PELATIHAN PEMBUATAN PEMBALUT PAKAI ULANG (REUSABLE MENSTRUAL PADS) PADA IBU DAN REMAJA PUTRI UNTUK MENDUKUNG MENSTRUAL HYGIENE MANAGEMENT

Abstract

Sanitary napkins are a basic need for every woman during menstruation, but there are still many difficulties and problems faced by women in accessing menstrual products, include means to dispose used disposable sanitary napkins. Menstrual pads (specifically th cheapest brands) sometimes posed a risk to the health of female reproductive organs as it contains chemical material that could irritate the female area. Disposable menstrual pads also have an impact to the environment as it is one of the unsanitary household wastes. This training activity aimed to train and to provide skills and knowledge in making cloth menstrual pads that can be reuse thus will be more affordable and environmentally friendly. The training will might also be an entrepreneurial activity that might be developed to generate additional income for the family. The method used is step by step demonstration follow by training to make reusable menstrual pads. All participants received tools and materials to make the reusable pads through hand sewing. Throughout the session, participants were also received the information about advantages of reusable menstrual pads, compared to disposable one. In short, the steps of making reusable pads were started with making patterns on the three different cloths, then to the sewing stage and perfecting ready-to-use menstrual pads. The conclusion of this activity is the training is successful in adding the skills of participants (mothers and young women) in rural areas to make reusable menstrual pads thus the training will also promote the use of menstrual pads that are economically and environmentally friendly.