Female Reproductive System of human

Female Reproductive System of human

The female germ cells or eggs are made in the ovaries. They are also responsible for the production of some hormones. Look at Fig. and identify the various organs in the female reproductive system.

When a girl is born, the ovaries already contain thousands of immature eggs. On reaching puberty, some of these start maturing. One egg is produced every month by one of the ovaries. The egg is carried from the ovary to the womb through a thin oviduct or fallopian tube. The two oviducts unite into an elastic bag-like structure known as the
uterus. The uterus opens into the vagina through the cervix.

The sperms enter through the vaginal passage during sexual intercourse. They travel upwards and reach the oviduct where they may encounter the egg. The fertilised egg (zygote) starts dividing and forms a ball of cells or embryo. The embryo is implanted in the lining of the uterus where they continue to grow and develop organs to become a foetus. We have seen in earlier sections that the mother’s body is designed to undertake the development of the child. Hence the uterus prepares itself every month to receive and nurture the growing embryo.

The lining thickens and is richly supplied with blood to nourish the growing embryo. Hence the uterus prepares itself every month to receive and nurture the growing embryo. The lining thickens and is richly supplied with blood to nourish the growing embryo.

The embryo gets nutrition from the mother’s blood with the help of a special tissue called the placenta. This is a disc which is embedded in the uterine wall. It contains villi on the embryo’s side of the tissue. On the mother’s side are blood spaces, which surround the villi. This provides a large surface area for glucose and oxygen to pass from the mother to the embryo.

The developing embryo will also generate waste substances which can be removed by transferring them into the mother’s blood through the placenta. The development of the child inside the mother’s
body takes approximately nine months. The child is born as a result of rhythmic contractions of the muscles in the uterus.

What happens when the Egg is not Fertilised ?

If the egg is not fertilised, it lives for about one day. Since the ovary releases one egg every month, the uterus also prepares itself every month to receive a fertilised egg. Thus its lining becomes thick and spongy. This would be required for nourishing the embryo if fertilisation had taken place.

Now, however, this lining is not needed any longer. So, the lining slowly breaks and comes out through the vagina as blood and mucous. This cycle takes place roughly every month and is known as menstruation. It usually lasts for about two to eight days.

Reproductive Health

, the process of sexual maturation is gradual and takes place while general body growth is still going on. Therefore, some degree of sexual maturation does not necessarily mean that the body or the mind is ready for sexual acts or for having and bringing up children. All of us are under many different kinds of pressures about these issues. There can be pressure from our friends for participating in many activities, whether we want to or not. There can be pressure from families to get married and start having children. There can be pressure from government agencies to avoid having children. In this situation, making choices can become very difficult.

We must also consider the possible health consequences of having sex. Communicable diseases can be transmitted
from person to person in a variety of ways. Since the sexual act is a very intimate connection of bodies, it is not surprising that many diseases can be sexually transmitted.

These include bacterial infections such as gonorrhoea and syphilis and viral infections such as warts and HIV-AIDS. Is it possible to prevent the transmission of such diseases during the sexual act? Using a covering, called a condom, for the penis during sex helps to prevent the transmission of many of these infections to some extent.

The sexual act always has the potential to lead to pregnancy. Pregnancy will make major demands on the body and the mind of the woman, and if she is not ready for it, her health will be adversely affected. Therefore, many ways have been devised to avoid pregnancy. These contraceptive methods fall into several categories. One category is the creation of a mechanical barrier so that sperm does not reach the egg. Condoms on the penis or similar coverings worn in the
vagina can serve this purpose. Another category of contraceptives acts by changing the body’s hormonal balance so that eggs are not released and fertilisation cannot occur. These drugs commonly need to be taken orally as pills. However, they can cause side effects since they change hormonal balances. Other contraceptive devices such as the loop or the copper-T are placed in the uterus to prevent pregnancy. Again, they can cause side effects due to irritation of the uterus. If the vas deferens in the male are blocked, sperm transfer will be prevented. If the fallopian tube in the female is blocked, the egg will not be able to reach the uterus. In both cases, fertilisation will not take
place. Surgical methods can be used to create such blocks. While surgical methods are safe in the long run, the surgery itself can cause infections and other problems if not performed properly. Surgery can also be used for the removal of unwanted pregnancies.

These may be misused by people who do not want a particular child, as happens in illegal sex-selective abortion of female foetuses. For a healthy society, the female-male sex ratio must be maintained. Because of reckless female foeticides, the child-sex ratio is declining at an alarming rate in some sections of our society, although prenatal sex determination has been prohibited by law.

We have noted earlier that reproduction is the process by which organisms increase their populations. The birth and death rates in a given population will determine its size. The size of the human population is a cause for concern for many people. This is because an expanding population makes improving everybody’s standard of living harder.
However, if inequality in society is the main reason for many people’s poor living standards, the population’s size is relatively unimportant. If we look around us, what can we identify as the most important reason(s) for poor living standards?

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