WHAT ARE 

PERIODS?

A pair of long slender tubes that connect the ovaries to the uterus. Eggs pass through from the ovaries to the uterus via these tubes.

Also known as the womb, this hollow pear shaped and sized organ is located in the pelvis (lower part of the abdomen between the hip bones and your bladder and rectum), this is where an unborn baby (foetus) develops.

A pair of small oval glands located either side of the uterus, eggs (ovum) are produced and stored here, the hormones oestrogen and progesterone are made here too.

These finger-like projections are found on the end of the fallopian tubes, they catch the egg that one of your ovaries releases during ovulation and sweep it into the fallopian tube where it is ready for fertilisation.

A layer of tissue which lines the uterus, this thickens during the menstrual cycle as the body prepares for the possible implantation of a developing embryo (group of cells that will become a baby).

The lower part of the uterus that forms a passage between the uterus and the vagina. After sexual intercourse sperm must travel through here in order to fertilise an egg. During childbirth the cervix flattens and widens (dilates) to allow the baby to progress along the birth canal.

A muscular canal that extends from the vulva to the cervix, this is where those who menstruate bleed from as part of their period. It is also where penetration can occur during sex and where a baby descends during childbirth.