Anatomy and Physiology - Produces progesterone

 Suspensory ligaments
FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE ORGAN
- Secures the uterus to the
 Ovaries – primary female lateral walls of the pelvis
reproductive organs  Ovarian ligaments
 Other organs of the female - Anchored to the uterus
reproductive system serve as medially
accessory structures to transport,  Broad ligament
nurture, or otherwise serve the needs - Enclosed and held in place by
of the reproductive cells or the a fold of peritoneum
developing fetus
DUCT SYSTEM
OVARIES
 Uterine tubes or Fallopian tubes
 Ovarian follicles - Receive the ovulated oocyte
- Tiny saclike structures in the and provide a site where
overies fertilization can occur
 Oocyte  Infundibulum
- Immature eggs - Funnel-shaped that expands
 Follicle cells at the distal ends of each
- One or more layers that of uterine tube
different cells that surrounds  Fimbriae
the oocyte - Fingerlike projections found
 Antrum on the infundibulum
- Fluid-filled central region  Cilia
enlarged and developed in the - Carries the oocyte toward the
follicles uterus by a combination of
 Vesicular follicle or Graafian peristalsis and its rhythmic
follicle beating
- Mature, and the developing  Journey to the uterus taks 3 – 4 days
egg that is ready to be ejected and the oocyte is viable for at most
from the ovary 24 hours after ovulation
 Ovulation Uterus
- Eggs are ready for
fertilization  Uterus
- Generally occurs every 28 - Located in the pelvis between
days the urinary bladder and
 Corpus luteum rectum
- Yellow body
- Eventually degenerates
 - Hallow organ that functions
to receive, retain, and nourish
a fertilized egg
- In a woman who has ever
been pregnant, it is about the
size and shape of a pear
 Round ligaments
- Anchors uterus to the pelvis
anteriorly
 Uterosacral ligaments
- Anchors uterus to the pelvis
posteriorly
 Body
Vagina
- Major portion of the uterus
 Fundus
- Rounded region superior to
the entrance of the uterine
tube
 Cervix
- Narrow outlet, which
protrudes inferiorly into the
vagina
 Endometrium
- Inner layer
- If fertilization occurs, the
fertilized egg burrow into the
endometrium
 Menstruation
- When a woman is not
pregnant, the endometrial
lining sloughs off
periodically, usually about
every 28 days, in response to
the changes in the level of
ovarian hormones in the
blood
 Myometrium
- Middle layer of the uterus
wall
- Composed of interlacing
bundles of smooth muscle
- Plays an important role
during childbirth, when it
contracts rhythmically to
force the baby out of the
mother’s body
 Perimetrium
- Outermost serous layer of the
uterus wall
- Also called as visceral
peritoneum
 Vagina
- Thin-walled tube that lies
between the bladder and
rectum and extends to the
cervix to the body exterior
- Often called birth canal
- Provides passageway for the
delivery of an infant and for
the menstrual flow to leave
the body
- It receives the penis during
sexual intercourse
- It is the female organ of
copulation
 Hymen
- The distal end of the vagina
is partially closed by a thin
fold of the mucosa
- Very vascular and tends to
bleed when it is ruptured
during the first sexual
intercourse
- In some women, it is torn
during sports activity, tampon
insertion, or pelvic
examination
External Genitalia and Female Perineum blood during sexual
excitement
 External genitalia o Urethral and vaginal orifice
- Female reproductive 
structures that are located o Greater vestibular glands
external to the vagina
 Mucus-producing
 Vulva:
glands
o Mons pubis
 Their secretion
 Mountain on the lubricates the distal
pubis end of the vagina
 Fatty, rounded area during intercourse
overlying the pubic  Perineum
symphysis - Diamond-shaped region
o Labia majora between the anterior end of
 Elongated hair- the labia folds
covered skin folds
running posteriorly FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE
from the mons pubis FUNCTIONS AND CYCLES
o Labia minora
 Menstrual Cycle
 Two delicate, hair-
- The total supply of eggs that
free folds enclosed by
a female can release is
the labia majora
already determined by the
o Vestibule
time she is born
 Enclosed by the labia
- A female’s reproductive
majora which
ability begins during puberty
contains the external
 Menopause
openings of the
- The period in which a
urethra
woman’s reproductive
o Clitoris
capability ends
 Anterior to the
vestibule OOGENESIS AND THE OVARIAN
 A small protruding CYCLE
structure that
corresponds to the  Oogenesis
male penis - Production of ova or female
 It is hooded by a gametes
prepuce and is  Oogonia
composed of sensitive - The female stem cells
erectile tissue that  Primary oocytes
becomes swollen with
 - Daughter cells produced
during oogonia
 Primary follicles
- Single layer of cells that
surrounds the primary
oocytes when they are pushed
into the ovary connective
tissue
 Ovarian cycle
- The cyclic changes that occur
monthly in the ovary
 Secondary oocyte
- Larger cells
 Polar body
- Tiny cell
 Corona radiata
- Follicle-cell capsule that
surrounds the ovulated
secondary oocyte
 Mittelschmerz
- Caused by the intense
stretching of the ovarian wall
during ovulation
 Ovum
- Produced when the oocyte
quickly completes the second
meiotic division
- Its 23 chromosomes are
combined with those of
sperm to form zygote
- If sperm does not penetrate
the secondary oocyte, it is
simply deteriorates without
ever completing meiosis to
form a functional egg
 Meiosis in males results in four
functional sperm
 Meiosis in females yields only one
functional ovum and three tiny polar
bodies
HORMONE PRODUCTION BY THE
OVARIES
 Estrogen
- Cause the appearance of
secondary sex characteristics
in the young woman
- It helps maintain low total
blood cholesterol levels and
facilitates calcium ion uptake,
which sustains bone density
- Changes includes:
o Enlargement of
accessory organs of
the female
reproductive organs
o Development of
breasts
o Appearance of
axillary and pubic
hair
o Increased deposits of
fat beneath the skin in
general, and
particularly in the
hips and breasts
o Widening and
lightening of the
pelvis
o Onset of menses
 Progesterone
- Produced by the glandular
corpus luteum
- Helps maintain the pregnancy
and prepare the breasts for
milk production
- The source of progesterone
during pregnancy is the
placenta
UTERINE (MENSTRUAL) CYCLE
 Uterine or menstrual cycle
- Series of cyclic changes that
the endometrium goes
through each month asit
responds to changing blood
levels of ovarian hormones
MAMMARY GLANDS
 Days 1-5: menstrual phase
- The superficial functional
layer of the thick endometrial
lining is detached from the
uterine wall
- Detached tissues and blood
pass through the vagina as
menstrual flow for 3 - 5 days
- By day 5, growing ovarian
follicles are beginning to
produce more estrogens
 Days 6-14: proliferative phase
- Stimulated by a rising level
of estrogens produced by the
growing follicles of the
ovaries
- The basal layer of the
endometrium regenerates the
functional layer
- The endometrium once again
becomes velvety, thick, and
well vascularised
- Ovulation occurs in the ovary
at the end of this stage, in
response to the sudden surge
of LH in the blood
 Days 15-28: secretory phase
- A rising level of progesterone
production by the corpus
luteum
- acts on estrogen-primed
endometrium and increases
its blood supply even more
- fertilization does not occur,
the corpus luteum begins to
degenerate toward the end of
this period as the LH blood
level declines
 Mammary glands
- Normally function only in
men
- Produce milk to nourish a
newborn baby, they are
actually important only when
reproduction has already
been accomplished
- Female mammary glands to
increase in size at puberty
- Are modified sweat glands
that are part of the skin
- Contained within a rounded
skin-covered breast anterior
to the pectoral muscles
 Areola
- Pigmented area inferior to the
center of each breast
 Nipple
- Central protruding portion
 Lobes
- Mammary gland consist of 15
to 25 lobes that radiate
around the nipple
 Lobules
- Smaller chambers which
contain clusters of alveolar
glands
 Alveolar glands
- Produce milk when a woman
is lactating
 Lactating
- Term used in producing milk
  Lactiferous ducts  Cleavage
- Lobule where milk exits from - The early stage of embryonic
the alveolar glands which development
open to the outside at the  Morula
nipple - Tiny ball of 16 cells that
 Lactiferous sinus looks like a microscopic
- Dilated region where milk raspberry
accumulates during nursing  Blastocyte
- Ball-like structure
PREGNANCY AND EMBRYONIC
 Human chorionic gonadotropin
DEVELOPMENT
- And LH-like hormone which
 Pregnancy prods the corpus luteum of
- Events that occur form the the ovary to continue
time of fertilization producing its hormones
(conception) until birth  Two important functional area
 Conceptus  Trophoblast – forms the
- The pregnant woman’s large fluid-filled sphere
developing offspring  Inner cell mass – small
 Gestation period cluster of cells on one side
- Extends by convention from  Primary germ layers
the last menstrual period until  Ectoderm – which will
birth become the nervous system
 Embryo and the epidermis of the skin
- Term used to the conceptus  Endoderm – forms the
during embryonic period mucosae and associated
 Fetus glands
- Term used to the conceptus  Mesoderm – will become
during fetal period virtually everything else
 Chorionic villi
ACCOMPLISHING FERTILIZATION - Elaborated projection that
develops in the blastocytes
 Fertilization
 Placenta
- Occurs at the moment the
- Combination of chorionic
genetic material of a sperm
villi with the tissues of the
combines with that of an
mother’s uterus
ovum to form fertilized egg
 Amnion
 Zygote
- Fluid-filled sac that
- Fertilized egg
surrounds the placenta
EVENTS OF EMBRYONIC AND  Umbilical cord
FETAL DEVELOPMENT
- A blood vessel-containing
stalk of tissue attached to the
placenta