1505 Eastland Drive, Suite 500
Bloomington, IL 61701
Phone: (309) 662-2273
Fax: (309) 662-2014
Bloomington, IL 61701
Phone: (309) 662-2273
Fax: (309) 662-2014
The human female has a reproductive system located entirely in the pelvis. The external part of the female reproductive organs is called the vulva. Located between the legs, the vulva covers the opening to the vagina and other reproductive organs located inside the body.
The fleshy area located just above the top of the vagina is called the mons pubis. Two pairs of skin flaps called the labia surround the vaginal opening. The clitoris, a small sensory organ, is located toward the top of the vulva where the folds of the labia join. Between the labia are openings to the urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder to the outside of the body). Once girls become sexually mature, the outer labia and the mons pubis are covered by pubic hair.
A female's internal reproductive organs are the vagina, uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. When a baby girl is born, her ovaries contain hundreds of thousands of eggs, which remain inactive until puberty begins. At puberty, the pituitary gland, located in the central part of the brain, starts making hormones that stimulate the ovaries to produce female sex hormones, including estrogen. The secretion of these hormones causes a girl to develop into a sexually mature woman.
Toward the end of puberty, girls begin to release eggs as part of a monthly period called the menstrual cycle. Approximately once a month, during ovulation, an ovary sends a tiny egg into one of the fallopian tubes. Unless the egg is fertilized by a sperm while in the fallopian tube, the egg dries up and leaves the body about 2 weeks later through the uterus. This process is called menstruation. Blood and tissues from the inner lining of the uterus combine to form the menstrual flow, which in most girls lasts from 3 to 5 days. A girl's first period is called menarche.
The vagina is muscular tube that extends from the vaginal opening to the uterus. The vagina is about 3 to 5 inches long in a grown woman. Because it has muscular walls, it can expand and contract. This ability to become wider or narrower allows the vagina to fit something as small as a tampon and as large as a baby. The vagina's muscular walls are lined with mucous membranes, which keep it protected and moist. The vagina has several functions: for sexual intercourse, as the pathway that a baby takes during childbirth, and as the route for the menstrual blood from a woman's period) to leave the body from the uterus.
A thin sheet of tissue with one or more holes in it called the hymen. It partially covers the opening of the vagina. Hymens are often different from person to person. Most women find their hymens to have stretched or torn after their first sexual experience.
The vagina connects with the uterus at the cervix. The cervix has strong, thick walls. The opening of the cervix is very small (no wider than a straw). During childbirth, the cervix opens up to allow a baby to pass. At the upper corners of the uterus are the fallopian tubes which connect the uterus to the ovaries. The ovaries are two oval-shaped organs that lie at the upper right and left of the uterus. They produce, store, and release eggs into the fallopian tubes in a process called ovulation.
If a female and male have sex, within several days of the female's ovulation (when the egg is released), fertilization can occur. Sperm "swim" up from the vagina through the cervix and uterus to meet the egg in the fallopian tube. It takes only one sperm to fertilize one egg.
The two fallopian tubes are each attached to a side of the uterus. Within each tube is a tiny passageway no wider than a sewing needle. At the other end of each fallopian tube is a fringed area that looks like a funnel. This fringed area wraps around the ovary but doesn't completely attach to it. When an egg pops out of the ovary, it enters the fallopian tube. Once the egg is in the fallopian tube, tiny hairs in the lining help push it down the narrow passageway toward the uterus.
The female reproductive system enables a woman to: