Meet Periodwise

The Period Pain Resource Built by Someone Who Needed It

At Blean, we think a lot about the parts of menstrual care that still do not work for real life. Products are often designed as if you are always at home, with access to a private bathroom. Period pain advice often assumes your symptoms are manageable and that finding the right care is simple.

That is why we were excited to learn about Periodwise, a free menstrual health platform helping people better understand their period pain, explore relief options, and prepare for conversations with healthcare providers.

Behind the platform is Naila Moloo, who built the resource she wished she had when she was struggling with severe period pain herself.

It started with pain that kept being dismissed

Naila’s periods could take over entire days, but she was repeatedly told that severe pain was simply part of having a period. When she tried birth control for relief, she found herself overwhelmed by the number of options and unsure how to compare them.

The method she started caused difficult side effects, and she had no clear way to tell whether they were temporary, normal, or a sign that it was not right for her. Searching across medical websites, articles, Reddit, and TikTok only gave her scattered pieces of information.

She built Periodwise to create the resource she could not find: one place to understand her symptoms, compare her options, and figure out what to do next.

A practical place to start

Periodwise is designed around a simple question: What can I actually do about my period pain?

Instead of only explaining medical terms, the platform helps users look at their symptoms, learn about their relief options, keep track of what they have already tried, and decide what they may want to discuss with a healthcare provider.

Here are some of the tools available through Periodwise.

A personalized pain and relief plan

The pain and relief plan asks about your symptoms, your cycle, and the remedies or medications you have already tried. It also asks why you stopped using something, so an option that caused a bad experience is not recommended again.

The plan brings together natural remedies, over-the-counter medications, supplements, and birth control rather than treating each category separately.

It also helps users recognize when period pain may need medical attention. If an answer suggests that something more serious could be going on, Periodwise explains when it may be time to seek care.

Birth control comparisons that include specific brands

Many online resources compare broad categories, such as the pill and the IUD. Periodwise goes further by helping users compare specific brands and understand their differences.

Because contraceptive names can vary between countries, Periodwise shows users the brands available where they live. Someone in Canada may see different options than someone in the United States or the United Kingdom.

The platform also includes quizzes that help users be matched to combined birth control pills, mini pills, or hormonal IUDs based on what matters to them. These quizzes consider methods a person has already stopped using and the reason they stopped, helping users avoid being matched with an option that previously caused problems.

Visual explanations of how birth control works

Birth control descriptions often rely on phrases like “prevents ovulation” or “thickens cervical mucus” without clearly explaining what that means inside the body.

Periodwise uses animations to show how the menstrual cycle works and what different birth control methods actually do, like IUDs, patches, implants, and rings. These visuals make the information easier to understand, especially for people learning about contraception for the first time.

Symptom tracking that becomes useful evidence

Periodwise Track allows users to record pain, bleeding, mood, and other symptoms through quick daily check-ins.

Over time, those entries become a clear report that can be shared with a healthcare provider through a link. Instead of trying to remember how often something happened or how severe it was, users can bring a more complete record to their appointment.

This can be especially helpful after starting a new medication or birth control method, when changes may be difficult to judge from day to day.

A place to ask uncomfortable questions

Periodwise also includes Sarah, the Periodwise assistant, built for the questions people may feel embarrassed or unsure about asking elsewhere.

Sarah answers in plain language and can point users toward real clinics and services available in their area. She is also clear about when a question requires help from a healthcare professional.

The goal is not to replace medical care. It is to make it easier to find reliable information and take the next step.

A little fun, too

Not every part of menstrual health education needs to feel clinical. The Period Personality Quiz gives users a lighter way to learn about their periods and share the platform with friends. For some people, the quiz is simply fun. For others, it becomes the first step toward learning that severe period pain should not always be accepted as normal.

Designed to support better care

Health information for young people can often feel vague, overwhelming, or disconnected from the decisions they are actually trying to make.

Periodwise takes a different approach. The platform is free, its educational content is reviewed by an OB-GYN, and the information is written in language that is easy to understand without being patronizing.

Most importantly, Periodwise is designed to support medical care, not replace it. Its tools help users recognize patterns, learn about their options, and arrive at appointments better prepared to explain what they are experiencing.

Dr. Sarah Kanji, the OB-GYN who reviews Periodwise's educational content, is already using the platform as a resource for her patients at Mackenzie Health. Periodwise has also built an ambassador community across Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Meet Naila

Naila Moloo is a Morehead-Cain Scholar studying materials engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

She was the youngest person to be named one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women, was recognized as DMZ's 2022 Woman of the Year, and appeared on limited-edition Hershey’s HER for SHE chocolate bars celebrating Canadian women working to build a better future.

With Periodwise, Naila has turned a difficult personal experience into a resource that can help other people feel less confused and alone.

Solving two parts of the same problem

Blean and Periodwise are working on different parts of menstrual care.

At Blean, we are making reusable menstrual products more practical to use away from home. Periodwise is making period pain and birth control decisions easier to understand.

Both were created in response to problems that are often overlooked. Menstrual care should work during school, work, travel, medical appointments, and difficult pain days. It should be designed around people's real lives.

If Naila’s story feels familiar, whether because your pain has been dismissed, you have struggled with birth control side effects, or you have found yourself searching for answers late at night, Periodwise was built for you.

The platform is completely free to use at Periodwise.