From Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) angst to missing tampons, there are plenty of myths surrounding menstruation. Dr Dharshini Gopalakrishnakone of The Obstetrics and Gynaecology Clinic at Mount Elizabeth Novena Specialist Centre explains the common period issues women face.

1. PMS angst is real. Period.

The mood swings, irritability and crankiness that occur before Aunt Flo arrives aren’t a made-up excuse for female irrationality. There’s a biochemical reason behind it, which is due to the sudden drop in certain hormone levels, mainly progesterone, the week before the period starts, said Dr Dharshini Gopalakrishnakone of The Obstetrics and Gynaecology Clinic at Mount Elizabeth Novena Specialist Centre.

In fact, a 2011 study in the Journal of Women’s Health found that about one in five women has PMS severe enough to seek medical attention. Studies done by the late Dr Katharina Dalton, a British gynaecologist who coined the term, suggest that in extreme cases, some women may even be vulnerable to violent behaviour and suicidal attempts during this period.

Consider seeking medical attention if PMS symptoms are severe enough to cause problems at work or with personal relationships. Once a diagnosis is confirmed, your doctor may prescribe treatments ranging from supplements such as Vitamin B6 to continuous oral contraceptive pills or anti-depressives, said Dr Dharshini. Cognitive behavioural therapy that involves talking to a therapist and improving problem-solving skills may also be used.

There is a silver lining to these pre-period woes though. According to a study published last October in Nature’s Scientific Reports, the hippocampus — part of the brain that controls and creates new memories as well as regulate mood and emotions — increases in size when your period starts.

2. You can conceive during your period

Unprotected sexual intercourse during your period is never a good idea if baby-making plans are not on the cards. Some women have very short menstrual cycles and may ovulate on Day 10 of their cycle or even earlier, said Dr Dharshini.

“Sperm can survive five to seven days within the pelvic cavity. Technically, it’s very possible to get pregnant if you have unprotected sex during your period,” she explained.

It is also possible to confuse early-pregnancy bleeding with menstruation. According to American Pregnancy Association, about a third of pregnant women experience bleeding in early pregnancy — that’s when the fertilised egg attaches to the uterus lining and implantation bleeding may occur.

The association recommends waiting three days before taking a pregnancy test, if you’re uncertain whether it is your monthly period or implantation bleeding.

3. Excessive weight loss can halt menstruation

While losing weight is recommended if you are overweight or obese, drastic weight loss can affect your fertility.

“Losing weight at a fast rate within a very short time or excessively (where the Body Mass Index goes below 19) causes the brain to recognise it as stress and modify the release of hormones such that ovulation and subsequently, menstruation ceases. When there is no ovulation, there is no period,” said Dr Dharshini.

The Health Promotion Board advises aiming for a weight loss of not more than 0.5kg to 1kg per week, or 10 per cent of your body weight over six months.

4. Tampons can’t get lost in there

From going missing to toxic shock syndrome, tampons have had some bad publicity in past years. But concerns about losing a tampon while using it is entirely unfounded.

“The tampon is inserted in the vagina, which has no other orifices adjoining it, aside from the tiny cervical canal leading to the uterus. There is no possible way for a tampon to sneak through the cervical canal, so it can never be lost,” said Dr Dharshini.

To avoid toxic shock syndrome, a rare but serious infection caused by the release of poisonous substances from bacterial overgrowth, she advised avoiding super absorbent tampons, washing hands before insertion, and maintaining good hygiene.

Tampons should also be changed regularly — every four to six hourly — or more frequently, if there is a heavy flow.

5. Excessive period pain isn’t normal

Most women experience menstrual cramps, which are often described as a dull, throbbing pain in the lower abdomen. But if the cramps are preventing you from getting out of bed or carrying out your daily activities, you should see a doctor, said Dr Dharshini.

Pain during menstruation could be a sign of endometriosis — a condition where cells from the lining of the womb grow in other parts of the body, according to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Severe cases of endometriosis can lead to infertility.

Make a doctor’s appointment too if your menstrual flow is heavy enough for you to change a pad every hour or so, or causes symptoms of anaemia such as general fatigue, weakness, pale skin and dizziness.

To reduce period pain and PMS symptoms like water retention, a low-fat vegetarian diet might help, according to a study published in Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2000.

Both aerobic and stretching exercises were also found to be effective in reducing the severity of menstruation pain, according to a study published in the Journal of Family and Reproductive Health in 2015.

SINGAPORE: Mandatory retrenchment notifications have helped organisations under the Labour Movement provide assistance to retrenched workers more effectively, according to Mr Tan Choon Shian, chairman of the Taskforce for Responsible Retrenchment and Employment Facilitation.

The mandatory retrenchment notification kicked off in January this year. It requires employers to submit a notification to the Manpower Ministry within five working days after the employee has been alerted to their retrenchment.

This applies to employers who employ at least 10 employees and retrench five or more employees within any six month period beginning Jan 1, 2017.

“In our experience, if we are able to reach out to workers earlier, our success rates improves,” said Mr Tan, who is also the CEO of Workforce Singapore. “So we are particularly happy that the mandatory notification is now in place, so we can reach out to the larger group of workers as soon as possible.”

The taskforce, which was set up a year ago, comprises members from the Manpower Ministry, Workforce Singapore, National Trade Union Congress and the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i).

According to Mr Tan, the taskforce has helped about 230 retrenched workers find jobs since the start of this year.

Its formation comes at a time when redundancy numbers in Singapore have reached more than 19,000, the highest since the global financial crisis in 2009, when almost 23,500 people were retrenched. 

Number of redundancies from 2006 to 2016 (Source: Manpower Ministry)

Mr Tan explained how the taskforce gets involved: “With the company’s permission, and if the affected number of employees is large, we will try to organise an onsite event within the company – to explain (what’s happening) to the affected staff. And for many of the staff, I think it’s possibly the first time they are looking for a job after many years.”

That’s where career coaches will also be deployed to help such workers who may not be familiar with the job search process and the current job market, he added.

Mr Tan said that the agencies are also prepared to bring in employers of a similar sector to help the retrenched. “We’ve done our research so that even on the spot, they can start some of the discussions.”

SECTORS AFFECTED

NTUC’s Assistant Secretary-General Patrick Tay said some of the sectors that had seen layoffs include the financial institutions, as well as retail businesses that had been hit hard by competition from e-commerce platforms.

Offshore and marine industries were also been hit by low crude oil prices.

Said Mr Tay: “Moving ahead in 2017, of course many quarters are not optimistic that oil prices will jump up to US$70, to US$80 dollars per barrel, so oil and gas and offshore and marine – these few sectors – continue to face its challenges.

“The foreign financial institutions have also been rolling out some announcements in the past 18 months, so we do see some consolidation there.”

One of the people affected was Mr Ganesan Kasinathe, who said he was one of 30 people retrenched from his job in the offshore and marine industry. His company halved its staff strength in a downsizing exercise.

Mr Ganesan has since found a job with the help of career coaches from e2i. 

“As you’re aware, the oil and gas industry is not exactly doing very well, and it’s not exactly a crisis happening in Singapore,” he said. “It’s actually worldwide crisis.

“I’m not angry with my ex-company for retrenching me, because if you look at it from a business point of view, I kind of feel it’s fair. It’s not exactly their fault.”

JOB MARKET VOLATILITY

Economists recently made an upwards revision on their forecast on economic growth in Singapore, but Mr Tan said the job market outlook “will remain volatile”.

“We think there is still the risk of restructuring the companies going forward. We are prepared in case the scenario gets worse, although based on what we are seeing, it’s not getting worse,” he said.

Mr Tan added that inter-agency coordination is now smoother, one year into the taskforce’s operations. “For our taskforce, it’s not about whether it will get worse (or not). If it gets worse, we are ready,” he said.

Agreeing, NTUC’s Patrick Tay said it is key retrenchments be made only as a last resort. “I think the key thing is when we face any challenges, including retrenchments or lay-offs, my appeal to employers as well as companies is that they do carry this out as a final option, to do it fairly, responsibly, progressively and also importantly, in compliance to our tripartite guidelines on managing excess manpower.”

SINGAPORE: Are drones the future of Singapore’s postal service and do they have the potential to be used to deliver mail across the country?

In September 2015, SingPost successfully tested a mail run from mainland Singapore to Pulau Ubin using a drone, saying it was the first time in the world that a postal service has managed to use an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for point-to-point recipient-authenticated mail delivery.

More than a year on, SingPost’s head of Post Office Network and Digital Services Dr Bernard Leong gave an update on what the company has learned from the groundbreaking trial.

“At the company level, drone delivery is a potential solution to our manpower challenges,” Dr Leong said in a post on the website of the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) on Thursday (Mar 23).

He noted that Pulau Ubin was not a random destination for the test flight, remembering how SingPost had to recall its oldest postman – then 73 – twice from retirement to deliver about 40 letters a day to the island’s residents. With drone delivery, it would complement the company’s efforts to “upskill” its postmen. 

Sharing details of the trial, Dr Leong said the drone deployed to Pulau Ubin flew 2km to a landing zone on the island where a postman waited with a smartphone to authenticate that he was the rightful recipient.

The drone was programmed so that it would only land and allow the intended recipient to collect the package when it received the authentication signal. If the signal is not received within three minutes, the drone would return to the delivery base, Dr Leong added.

The flight path of the SingPost drone trial from mainland to offshore island. (Photo: SingPost)

“Notably, this innovation was borne from our experience in developing a mobile application that allows customers to unlock their POPStation parcel locker with their smartphone,” he added. 

WORKING WITH REGULATORS, ECONOMICS OF DRONE DELIVERY

Dr Leong said another key takeaway was the importance of developing the technology hand in hand with regulatory authorities – not just within Singapore but also those of other countries. 

The Pulau Ubin drone trial “would not have happened without excellent public-private partnership,” he wrote.

For instance, IMDA’s PIXEL Labs team helped mitigate regulatory challenges on proving the drone’s airworthiness, while SingPost searched for solutions so regulators would be satisfied with the flight’s safety. 

“One important hurdle was the need for a secure frequency for the navigation system. This was to enable the drone to travel beyond four kilometers out of the line of visible sight. Had we not been aligned with both aviation and telecommunication regulators concurrently, the project would have failed,” Dr Leong said. 

On the cost of the drone, he said it originally cost about S$1,500 with equipment that could pass regulatory requirements. Two months after the flight, Dr Leong said he saw the same drone at half the cost at a conference hosted by Alibaba Cloud.

“Moore’s Law is applying to drones and when drone costs go below S$100, and we have a 5G mobile network, the economics will work out, and this could be within the next three to five years,” he said. 

However, the use of drones for mail delivery is not necessarily suitable across Singapore. Dr Leong said: “Every now and then, I am asked at conferences when drone pizza delivery will become a reality. Singapore is a highly dense country and it is not conducive to fly drones within the city itself.

“Within dense cities such as ours, however, cyber security and airworthiness present clear challenges,” he added.

Instead, what could work is an ecosystem of parcel lockers, self-driving cars and drones that are deployed according to their needs. Drones are best deployed to reaching remote locations, such as the offshore islands, said Dr Leong.

What’s clear, he said, is that “progressive regulatory support” for both operators and startups will be critical to accelerate the development and commercialisation of drone delivery.