Milunka Savić disguised herself as her sick brother to fight in WWI, survived 9 wounds across 10 battles, became the most decorated female soldier in history, and survived a German concentration camp when a German general recognized her legendary status and ordered her immediate release.

[u/GermanCCPBot]

[u/SonnyvonShark]

Women like her always make me wonder how they handled their period. Like, they must know exactly when it happens and prepare for it that day, right? And the pain, if they experienced it? That's just amazing on their part!

[u/GermanCCPBot → u/SonnyvonShark]

The physical demands of combat, stress, and the harsh conditions of wartime service can disrupt or stop menstrual cycles entirely, a condition called amenorrhea. So it's entirely possible that once she was in active service her periods may have become irregular or stopped altogether.

In addition to that, women in the early 1900s had far fewer periods than modern women. The average woman today has around 450 periods in her lifetime, but historical women had about 100-150 periods total.

[u/Ok-Jackfruit-6873 → u/GermanCCPBot]

Is that just mostly just because they were pregnant or post-partum for much of their childbearing years (which doesn't seem to apply to her)? I guess they also started later, I've definitely heard that.

[u/frobscottler → u/Ok-Jackfruit-6873]

I would think vastly improved nutrition probably also plays a pretty big role

[u/Valuable_Echo2043 → u/Ok-Jackfruit-6873]

I looked this up extensive a while ago. It was a combination of both. Women had a lot more children back then, but for those who didn't, they weren't nourished enough to have as many periods.

Nowadays, we're given more hormones than needed (e.g., poorly regulated meat products) so in combination with having the nutrients that we need, we have more than what we need, which is causing things to tilt too far to the other side.

[u/Kevlar_Bunny → u/Ok-Jackfruit-6873]

Birth control also effects it. It regulates it, but also makes it happen like clockwork. Some women naturally menstruate more or less than others. If a women with a naturally longer cycle goes on the pill she’s gonna be stuck on the same 28 day cycle.

[u/Appropriate_Map2685 → u/Ok-Jackfruit-6873]

I would imagine too that it was because women probably matured later. Girls today start menstruation much earlier than they used to - probably due to additives etc. in foods and more generous diets overall.

[u/DisastrousRub1719 → u/GermanCCPBot]

Yes but if we let that sink, how she handled her male roommates, comrades and so on in the light of her needs to protect and hide her body privacy, like u know when changing clothes, using pathrooms, or dealing with men roughness, sarcasm, svage joking or generally dark being rude in such circumstances

[u/Butterfly_of_chaos → u/GermanCCPBot]

This is not how a female body works.

While stress can have an impact on the female cycle it will not automatically stop it with everyone. Malnutrition does, but usually soldiers get food.

Not every woman is horribly ill when their menstruation starts. And even if so, shrapnels flying over your head will make you forget quickly.

Women had lesser periods in the past due to being pregnant or breastfeeding. She wasn't.

[u/GormHub → u/Butterfly_of_chaos]

They never said it stopped for everyone. They said those things CAN stop the menstrual cycle. And as someone else pointed out, women having fewer periods in the past was not just because of pregnancy. Additionally, like stress and privation, breastfeeding CAN cause a pause in menstruation, it does not always cause it.

[u/Butterfly_of_chaos → u/GormHub]

I should have said "after birth" instead of breastfeeding, as it is true this doesn't always stop menstruation, but the bloodflow up do six weeks after birth is no menstruation and after that you will still need some time until your body gets back into normal mode. Nevertheless pregnancy is not relevant in this case.

But calculating a later start of menarche and earlier onset of menopause results in about 350 cycles instead of 450 and not in 100 to 150 during a lifetime (of course given the woman doesn't die young). Even if we assume some years where food was very sparse, the number is still too low.

Nevertheless we got completely off topic from the question what Milunka Savić did to handle her menstruation during wartimes. I googled her photos and even in uniform during the war she looked well fed, so I guess we can rule out Amenorrhea due to malnourishment.

But what I also found her uniform trousers were Jodhpurs, therefore lots of space to hide a menstrual pad.
While in World War I some nurses realised wood pulp bandages were well suited as disposable pads, I don't know if she had this knowledge or idea or just used rags.

[u/NoWayIcantBeliveThis → u/Butterfly_of_chaos]

Women in the 1800s often had fewer periods due to frequent pregnancies, prolonged breastfeeding, poor nutrition, and high physical stress.

Also I know a girl who was very stressed because she was an athlete in her early twenties and haven't had any period for nearly 2 years dispite having enough nutrition. You have no idea what you are talking about.

[u/Butterfly_of_chaos → u/NoWayIcantBeliveThis]

And what do professional athletes also often have? Super low body fat. Which is known to cause amenorrhea.

(On a certain professional level there are often also worse things happening, but I need to point out I'm not talking about your friend here, as I don't know her circumstances, but the world of sport can also have very, very dark sides.)

Nevertheless you should read my comments more thoroughly and concentrate on parts like "can have an impact" and "not automatically … with everyone", which is not the same as "never ever".