Changing the world one cycle at a time

Aunt Flow's mission is to fight period poverty and stigma. Alongside ensuring that businesses and schools offer free period products for employees and students, our donation program supports activist-led pilot program initiatives and various grassroots nonprofit organizations.

Period poverty is the lack of access to period products and education. We believe fighting period poverty is one of the most tangible steps we can take toward gender equality.

Learn more about period poverty here!

Aunt Flow believes in a multifaceted approach to achieving menstrual justice, including service, education, research, advocacy, and investment.

1. Organize menstrual product drives and fundraisers in your community to collect and donate pads and tampons to local shelters and food pantries. 
2. Lead educational workshops in your community about menstruation, sustainable menstrual products, and destigmatizing menstruation. 
3. Apply pressure to policymakers, decision-makers, and local leaders, advocating for policies that improve access to menstrual products and education.
4. Ask your school to include menstruation and menstrual health as part of the educational curriculum. In fact, 77% of students believe there needs to be more in-depth education about menstrual health.
5. Conduct and support more peer-reviewed research assessing the prevalence and health implications of period poverty. This data is important for supporting more grassroots advocacy efforts.
6. Urge schools and businesses to invest in high-quality menstrual products free of cost for everyone.

1. Menstruation

   The most well-known stage of the menstrual cycle is called Menstruation. This first stage of the cycle begins when someone gets their period – when the thickened lining of a uterus, which would support a pregnancy, is no longer needed, so it sheds through the vagina. Menstruation typically lasts 3-7 days but varies from person to person.

2. Follicular Phase

   The follicular phase starts on the first day of menstruation and ends with ovulation, creating an overlap of phases. The follicle-stimulating hormone stimulates the ovary to produce around five to 20 follicles (tiny nodules or cysts), which bead on the surface. Each follicle houses an immature egg; most often, only one follicle will mature into an egg while the others die.

3. Ovulation

   Typically occurring between days 11 and 21 of the menstrual cycle, the ovulation stage is when someone is most likely to get pregnant. Ovulation begins when a mature egg is funneled into the fallopian tube and toward the uterus by waves of tiny, hair-like projections. The life span of the typical egg is only around 24 hours. Unless it meets a sperm during this time, it will die.

4. Luteal Phase

   Once ovulation occurs, the follicle that contains the egg transforms into something called a corpus luteum and produces progesterone and estrogen. The luteal phase often involves hormonal changes such as mood changes, headaches, acne, bloating, and breast tenderness.

   If an egg is fertilized, progesterone supports the early pregnancy. If no fertilization occurs, the corpus luteum will break down between 9 and 11 days after ovulation. This results in a drop in estrogen and progesterone levels, bringing us ALL the way back to the first stage of menstruation if no pregnancy has occurred.

Setting up a refill plan is a smart idea! We can do a delivery cadence from every one to six months. Each product can be shipped at different frequencies, so if you go through tampons faster than pads, for example, you can set your subscription to ship tampons more frequently. You can log into your account and make adjustments or cancel your subscription at any time. It's SUPER customizable! Just be sure to “upgrade to a subscription” before you check out.

For more detailed instructions, please see below.

Click 'Visit our store' or go to https://shop.goauntflow.com and add desired product refill quantities to cart.

Add period products to your cart and update to a subscription with the ability to customize refill subscription frequency. Proceed to checkout and fill out your contact, shipping, and billing information. You will receive a subscription confirmation email with information on how to manage your subscription moving forward!

Please note, in order to set up a subscription you must add a credit card to your account. For support on setting up a subscription please reach out to hello@goauntflow.com.

We've got you covered! Check out our blog, The Periodical, for tons of educational blogs on menstrual health! Here are some of our faves:

• The 4 Stages of the Menstrual Cycle
• How to Use Tampons and Pads
• What Causes Irregular Periods?
• Period Self-Care Tips

For every 10 tampons and pads we sell, we donate 1 to a menstruator in need. I call this people helping people. PERIOD.® Learn more about our Donation Program!