Introduction: Menarche is an important and unique event in the life of a young woman. It occurs between the ages of 11 and 13. It is of vital importance for the adolescent to prepare herself for her first period beforehand by collecting useful information. Despite not being the most reliable sources of knowledge, mothers remain, for the most part, one of the main sources of information. Proper menstrual hygiene management (MHM) during periods remains crucial – therefore it is important for adolescents to be well familiar with it. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to study the preparation of adolescents for the menarche and to answer the questions where and how do adolescents get information about the period, what do they need to know about the basic hygiene products, what period accessories do they use and how familiar are the adolescents with the MHM? Methods: We used a descriptive method of work. We reviewed foreign literature about the menstruation in adolescents. We used 15 literature units from the PubMed, ScienceDirect and The Cochrane Library databases. They are displayed in three tables as well as presented descriptively. Results: All the studies have shown that the menstruation still remains to be a taboo topic. Especially in economically less developed countries, young women still do not really know what to expect when they get their first period and therefore do not know how to act properly. They also lack proper hygiene accessories and do not know how to handle them properly. Due to insufficient knowledge experiencing the first period is accompanied by feelings of fear, shame, and anxiety. Discussion and conclusion:. Given that adolescents receive information from their mothers, sisters, friends, each of them develops a different idea of having a period. Therefore, it would make sense for the adolescents to be provided with reliable and objective information about menstruation already in schools. In addition, every adolescent should be given an access to the appropriate period accessories and be informed about the usage of the MHM. Especially in the economically less developed countries the introduction of MHM and teaching about menstruation is crucial.
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