Talking Intimate Health with your Daughters

**Giveaway Closed, Congratulations Carol T**

We all struggle with different issues as parents and I've certainly got areas where I need to up my game but I am thankful that one thing I don't struggle with is being able to talk to my children openly about all sorts. The girls are now nearly ten and a few weeks back we had the growing up, periods, body developing and (surface level) sex talk and then a couple of weeks ago I was presented with a prime opportunity to talk to them again, this time on the topic of intimate health.

Now don't get me wrong, it isn't like I enjoy broaching sensitive or potentially embarrassing conversations with them I just figure that if I tackle them head on and without my face going too red they will grow up knowing that it is OK and normal to talk openly. I pray this will stand them in good stead when they have relationships of their own one day, nothing worse than a wife who beats around the bush and can't be honest with her husband, right?

So there I was a couple of weeks back, I wasn't feeling that great having developed a cold when we returned from Spain and I was coughing and sneezing like a good’un. I've also got some women's issues and I'm waiting for my appointment for a colposcopy, as after nearly ten years of excessive bleeding it has become too much to live with. Then to top it all off I started to feel uncomfortable down below, I was itchy, sore and just generally feeling very tender. I was pretty sure it was thrush but due to my heavy bleeding I couldn't spot the tell-tale white discharge that normally accompanies it but I knew it was time to take action.

Thankfully my husband knows my subtleties and once we finished our family meal out at Prezzo I said I needed to pop to the shop across the road. ‘What for?’ he asked and my reply was ‘just something’. He then left me be knowing he probably didn't need to know what it was I wanted but my girls were badgering me, ‘what do you need Mum?’ Not feeling that great I can't say I was massively in the mood for a big conversation about it and I managed to shake them off and headed to the health shelves to find the Canesten Thrush Combi that I knew I needed.

I wasn't quite so stealth on my way from the shelves to the till though and the girls spotted me and the questions started again. I managed to buy my Canesten and tell the girls we’d save the conversation for later when we got home. So that was what we did and we ended up searching the web together too as they wanted to know why we have yeast in our body and to be frank, I had no idea.

We now know though that the yeast naturally occurs in every woman's body and it is when your immune system is low that the yeast can multiply and cause thrush. Being on your period and using birth control can also increase the likeness of thrush developing, so really I think I've been very lucky not to have it more. The girls seemed a little worried at first but the Canesten website was great at reassuring us that 75% of women will develop thrush at one time or another and many women will have reoccurring incidences.

Funnily enough it was Canesten who approached me to write this post and I had to chuckle at the fabulous timing. I was really heartened to hear that Canesten believe that if you feel more comfortable with your body you are more likely to achieve your full potential and of course as a Mum I want my children to achieve all they can and be the best version of themselves. Some of that will be about knowing how their body works and what is perfectly normal and easily treatable and what requires more investigation.

This first conversation with my girls was very useful and I know there will be plenty more in the future as we delve into other common issues like cystitis and bacterial vaginosis. Oh and of course we’ll also have to talk about STI’s and sexual relationships as the girls get older but the important thing is that we have started to talk about intimate health now. If I'm honest I can't ever recall having talked to my Mum about anything like thrush. I think my first knowledge was getting cystitis at University and a friend recommending cranberry juice to me.

It is really important to me that as my children grow and new issues present themselves that they feel they can come to me and we can discuss the issue at a level that is right for their age. I look back now at myself as a teenager and wish I'd had a basic knowledge and realised just how different every woman is and that intimate is not for the same for any two women.

Why don't you pin this post for later?

Win a £50 Amazon Voucher

Canesten would like to encourage you to have a conversation with your children just like I did and as a thank you one lucky person will win a £50 Amazon voucher. All you have to do is leave a comment to answer the following statement ‘what I wish I knew about intimate health when I was younger’ 

Make sure you log-in to the Rafflecopter widget so we know how to contact you if you are the lucky winner and there are of course other ways to earn additional entries to the draw if you wish, just take a look below and make sure you familiarise yourself with the T&C’s.

The very best of luck, Mich x

a Rafflecopter giveaway Disclosure: This post has been commissioned by Canesten but all thoughts and opinions are my own. I have not been instructed what to write and as always I remain honest.

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