Dermot O'Leary says men must learn more about periods to support women

Watch: Dermot O'Leary says men need to learn more about periods to support women in their lives

Dermot O'Leary has spoken out about the importance of men learning more about periods and how they can better support women with menstruation.

His comments came during a discussion on This Morning with guest Steph McGovern who was sharing an incident when she'd experienced an extreme leak on a plane while on her period.

Detailing what happened she told hosts Dermot O'Leary and Cat Deeley that she was left "mortified" and "close to tears" after she started bleeding heavily on an aeroplane before an important work meeting.

The former Steph's Packed Lunch presenter explained that as she stood up to get off the plane she felt a "gush of blood." "I kind of tapped my leg discreetly, and I saw blood in my hands, and I was like, Oh no," she said.

After reassuring herself that she was wearing black jeans, she looked down and saw blood trickling down her leg and onto her white trainers.

Steph said she was looking around the plane, of which a number of the passengers were businessmen, to see if anyone had noticed and describes "shaking" because she found the whole thing "so embarrassing". "I thought any one of these men are gonna look at me and think I'm an idiot," she told the hosts.

After trying to "hold in her tears", when she finally made it to a toilet Steph describes the blood loss as "something from a murder scene", but describes still going ahead with her meeting.

Following the retelling of the incident Dermot returned to Steph's feeling that men would be looking at her thinking she was an idiot.

"Of course they're not," he told her. "But at the same time, that's why it's so important for you to come on because it's so important for men to learn, especially young men starting out in life, about how to be around their partners, around their sisters, their mothers, and how to be supportive."

Steph went on to describe the stigma that women feel when talking about menstruation around men. "There's this kind of fear that you don't want to say to a man that's what's happening because you don't want them to go 'oh she's on her period that's why she's a bit grumpy'," she explained. "You just don't want that judgement put on you. You want to look like you're in control and not out of control."

Cat agreed with Steph's point of view that women don't talk about their experiences with heavy periods. "I feel like we've just been very quiet about everything," she said. " We just get on with it and we double up and we have a spare pair of this and actually we deserve a bit more than that and we deserve to be listened to."

"I don't know how you do it," Dermot added.

The hosts were joined by Dr Raj Arora who described the fact that there is still so much embarrassment and shame attached to periods. "Actually it is a normal part of a woman's life," she explained. "If you'd had a nosebleed on the plane Steph I'm sure a lot of people would have come to your help and you would have spoken about it. But because it was your period you just kept quiet and dealt with it. And that's part of the issue."

She said we need to raise awareness and talk about heavy periods so that when women have these moments they feel "empowered rather than embarrassed".

Dr Arora went on to discuss the definition of heavy periods and offer advice on what women should do if they are experiencing them.

"Anyone who is experiencing periods that are heavy enough for them to feel that they are impacting their daily life is experiencing heavy periods," she explained.

"But actually the textbook definition of a heavy period is a period in which you're flooding, so bleeding through pads or bedding or clothing. If you're having a period longer than seven days or passing clots that are more than 2.5cm, or you're passing more than 80ml of blood."

For those experiencing the above she recommends going to see a GP to discuss it. "A lot of women have up with it because they think it is normal, and sometimes it is normal to have a gush during your period, but if you're flooding through you should seek medical advice."

On Instagram Dr Arora pointed out that studies indicate that one in three women experience heavy periods, yet only one in twenty seek medical advice regarding the issue.

But heavy menstrual bleeding can sometimes indicate an underlying health problem or condition, such as:

• Fibroids

• Endometriosis

• Adenomyosis

• Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

• Womb or cervical cancer

"If you’re facing challenges with heavy periods that disrupt your daily life, please consult your GP," she said.

"Consider keeping a symptom diary or using a menstrual tracking app to help you communicate your concerns effectively. You don’t have to endure the pain and limitations that heavy menstrual flow can bring."

Read more about periods:

• How to sleep better during your period (Yahoo Life UK, 5-min read)

• Over half of women say period pain has impacted their ability to work - sound familiar? (Yahoo Life UK, 3-min read)

• More than a million women keep period sick days a secret (Yahoo Life UK, 6-min read)