What if a girl’s first period reflected God’s care, not fear?

Adunni Akinduro grew up in Nigeria in a Christian family. When she was 13, she got her first period while at boarding school. She remembers her sister giving her pads and some underwear, and that was largely how it was handled at the time. There wasn’t much conversation or understanding around what was happening in her body, or guidance on how to navigate both the physical and emotional aspects of the huge change girls face when they have their first period.

Now, as a mum of an eight-year-old daughter and five-year-old son in Manchester, UK, Adunni wants her daughter to have a positive experience when she gets her first period, feeling peaceful and prepared. Last year, when a few of Adunni’s mum friends said their nine-year-old daughters had started their periods, she realised that her daughter could start any day now, too – and she wanted her to be ready. “I was praying it away because to me she’s still my baby, but I knew it was coming. So, I wanted to try and get her prepared for it.”

Today, girls are starting their periods earlier than they were 50 years ago. Adunni was 13 when she started hers, which was considered a ‘normal’ age to start periods when she was young. Today, the average age is 12, but it can be as early as eight, so it’s vital to talk to girls about it from an early age.  

I want daughters to feel confident to handle their first period

Adunni started researching what was out there as support tools for young girls having their first period. She found starter kits with the practical items like pads and tampons, but there were no emotional support tools or resources on the market to equip parents to have age-appropriate conversations about periods.

“When I couldn’t find anything on the market that worked for my eight-year-old daughter and me, I thought: Do I just create my own support pack for her? Then I realised that if I needed this, then there must be other families having the same struggle.”

Adunni decided to respond to the need, and in summer 2025, she got the idea to create Calmkit, a discreet pouch which includes period products and an age-appropriate, colourful and representative booklet to explain to girls what to expect both emotionally and physically when they get their first period.

Equipping girls well

Calmkit was born out of a simple but powerful question: Why are girls expected to face some of life’s biggest physical and emotional changes without preparation, reassurance or language? 

“Calmkit is about equipping girls with calm confidence, supporting parents with the right tools and reframing growing up as something to be prepared for, not endured. I want my daughter and her friends to feel calm and confident when their period arrives, secure in the knowledge that they’ve got everything they need in their Calmkit pouch.”

Calmkit comes in two pastel colours and is a small, compact fabric pouch (that looks like a makeup bag) to keep in a school backpack or a locker. “I would love Calmkit to be a household brand. It’s a comforting brand that makes you feel secure.”

Adunni found suppliers and specifically chose the products inside the Calmkit. It contains an affirmation bracelet to mark this first right of passage (which has the words ‘growing with grace’ on it), a pill box, sanitary towels, disposable bags, underwear, sensitive wipes, a refillable scent atomiser, a heat patch for cramps and an age-appropriate guide booklet on getting your first period.

The What’s Happening Now? booklet includes a simple diagram and explanation of what happens in the body during menstruation in kid-friendly language, with pages on what to expect physically and emotionally. There’s also ‘A Letter From Me to You’ note inside, which makes the Calmkit an ideal gift for mums/carers to give to the girls in their lives. 

“I was very specific about what I wanted [and] how I wanted it to look for the Calmkit. I would check samples, and they just didn’t work. The underwear wasn’t soft enough and wouldn’t be comfortable, for example. My daughter was involved with me through the process, selecting the sample and picking the two final colours.”

Adunni’s daughter and her friends have been really excited about the Calmkit pouches, even looking forward to getting their periods. Adunni is thankful that she has made an impact, removing the fear, embarrassment and shame around menstruation.

Adunni designed the Calmkit with girls aged 8-13 in mind. “Girls are starting their periods much earlier now, so I wanted to give younger girls the emotional support they needed because that will shape their confidence. The Calmkit has a soft, grown-up aesthetic, so older girls will still like to use it.”

Launching Calmkit 

By October 2025, Adunni had her sample Calmkit ready, and in December 2025 did her soft launch with 500 products. “My church supported Calmkit from the very beginning, and my pastor and his wife prayed over the first finished product. On Mother’s Day, I gave a mini talk in church about Calmkit, and talked about the changes women go through throughout our lives!”

Lots of people supported the soft launch of Calmkit by purchasing Calmkits for Christmas gifts for their daughters, nieces or friends’ daughters. Adunni self-funded the launch of Calmkit, and she firmly believes that when a product makes an impact, the business side of it will grow.

Adunni realises that schools need to be talking to kids in an age-appropriate way as early as years four and five. She also believes parents need support to know how to talk to their daughters about periods. She is currently talking to schools, aiming to have more visibility, and getting the word out there that this is a conversation that needs to be had – without shame or embarrassment. She also recently reached out to her local council, was published in their newsletter and hopes a partnership could emerge where schoolgirls in years four to six go home with a Calmkit. 

The conversation needs to shift from just the girls to include the boys as well

“No matter if you’re a dad or a mum or a carer, you have the responsibility to support these youngsters; their emotional wellbeing is in your hands. God has given them to you to care for. How you explain this change is important because it’s a change that God has given us. Without going through this period, [a girl] can’t fully become a woman.”

Widening the brand’s reach

A teacher friend of Adunni’s also shared how girls in secondary school are really embarrassed and ashamed during their period, and that boys tease them or do silly things with the pads. While she affirms that Calmkit’s discreteness is one helpful solution for this, she also points out that the conversation needs to shift from just the girls to include the boys as well.

Adunni agrees. “My son is nearly six, and he was also involved in creating Calmkit. I want him to understand the importance of changes. He would ask, ‘Do boys have their own Calmkits?’ I told him his changes would be different, but that he needed to understand what his sister would go through. Even though he’s little, we are talking about periods. I would love it if we sat our boys down too and explained: ‘This is what your mum and your sister go through, and this is how you can support [them].’ It’s not a dirty conversation; it’s just a conversation!”

Adunni dreams of bringing Calmkit to a larger audience to give more girls the safety and security they need so they can experience their first period “prepared, not panicked”. 

She has big plans for the brand: “I believe in Calmkit. It’s personal, so I gave it my all! I want my daughter to feel calm and safe, and I want other daughters to feel confident to handle their first period when it comes too. It’s not just a period brand; it’s a wellness brand that supports girls and women through different life changes. I’ve also got some other ideas in the pipeline for supporting menopause and perimenopause, too.”

Calmkits cost £19.99 from calmkit.shop but Woman Alive readers can get 10% off with the code ‘calmkit10’.

@calmkitstudio

Words by Becky Hunter-Kelm