Menstruation and Fertilization

Why women Menstruate?

At birth, a girl has already thousands of undeveloped egg cells in her ovaries. These egg cells become mature when the girl reaches puberty.

At the age of 12 or 13, each of the thousands of eggs in each of her ovaries ripens or matures monthly.

In an ovary, some eggs are immature and one egg is about to mature. This mature egg leaves the ovary and goes to the fallopian tube. A mucous membrane is developed in the uterus to prepare it for the coming of the egg. The egg will be fertilized in the uterus. If fertilization does not occur, the egg dies. The mucous membrane in the uterus breaks and comes out along with the dead egg in a flow of blood. This is the menstrual flow which usually lasts from four to five days. It takes about 28 days for it to happen again. This is called the menstrual cycle.

The menstrual flow happens in females only. Only women have the eggs and the uterus in which mucous membrane develops.

When an egg gets fertilized by a sperm, no menstrual flow occurs because the fertilized egg goes to the uterus and attaches itself to the mucous membrane. The mucous membrane does not break, so no blood flows out.

How a New Life Begins?

A baby’s life begins during fertilization, or union of the sperm and the egg cell. A zygote is formed during the process.

1. The zygote, or fertilized ovum, then develops into an embryo and it stays in the uterus.
2. The placenta, a mass of blood vessels that link the embryo to its mother, is produced when the embryo is implanted in the uterus. The embryo is connected to the placenta through the umbilical cord.
3. Food and oxygen from the mother’s bloodstream enter the placenta and pass through the umbilical cord into the embryo. Waste and carbon dioxide from the body are carried back along the umbilical cord to the placenta. These wastes are discharged in the mother’s urine.
4. After eight weeks, the embryo becomes a fetus. The ears, mouth, and nose are formed. The hands and feet grow fingers and toes.
5. The fetus continues to grow every day. On the seventh month, the fetus develops hair and nails. It takes about nine months for the fetus to develop well enough to leave the mother’s womb. However, a child may be born premature after the seventh month.
6. The miracle of reproduction is repeated every time a new human being is born.

Fetus Development from week 2 to week 41  >> click here <<

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Category: Human Reproductive System