(Newser) – It seems there are connected, wearable devices for anything these days, even of the very up close and personal variety—think vibrators and Kegel exercisers. Now a startup called my.Flow is hoping to help women avoid the embarrassment and cost of over-saturated tampons by introducing a smart one whose 6- to 12-inch string communicates to a wearable device attached to one's waist, reports the Guardian. The tampon saturation monitor is expected to cost $49 when it hits the market next year, with a month's supply of special tampons setting ladies back $13. The idea is that the Bluetooth device would send a notification to the wearer when it's time to replace a tampon.

The Daily Dot says it seems "woefully complicated" to set up and wonders whether it feeds in to the idea of "menstruation shaming"—"Don't talk about your period; don't let anyone know you have it ..." However, the women Gizmodo interviewed said that even in spite of the drawbacks, such as a long string and yet another gadget to clip on, the device sounds useful, especially for newly menstruating girls. "I wouldn’t want it now, but this would have been amazing when I was 13," one woman said. The Guardian, meanwhile, warns that the ultimate goal of being discreet isn't realized: "You’re walking around with a period monitor on your waist trying to make sure nobody knows you have your period." (The device may have helped this woman sort out it was time to remove her tampon.)

