Being prepared for your period really can help you feel a little better during that time of the month. You can stock up on Comfitex pads and other feminine hygiene products, and your favourite decadent snacks to help you get through it, but how do you calculate when your next period will be?

On average, the menstrual cycle lasts about 28 days (and the average period lasts about 5 days), but this can vary between each woman. Unless you are on birth control pills (or some other hormone regulator) which firmly regulates you to a 28-day cycle, you may experience a cycle that lasts between 21 – 35 days.

• If you are on a 28-day cycle (with a 5-day period cycle), simply count 28 days from the first day of your period (proper bleeding, not spotting) to get the estimated date of your next period. For example, if your period started on 1 June and lasted 5 days, your next period would be on 29 June.
• If you aren’t on a 28-day cycle, then you’ll need to make a note of when your period starts for a few months and count the number of days between each starting day. This will be your estimated cycle length and you’ll be able to use this number to calculate when your next period will be. For example, if your cycle lasts 30 days and your first period day is 1 June, then you will count 30 days from that date and your next period will then be on 1 July.

Most women are also able to predict their periods based on the arrival of their PMS symptoms, which usually appears a week before their period begins.