Q.Give a brief account of human female reproductive system.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →The human female reproductive system - ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, cervix, and vagina, plus external genitalia and accessory glands - produces eggs and sex hormones, and provides the site for fertilization, implantation, and development of the embryo/foetus.
The female reproductive system is composed of a pair of primary reproductive organs (ovaries) and a set of accessory ducts/organs, together with external genitalia:
1. Ovaries: a pair of almond-shaped organs located in the pelvic cavity, one on each side, held in place by ligaments. The ovaries are the primary female reproductive organs (gonads) that perform two functions: (a) they produce the female gametes, ova (eggs), through the process of oogenesis, and (b) they secrete the female sex hormones oestrogen and progesterone, which regulate the menstrual cycle, secondary sexual characteristics, and pregnancy.
2. Fallopian tubes (oviducts): a pair of tubes, each extending from near an ovary to the uterus. Each fallopian tube has a funnel-shaped, finger-like projected end near the ovary called the infundibulum, with finger-like projections called fimbriae that help sweep the released egg into the tube; a wider middle part, the ampulla (the usual site of fertilization); and a narrower part, the isthmus, joining the uterus. The fallopian tubes transport the egg from the ovary toward the uterus using ciliary movement and peristaltic contractions.
3. Uterus (womb): a single, pear-shaped, muscular, hollow organ in which the fallopian tubes open above and which narrows below into the cervix. The uterine wall has three layers - the outer perimetrium, the middle thick muscular myometrium (responsible for the contractions of labour), and the inner glandular endometrium, which undergoes cyclic changes through the menstrual cycle and is the site where a fertilised egg (blastocyst) implants and develops into the embryo/foetus during pregnancy.
4. Cervix: the narrow lower part of the uterus that connects it to the vagina; the cervix and vagina together form the birth canal.
5. Vagina: a highly elastic, muscular canal extending from the cervix to the external genitalia. It receives the sperm during copulation, serves as the passage through which menstrual flow is discharged, and acts as the birth canal during parturition (childbirth).
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