Female reproductive organs can generally be divided into two parts. The first is the external genital organs. The external genital organs are the labia majora (Labia Mayora), the labia minora (Labia Minora), the clitoris and the hymen. The second group is internal genital organs. Internal genital organs are mostly related to reproduction. From outside to inside, it can be classified as the chamber (vagina), then the cervix, the uterus, which is the organ where the baby settles, the tubes coming out of the uterus (fallopian ducts), and finally the ovaries.
EXTERNAL GENITAL ORGANS IN WOMEN:
Labia majora or large lips
It is the most visible external part of the female reproductive organ. It consists of two skin folds, one on each side, extending from top to bottom, containing sweat and sebaceous glands, blood vessels and nerves. They are covered with hair, mostly on the upper parts. The inner parts usually have no hair. During sexual intercourse, their blood flow increases and they swell. It is the equivalent of the structure containing the testicles (testicles) in men.
Labia minora or labia majora
They are two small leaf-shaped skin folds surrounding the entrance to the vagina, just below the labia majora. Their size and shape can vary greatly from person to person. They do not contain hair or fatty tissue. They contain abundant blood vessels and nerve cells
urethra outlet
Just below the clitoris is the hole through which the bladder opens and urine flows out.
clitoris
Anatomically and evolutionarily, it corresponds to the male penis. It contains plenty of sensory cells. It is located at the upper part of the female genital organ, where the labia minora meet. It hardens and provides sensitivity during sexual intercourse. For many women, it plays a role in orgasm during intercourse.
Hymen – hymen
It is a very thin skin fold consisting of connective tissue and veins, approximately 1-1.5 cm after the entrance to the vagina. There is usually an opening in the middle of the membrane that is large enough to allow menstrual bleeding to be expelled. Very rarely, it may be completely closed and must be cut with an operation to allow menstrual blood to flow out. During the first sexual intercourse, the membrane ruptures and some bleeding occurs, although not always. This is called first intercourse bleeding. However, the opening in some membranes is relatively wider and stretching occurs during sexual intercourse and bleeding may not occur. This is called flexible hymen.
perineum
It is the region extending from the back of the vulva towards the anus. It is the area that stretches when the baby's head comes out at birth, and the episio incision is made in this area during normal birth. It consists of muscle and connective tissue.
WOMEN'S INTERNAL REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS
Vagina - chamber
It is a tube-shaped, flexible organ that is 8-9 cm long, can extend up to 15 cm and expand up to 10 cm, providing the connection between the external environment and the uterus. At birth, the baby passes through this canal and is born. There is the bladder in the front and the last part of the rectum (large intestine) in the back. It is the structure where sexual intercourse takes place. Normally the front and back walls touch each other. There are folds called Rugae on the front and back walls of the vagina. This anatomical structure allows the vagina to lengthen and widen during intercourse. In women who have given birth, these folds are erased and the vagina widens. During menopause, these rugae are erased and the tissue becomes thinner and atrophy occurs. In women who have had difficult or multiple births, the weakening of the vaginal walls may cause sagging of the bladder and, as a result, urinary incontinence, and sagging of the intestine in the posterior wall, resulting in constipation. These conditions are usually corrected by surgical methods.
The part called mucosa, which forms the surface of the vagina, is under the influence of female hormones throughout life. While it generally has a flexible structure and a wet surface during the woman's reproductive period, it has a rigid and narrow structure and a dry surface during menopause. In the front of the vagina is the urinary bladder, and in the back is the last part of the intestine called the rectum.
womb or uterus
It is an organ composed of pear-shaped smooth muscle cells and 6-8 cm in size. The inside is covered with a layer called endometrium, where the baby settles. There are a number of ligaments that hold the uterus in place. The uterus generally has no important function other than carrying the baby and expelling it by contracting at the end of 9 months. As the uterus grows during pregnancy, groin pain occurs due to the tension in the ligaments. This 8 cm organ becomes thinner and larger during pregnancy, reaching the size that fills the entire abdomen, and after birth, it shrinks rapidly and regains its previous size within 40-45 days. If pregnancy does not occur, the endometrium, which is the tissue covering the inner surface of the uterus, begins to thicken under the influence of hormones when menstruation ends each month and is excreted again as menstrual bleeding.
The lowest part of the uterus (womb) is called the cervix (cervix or cervix). This is the area where a device called a speculum is inserted into the vagina, monitored visually, and a smear test is taken. Cervical cancers may also originate from here. The cervix can be subject to infections very often. During normal pregnancy, the sperm released during intercourse pass through the canal in the middle of the cervix, reach the uterus and tubes and ensure fertilization.
Tubes or tuba uterina
They are very delicate and thin structures in the form of a tube, 8 - 10 cm long, extending from the upper regions of both sides of the uterus to the ovaries. It consists of 5 main parts. The ampoule is the most functional part, and here the fertilization of the captured egg by the sperm takes place after being expelled from the ovary by the tassels (fimbriae) at the ends of the tubes. So actually human life begins in the ampoule. The fertilized egg is then transported into the uterus through the fallopian tube. The ampoule is the region where the majority of ectopic pregnancies occur. Its anatomical name is fallopian tubes. These structures are also called cordons among the public.
Ovaries (ovaries)
The ovaries, which are the counterpart of the testicles in men, are the size of an almond and are located on both sides of the uterus. There are approximately 400,000 eggs in each of them that were not fertilized before puberty and are candidates for development. With the onset of puberty, dozens of them begin to develop every month under the influence of signals from the central nervous system, but most of the time only one matures and is expelled from the ovary. This expelled egg is caught by the Fallopian tube.
The cycle that repeats on average every 28-30 days in a woman of reproductive age is called the menstrual cycle or menstruation. Menstrual cycle or monthly cycle refers to the time from the first day of the last menstrual date to the first day of the next menstrual date and the events that occur in the female body during this time. Different expressions may be used among the public to express menstruation. The expressions are "menstruation", "menstruation", "menstruation", "menstruation", "menstrual bleeding", "menstruation", "bleeding", "period" and "getting sick". The word "being colorful" is also used among the public, similar to the English word "menstruation". Another cultural but incorrect definition is "getting dirty".
Although a menstrual cycle lasts an average of 28 days in a woman, it can last between 21 and 35 days. Menstrual bleeding continues for an average of 4 days, and 1 to 7 days are considered the lower and upper limits of normal. Between 20 and 80 milliliters of blood is lost during menstrual bleeding. Although "Menses" means "menstrual bleeding" in Latin, it is also the plural of the word "mensis", which means "month" in this language, meaning "months".
First "Menstrual Bleeding"
During the transition from childhood to adolescence, that is, at the beginning of puberty, on average, a girl experiences her first menstrual bleeding at the age of 12-13. When the girl's hormone secretion mechanisms and genital organs mature, the ovulation process begins and the menstrual bleeding that occurs becomes regular as a part of the menstrual cycle. This "first bleeding" is not a real menstrual bleeding that occurs at regular intervals, since the ovulation process has not started yet.
What is menstrual bleeding and why does it happen?
During the menstrual cycle, different processes occur in the brain, ovaries and lining of the uterus. The process, which begins with the stimulation of the ovaries by the hormones secreted from the upper centers of the brain and the pituitary gland, causes the release of an egg cell ready for fertilization from the ovary, while the inner layer of the uterus prepares itself for a possible pregnancy. The inner layer of the uterus thickens and becomes spongy. However, when fertilization does not occur, a new menstrual cycle begins after the inner layer of the uterus, prepared for pregnancy, is expelled through menstrual bleeding. The average lifespan of the egg is 24-36 hours.
Menstrual bleeding is the "refreshment" of the inner layer of the uterus so that a possible pregnancy that may occur in each menstrual cycle can settle and develop under appropriate conditions.
The purpose of all this physiology is to reproduce to ensure the continuity of the species.