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19
Mar 2023
Headteacher urges frank discussions in schools about women's health
A secondary headteacher living with endometriosis is calling for more frank discussions in schools about periods and women’s health.
Emma Lambden, who lives in Ripon and is head of Thirsk School, was diagnosed with the women’s reproductive condition in her early 40s, but says she had had problems with periods since her teens.
She said: “Diagnosis of endometriosis typically takes about seven years, so I just want young girls to have sufficient information that they will go to the doctor early if need be, rather than thinking they ‘just have bad periods’, like I did.”
The headteacher, who was educated at Ripon Grammar School, said discussions with groups of her own pupils had already yielded valuable feedback. Students aged 15 to 17 suggested the introduction of lessons about what periods look like, the emotional impact of periods, and the need to remove the “taboo” from talking about menstrual health.
Ms Lambden has also made sanitary products available on demand at three points in her school – a move that was prompted by some of her own sixth-formers, who wanted to combat “period poverty”.
She is now making that just one plank of a wider approach. She said:
She added:
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