately some parents don't act in the best interests of their children and we have to have systems in place to identify and help those children. It makes life a tiny bit more inconvenient for the vast majority of parents, but I really think expecting a "my child has stomach cramps" message isn't exactly onerous.

[NumberTheory]

@IsabelHerna

Totally ridiculous! We should make sure ALL students have the support they need to learn and be safe and comfortable in schools. Period pains are a real issue that half of the student's body experiences, why don't the schools see that?

Well, no. Half the student body do not suffer period pain to the extent it would interfere with school. It’s a minority of women who are affected by period pain to that extent.

That doesn’t mean it isn’t something that should be given focus and attention by society but pushing the idea that all women are debilitated by periods is false and plays into the hands of those that contend periods make women unreliable and unsuitable for critical roles.

[Hoppinggreen]

@Nomoreusernames1244

Period pains are a real issue that half of the student's body experiences, why don't the schools see that?

Why doesn’t the medical profession see that and start looking at ways to help that doesn’t take years of investigations, fobbing off and telling women they have to put up with it..

There’s a book I read recently where a virus kills the majority of men so women are basically in charge of everything.
They cure Endometriosis within a couple of years.

[DaisyWaldron]

Ah yes, I remember that time I gave birth without pain relief because I thought that obviously childbirth was incredibly painful unlike period pains which were just me making a big fuss about nothing, so I wouldn't start on the gas and air until it hurt more than bad period pains. DC1 was born without the pain ever being worse than period pains.

[Pouffeycat]

Interesting to me as my 16 yo went to sick bay today as she was feeling faint due to period cramps.
When i picked her up, school were all about her feeling faint.
Didnt really click with me until we got in the car.
School have stopped her friends ringing home for period pains. So she knew to say she was feeling faint.
She looked bloody awful.

Its very wrong.

We will try the GP route, but i am worried about putting her on the pill. I dont know enough about later consequences.

A prancing man with his petition...

[FemaleAndLearning]

My daughter has been googling this week to find a religion that accepts that women should rest during their period. She gets so much pain, also down her legs and in her bum. I suffered like this too, now I'm thinking I should be taking her to the GP.

What key things should I ask GP. She is only 13 so don't want her on the pill.

[Nomoreusernames1244]

What key things should I ask GP. She is only 13 so don't want her on the pill

Why not? If it helps i’d be all for it. There’s not been any long term side effects found. Added bonus of running packs together to avoid periods on holiday or other events.

Other choices would be painkillers. Mefenamic acid is a good one but can have serious side effects, so many gp’s don’t like prescribing it to teens as the dose needs to be carefully monitored.

[FemaleAndLearning]

I just don't know about the pill, I guess I should look into it more. I've used it myself before children, but struggled cos of migraines, but thankfully she doesn't suffer with them.

They do make her hate her body.
I took mefenamic acid and it was brilliant until I started getting really bad diarreah. I've since had laser ablation surgery (nothing to do with a laser! Balloon filled with hot water against uterus to breakdown lining, very bad if you get pregnant though so hot for those having sex) so my periods are super light.

[EdgeOfACoin]

Well, no. Half the student body do not suffer period pain to the extent it would interfere with school. It’s a minority of women who are affected by period pain to that extent.

That doesn’t mean it isn’t something that should be given focus and attention by society but pushing the idea that all women are debilitated by periods is false and plays into the hands of those that contend periods make women unreliable and unsuitable for critical roles.

Yes, I think we need to be careful about the message we are giving here. Women not being able to think properly during their periods was one reason men used to give for not giving women the vote.

Most women do not suffer debilitating period pains. For me, I tend to suffer a bit on the first day. I sometimes take a paracetamol and use a hot water bottle, but that's it. It's under control.

There are, obviously, women and girls who suffer hugely more. And we need proper research and solutions to this. I don't think the Pill is the way to go - it treats the symptom, not the cause. It's shocking there isn't more investigation into endo and other conditions that cause severe pain.

But the general idea that periods are a reason for girls not attending school is quite a dangerous one, I think.