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An alternative to conventional sanitary protection: Would women use a menstrual cup?

The study was designed to determine how many women were aware of the menstrual cup as a form of sanitary protection, and how many women might use such protection. Menstrual cups have existed as a form of sanitary protection since the 1930s, the time of the first tampon. Mooncup (2005) is a bell-shaped menstrual cup made from soft silicone. It has been suggested that an average woman uses 10,000 sanitary products during her lifetime. Thus, menstrual cups could have a significant environmental advantage. A study previously looking at 51 women’s tolerance of using a bell-shaped ‘Menses cup’ showed that 45% of women found it acceptable. They proposed it could be used for the objective measurement of menstrual blood loss, although it has not been used as such (Cheung et al. 1995). Another small study looked at ‘Gynaeseal’, a diaphragm-shaped cup, as a method for collecting menstrual blood. However, the majority of women, especially those with menorrhagia, were dissatisfied with the seal. It did not contain menstrual blood efficiently enough for objective measurement (Gleeson et al. 1993). A total of 69 patients attending a menstrual disorder clinic filled out an anonymous questionnaire after reading an information leaflet (see Appendices 1 and 2). Both were available in the waiting area. A total of 14 (20%) women had already heard of the menstrual cup and 36 (52%) would consider using the menstrual cup in the future. One woman already used it. Women who used tampons and described their menstrual flow as average to heavy were more likely to consider using the Mooncup. Of the 36 women who would consider using the menstrual cup, 29 used tampons currently; four described their periods as light, 15 as average, 12 as heavy and five as very heavy. As age increased, women were more likely to consider using the Mooncup; three of the 18 women under 30 years; eight of the 21 women from 30–40 years; and 15 of the 30 women over 40 years of age would consider using the Mooncup. Reasons why women may consider using the Mooncup or not are listed in Tables I and II. Thus, the Mooncup may be an alternative to conventional sanitary protection for today’s women in our climate of increasing environmental awareness. Additionally, it may be used for the assessment of menstrual blood loss if indeed there was minimal leakage. Given the results of this pilot survey, we plan to formally assess women’s experience with the Mooncup.