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About women's bodies
This image shows a woman's
internal reproductive organs
(left), and where they are in
her body (right). Each of her
reproductive organs has a
different role.
A woman's ovaries contain
her eggs, and make the
female hormones oestrogen
and progesterone. Her ovaries
are controlled by hormones
made in her pituitary gland,
which is in her brain. These
hormones stimulate her ovaries to release an egg (or eggs) each month, which then makes its way down
the fallopian tube, into her uterus.
If the egg is fertilised by sperm it forms an embryo. This attaches in the woman's uterus to become a
foetus and, eventually, a baby.
Her uterus produces a thick inner lining each month, ready to receive a fertilised egg. If the egg isn't
fertilised, then the woman sheds the lining out of her vagina. This is her period.
The only part of a woman's vagina you can see is the entrance. The rest is a flexible tube that leads into the
pelvis to her cervix, the neck of her womb.
Outer organs – the vulva
A woman's outer reproductive organs, or genitals, are together called her
vulva.
Next to her vagina are her labia minora, or inner labia or lips. They are
there to protect her vagina and to provide lubrication during sex. Her
labia majora, or outer labia, sit outside these, and protect her clitoris and
other external genitals.
A woman's clitoris is above her vagina. This is the most sensitive part of a
woman's vulva, and it helps to provide sexual arousal.
Between a woman's clitoris and her vagina is her urethra, a thin tube from
her bladder, which she urinates (pees) from.
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Endorsed by clinical director Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Canterbury DHB.
November 2016.
Top image © Can Stock Photo Inc.
277828
HealthInfo reference: 277828
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Issued: 24 November 2016
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