A mother knows best, and we have proof!

At Nushu, we believe a mother knows best, but rarely do we celebrate a mother’s insight and careful deliberation in making the right choices for her daughter 💜

 
So this Mother’s Day, we dug into our community and spoke to Rashmi, who took the leap, and chose period underwear over pads for her daughter.

 
As mother to 13-year-old Akaisha, Rashmi shared her insights on how she ensures that her teenage daughter fosters a healthy relationship with her body, and how using period underwear has had a ripple effect on her daughter ✨

 

🚨 Community Spotlight: 🚨
Mother: Rashmi, Delhi
Daughter: Akaisha, Delhi

 

👉🏼Nushu: How do you plan to celebrate your daughter's milestones as she transitions into womanhood?

Rashmi: Quite honestly, we didn’t really “celebrate” any milestones, like her first period, because I wanted to normalise it for her. I figured that making it a big deal might cause her to overthink the process, so it was a conscious choice to treat it that way.

👉🏼Nushu: How do you ensure an open & supportive dialogue with your daughter about her changing body?

Rashmi: I think the prep for a sensitive conversation with your daughter starts much earlier on. From the get go, I’ve consciously built a friendship with her, so she is comfortable enough to come to me when something goes wrong. She knows that no matter what, her mom is there to back her up. So now, she is very open about everything with me. 

👉🏼Nushu: Did that make “the talk” about menstruation easier?

Rashmi: Before I spoke to her about it, she had already had a couple of educational sessions in school about it. She had friends who started bleeding before she did. So when I brought it up, she said “Mumma, I already know all this”. 

But yes, it did help. The only thing she asked me was, “Mumma, zyada dard toh nahi hoga?” (It wouldn’t hurt too much, right?). To that, I reassured her that, as long as she tells me everything she is going through, we will figure everything out. This is normal. 

👉🏼Nushu: What urged you to buy period panties for your daughter?

Rashmi: I came across Nushu when my daughter had already started menstruating – it had been a couple of years. Initially she was using pads, but since her flow was super heavy, she would constantly leak through them. Plus, they were extremely uncomfortable, so I really wanted to get her something she could wear comfortably, for long hours, without leakage!

 I did my own research, spoke to the team, ensured that the sizing would be right, and finally decided to buy her a pair to try!

 Since then, she has been wearing Nushu Period Panties every single cycle! She is super comfortable in them and she hasn’t leaked at all since she started wearing them.

👉🏼Nushu: What lessons have you learned from your own experiences with menstruation that you hope to pass on to your daughter?

Rashmi: One practice I’d pass onto her is maintaining top-notch personal hygiene. But other than that, I think I grew up with quite a few misconceptions around menstrual blood – that it’s dirty and cannot be touched. 

Another one was – I can’t visit the temple, I can’t wash my hair except on certain days, etc, which a lot of us have grown up with. Those are things that I want her to know are just irrelevant! We’ve all heard these unsaid rules and imposed limitations that are never backed by logic or science. I would never want these “rules” to faze her relationship with her own body and cycle. 

👉🏼Nushu: What advice would you give to other mothers considering period underwear for their children?

Rashmi: It’s not the 90s anymore. If we have better choices than pads, then why not explore them?

One lovely ripple effect I noticed was – using Period Panties has made my daughter more responsible for her own hygiene and more independent as well. She washes her own underwear without my interference, so she is more conscious about her hygiene that way.

We’re immensely grateful for all the mothers out there who grew out of the taboos they were raised with so they could raise their daughters with more confidence and freedom! Today’s young girls are tomorrow’s women who navigate life with poise and conviction 💜

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