The Menstruation Cycle
Menstruation, also called having a period. As girls get older and their bodies change they get their periods. The uterus is the part inside the body where a baby grows when a woman is pregnant. The inner lining of the uterus supports and nourishes the developing baby. If there is no baby the lining is shed during her period.
During a period, blood and other tissue from the uterus leave the body through the vagina. A period can last from a few days to about a week. You may have heard doctors talk about the menstrual cycle. This is the time from one period to another, usually about 28 days.
Day one of the menstrual cycle is the first day of a period. The uterus starts to shed its lining as soon as the period ends the uterus prepares again to receive a fertilized egg. Eggs are released from a woman’s ovaries.
Eggs are super tiny, one-tenth the size of a poppy seed. Women have two ovaries, one on each side. The fallopian tubes leave from each ovary to the uterus in the middle of the menstrual cycle. An ovary releases an egg after ovulation and the egg travels down the fallopian tube. It takes a few days to complete the journey, meanwhile the lining of the uterus gradually gets thicker so it can support the development of a fertilized egg.
If the egg gets fertilized, it will implant in the uterus and the woman gets pregnant. If the egg is not fertilized the woman is not pregnant and the egg will begin to dissolve. When the woman is not pregnant the lining of the uterus is not needed. A woman will have her monthly period and the cycle begins again.
You may also like >> How Does The Morning After Pill Work?
