What does your period say about your health?

Bio engineer Hilla Shaviv explains why your monthly period is a health indicator that no one talks about.

From your monthly cycle to menopause symptoms, menstruation has always been a taboo subject. Despite a recent boom in more sustainable products that raise awareness around women’s health, there is still a lot of stigma around periods that makes women reluctant to speak openly about it in public.

“So many girls feel embarrassed or ashamed when they have their first period,” says Hilla, a bio engineer and entrepreneur from Israel.

“My mother never talked to me about menses, but this is the beginning of life. None of us would have been here if it wasn’t for menstrual bleeding.”

Experience gained during her time as a bio engineer researching blood flow and heart disease helped Hilla to understand the connection between menstrual viscosity and period pain.

In 2007 she studied fluid samples collected from volunteers via menstrual cups. It was one of the first studies that involved menstrual blood analysis in a lab.

This sparked a new idea in Hilla’s mind: a tampon that acts like a disposable menstrual cup.

“Menstrual bleeding is like a monthly biopsy which can be easily collected and sent to a lab,” Hilla adds.

Her invention, Tulipon, allows women to have up to 12 hours protection while safely collecting the fluid in a biodegradable cup.

While there are hundreds of menstrual products on the market, the idea of using blood to monitor women’s health is a new concept.

Hilla explains: “Tulipon can be the first accurate indicator of the amount of fluid that women secrete each month. 20 per cent of women, for example, have heavy menstrual bleeding and few of them know that too much bleeding can suggest an iron deficiency. Our goal is not only to be able to send the fluid to the lab but we also want to allow women to monitor certain aspects of their health at home using their smartphones.”

Tulipon seems a completely different approach to what women have been used to. Period pants and other absorbing products have become increasingly popular, but there are still concerns about how hygienic they are.

“Many young women do not use traditional tampons anymore,” Hilla has noticed. “They tend to use external, absorbing methods and the reason for that is sustainability. Everybody wants to be more sustainable, but at what cost. We are looking for a solution, but we are going backward,” she adds.

Indeed, a report from Health Shots stated that: “If [reusable cotton pads] are not cleaned properly, they can make you more prone to getting a vaginal infection by promoting the growth of bacteria and fungus.”

Hilla says that her experience as a woman, along with her work in bio engineering helped her come up with solutions and develop Tulipon. However, she still encounters obstacles when it comes to funding.

“I was very lucky to raise the initial funding,” she admits. “As an entrepreneur, I was optimistic and I thought this would be easy, but the reality was completely the opposite.

“Funding is a huge obstacle and without the money we can’t make progress. What we raised initially is not enough and it’s been a real challenge to keep this project going. With the right funding, we could launch Tulipon within a year.”

Entrepreneurs like her want to see more education being implemented in communities that would then lead to a better understanding of women’s heath.

Hilla believes that: “There are still a lot of taboos around vaginal devices and there are many things to be done not just technologically, but also in society.

“I hope I won’t be alone in this, and women will combine forces and work together to make a bigger change.”