When a young girl sees spots of blood in her underwear for the first time, she has several different reactions. Of course, she realizes a big change has just taken place in her life and a few moments of panic may set in.

Within a short period of time, she becomes more comfortable as her monthly menstrual cycle starts to have a noticeable pattern to it.

When I am teaching young girls about puberty, I am fascinated by their lack of understanding about where the blood is coming from during their period. Because it is usually first noticed while they are in the bathroom, they think it is coming out when they pee.  Actually, that is not true.

In this anatomy figure from my book, I’m a Girl, Hormones!,  you are looking at the pelvis from a side view.

The three large organs in the pelvis are arranged from front to back. The first one is the urinary bladder. Extending down from the urinary bladder is the urethra. Notice, it has its own opening into the vulva. Pee comes out the urethra.

Directly behind the urinary bladder and urethra is the uterus and vagina.  Also notice that the vagina has its own opening in the vulva. The blood from your period comes out the vagina.

This is the important information to share with your daughter. There are two separate openings in the vulva.

• One is for the urethra and pee comes out here.
• One is for the vagina, and blood from your period comes out here.

The more your daughter understands about her girl anatomy, the more confident she will feel about her body.