Basic Anatomy & Physiology of the Female Reproductive System
The vagina is a stretchable muscular organ. It can stretch during childbirth to deliver a baby weighing over ten pounds. The cervix is the lower part of the uterus. It dilates during labor so that the baby can move through to the vagina. The uterus is a pear shaped organ, which can grow large enough to accommodate a developing baby or babies.
The ovaries are two almond shaped glands located on either side of the uterus, which develop ova or eggs and produce the hormones estrogen and progesterone. The fallopian tubes transport the eggs from the ovaries to the uterus. It is usually in the fallopian tubes that fertilization takes place.
In a fertile woman an egg is usually released once a month from one of her two ovaries. This is called ovulation and usually occurs about 14 days before the first day of menses. Two to five days before and after ovulation is when pregnancy can occur.
If unprotected intercourse takes place during this time, the sperm moves up the uterus into the tubes within minutes.
If a single sperm joins with the egg, the egg becomes fertilized. This fertilized egg travels down the tube and attaches to the wall of the uterus, which has increased its blood supply in preparation for pregnancy. If the egg is not fertilized, in about 14 days, the lining of the uterus is shed as menstrual flow.
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