CHANGES IN THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE

Changes in the Menstrual Cycle After Pregnancy

Jasmin Acevedo

HLTH 102: Community Health Organizations

PhotoVoice 2017

California State University, Channel Islands

Spring 2019
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Changes in the Menstrual Cycle After Pregnancy

Ventura College has students that come from many other towns and cities. As a

student-worker at this college, I was able to come across multiple students to identify my

community. I found three women from different ages who were willing to speak about how their

menstrual cycle has changed after having children. Apart from being from different age groups,

they are also different from different ethnicities and reside in other towns apart from Ventura. I

decided to chose this topic because my aunt was pregnant with twins and I was curious about the

changes she would experience in her menstrual cycle after giving birth. Then, that was when I

realized that every human body is different and that, as women, we have learned to keep quiet

about the menstrual cycle. I knew this would be a barrier when it came to finding women who

were willing to speak openly.

After thinking about what a menstrual cycle is and looking into my own experience with

my cycle, I was able to come up with some questions that could help distinguish the main points.

I didn’t want to make the women feel any more uncomfortable than they should so I began with

simple questions like asking for their age, how many children they have, and if they were okay

with speaking freely about their experience.

My first community member, who identified herself as Kelly, is twenty-one years old and

has two children. She is Caucasian and currently lives in Oxnard. Kelly had her first child at the

age of nineteen and shortly after had her second child. Before having any children, she had very

long cycles that lasted about 37 days; the average menstrual cycle is about 28 days. Although her

cycle was longer than average, her cycle was still regular and consistent. After she had her first
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child, she only had two cycles pass by that consisted of five days of heavy bleeding, along with

painful cramps. After these two cycles, she got pregnant with her second child. After having her

second child, she waited about a month or two and decided to start birth control. She decided to

go on birth control because she had very heavy cycles. Kelly had chosen an IUD as her method

of birth control. She explained that she wanted something that consisted of low maintenance, low

dosage of hormones, long-lasting, and has a high success rate. I asked why she had chosen the

IUD instead of the birth control implant and she explained that there was a pattern of bad

reactions to it in her family. She also explained that after the placement of the IUD, she bleed for

an entire month before her body adjusted to the hormones. Now, she hasn’t had a period in

months and is comfortable with it. Kelly submitted photo one. This is a picture of a box filled

with sanitary products for women that she found at Ventura College. Each ziplock baggie

contains a feminine hygiene wipe, two pads, and two tampons. It was set out for the month of

March in honor of Women’s History Month. She said that this is a positive thing for the students

at Ventura College because not everyone can afford to buy these products or some people are not

prepared for when their time hits.

The second community member, who identified herself as Maria, is twenty-eight years

old and has three children. She is Hispanic and currently lives in Santa Paula. Before having any

children, Maria had very normal cycles that had no symptoms and had light to moderate

bleeding. She claims that after turning twenty-five, she began to notice changes in her cycle.

After turning twenty-five, her youngest child was already a few months old. She explained that

her cycle changed for the worst. She began to have premenstrual symptoms, a heavy flow, and
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her cycle became irregular. Also, she mentioned that after some time, she had a cycle every two

weeks. Maria decided to take action by trying birth control because she was not comfortable

having a heavy cycle every two weeks. She began by taking the pill, which is one of the most

common forms of birth control. Her cycles became normal and no longer had painful cramping.

However, she did began to notice hormonal imbalancement and long-term emotional stages. She

felt that this started to interfere with her daily tasks and could not function as she normally

would. After experiencing this for a long period of time, she decided to stop using birth control.

Now, she has gained back her hormonal balance and has a lighter flow. The only downside to

being off birth control is having irregular cycles. Maria submitted photo number two. It is a

picture of a homeless man drinking alcohol at a local park near her house. She spoke about how

he is always there and it makes people at the park feel unsafe. The people of her community have

stopped taking their children to this park. She also mentioned that even though authorities have

been informed of this, there hasn’t been any action taken to remove him from there.

My final community member, whose name is Cynthia, is forty-four years old and has two

children. She is also Caucasian and lives in Fillmore. Since before Cynthia had children, she was

already experiencing heavy and painful cycles. She claims it progressively got heavier after her

first child, then even worse after her second child. She told me a short story of why she decided

to take action. For a few months, she dealt with on and off cycles of continuous, heavy periods. It

got the point where she would wear adult diapers in order to get through her day without ruining

her clothes. One day, she woke up in what she described as a pool of blood. She mentioned that

even her mattress was ruined from all of the blood. Along with all of the mess, it was very
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painful for her to get out bed that day. She decided to go to her doctor to see if anything could be

done. Her doctor gave her the pill as a method birth control. Everything was going better for her

until she started to feel like her legs kept going numb. She decided to go back to her doctor and

after finding out that she was susceptible to blood clots, it was decided to refrain from using birth

control. Since she was on birth control long enough for her cycles to become regular, after

coming off of the pill, she has kept a normal cycle but still has to deal with the heaviness of it.

Cynthia submitted photo number three. In this picture, it shows how there is a lot of trash just

lying around on the floor. She said that this trash is always there and no one does anything to

pick it up. She went on to say how this trash could fall into our water supply routes or go towards

the ocean. If the trash were to land in our water supply, it could contaminate it and make

thousands of people sick.

On the Ventura College website, I was able to find the Student Health Center. The

Student Health Center provides the students with many services to promote healthier lifestyles.

They provide treatment for acute illness, injury and physical exams by physicians and nurse

practitioners, personal counseling, free rapid HIV screens, STI screens, general labs, pregnancy

tests, birth control and emergency contraception, TB testing, immunizations, basic vision

screens, diabetes and cholesterol screening, cardiac risk assessment, fitness and nutritional

counseling, immunizations, health education and dispense medications. Most of the services are

free, however some require a small fee that is charged to your student account. Also, if a student

need to grab a tampon or pad, it is free of charge. The Student Health Center also provides some

common pain medications such as Advil. This services is funded by the fees that are charged
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during class registration. It is only about $3 per semester. It is a positive thing to see that the

students of Ventura College have access to this type of support.

After speaking to these three community members, I noticed how they all went from

feeling a bit uneasy to completely comfortable by the end of the discussion. Cynthia did mention

to me how she found it funny that you think you’re the only one dealing with something until

you speak up about it and realize you are not alone. I shared my own experience to them about

the changes in my menstrual cycle before and after starting birth control. It may not be the same

situation but I had a reason to want change. I struggled with having very painful cramps and

found it painful to use the bathroom while on my period. There were many days where I could

not get out of bed due to the pain. This is something I explained to my doctor multiple times,

however she did not want me on birth control due to the possible side effects and kept giving me

different pain medications that were not helping. I demanded that she put me on birth control as I

had previously requested and although she was hesitant she finally gave in. A part of me felt that

she was getting personal in the situation because she has a daughter my age that attends Harvard

University. I started to suspect this because she had suggested I speak to my parents about my

decision to start birth control. After starting birth control, the changes were for the better and do

not regret it. I find it very sad that many women struggle with their menstrual cycle and there are

people who do not understand their struggle. I have learned that this is something that just gets

worse after having children and it affects every woman differently. Woman are very strong and

shouldn’t have to feel like there isn’t help for them. Thankfully, for this community there is help

available to them.
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Appendix

Photo 1 Submitted by Kelly Photo 2 Submitted by Maria

Photo 3 Submitted by Cynthia

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References

Ventura College. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.venturacollege.edu/departments/student-services/student-health-center/frequ

ently-asked-questions#Q12