How ‘period undies’ AND ‘period swimwear’ are making life easier for mums and mums-to-be

Anyone who has experienced their period understands that they’re messy. Traditional methods of managing that mess are also, well … messy! And uncomfortable. Annnnnnnnd not very sustainable for the planet.

The concept of underwear that takes care of all that for you almost seems like a dream come true. And, if I’m honest, a little suspicious. Do ‘period undies’ really work? Are they smelly? Do they leak?

Bounty Parents spoke with CEO and Founder of ModiBodi, Kristy Chong about how these game-changer undies are making life easier for women, particularly mums, and let’s just say we’re firmly on board the ‘period undie’ express now!

As a mum myself with a daughter in her 20s, I know that when helping her through her first period, not much had changed in terms of the products that women used for managing the mess since I went through it all myself for the first time. And likely not too much had changed from when my own mum went through it all too.

But one Aussie mum thought that the time for a change was long overdue.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve by now probably heard of ModiBodi. Founded Aussie mum, Kristy Chong ModiBodi offers a range of absorbent underwear that takes care of periods, and light bladder leakage without the need for the usual sanitary products we’ve been using to manage these womanhood ‘blessings’ in our lives before.

Seems like a no-brainer, right? We’ve probably all thought about how much easier life would be if our periods were easier to manage, but Kristy actually went a step further and made it happen.

“Like 1 in 5 young girls I always suffered heavy periods,” Kristy explains. “Pads and liners are just so cumbersome, and unsustainable and they’re not always effective so I thought maybe it was time for a change. Women and girls deserve something better.”

With no background in science, and no experience with textiles Kristy really had to start from scratch.

“My husband was working on a science fellowship, and it was he who convinced me to take a scientific approach to see if my idea would actually work,” says Kristy.

After checking out to see if there were any patents on the idea – there weren’t – Kristy began the long road to developing her idea. Taking the scientific approach her husband suggested, Kristy soon found herself in deep conversations with textile companies and chemical textile engineers and even had to teach herself how to knit to understand how textiles worked.

“I was even fortunate enough to get to speak with the woman involved in the development of Gore Tex,” she says. “While I was definitely on a steep learning curve, I was really driven to find a solution,”

After thoroughly examining fibres from all over the world, and literally sewing panels into underwear to test herself, in just 19 months Kristy had developed a fibre technology that would wick the moisture away and lock it safely into the underwear itself meaning that there would be no leaks, no smells and no mess.

Through Kristy’s sheer determination there now exists a textile fibre that is scientifiically proven, with an absorbency that actually holds what it promises to hold.

“And because this is underwear it stretches with the body as the body moves, meaning that unlike pads which sit in one place, there is no chance that you’ll have an awkward leak,” says Kristy.

But even though the technology existed, Kristy still had to convince women to put their trust in her idea and give these undies a go.

WATCH: Period Proof Swimwear How-To Modibodi. Continues after video …

“It wasn’t easy,” Kristy laughs. “We really relied on word-of-mouth, and fortunately because the underwear really works, that word-of-mouth has been convincing.

Seven years in and women are shouting the benefits of these fluid absorbing underwear from the rooftops, meaning ModiBodi is just going from strength to strength as the passionate endorsements encourage other women to make their lives easier.

“There are so many more ways we’re helping women and mums than we imagined,” says Kristy with pride. “Mums of child with sensory issues or disabilities that might make regular changing of pads, tampons or liners difficult can now simply encourage them to use ModiBodi which will lock away the moisture and the smell without regular changes throughout the day.”

My daughter might be well and truly on her own as far as periods go now, but I still have a nine-year-old daughter coming up through the ranks and it looks like teaching her how to manage her period is going to be a whole lot easier thanks to ModiBodi’s RED Range which is designed for tweens and teens.

“Oh gosh, there are so many horror stories about young girls managing their first periods,” says Kristy. “There’s a lot of shame, and embarrassment and fear of getting teased by the boys about periods because they’re just never sure when they’re going to arrive. Now we can eliminate all of that with the confidence from using these simple undies.”

And it’s not just period mess that ModiBodi is helping with.  ModiBodi also has a Maternity range. From stretched bellies and leaky life-giving boobs to unexpected bladder leaks, stitches and scars, Modibodi believe both pregnancy AND post-partum bodies are precious (in fact, Modibodi believes all bodies are precious and should be supported). 

The maternity collection offers built-in leak-proof protection and support for pregnancy and postpartum with comfy breastfeeding styles and briefs for before and after baby.

ModiBodi has also just launched a brand-new range of period swimwear – made from 78% recycled pre-consumer nylon.

This exclusive range comes in four new patterns, prints and colours, including Sunset Orange, Animal print and Earth Green – and features reversible tops adding to Modibodi’s belief in sustainable style. The leak-proof bottoms can hold up to 10mls of liquid.