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Health

Female genital organs

, medical expert
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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The female genital organs include the ovaries and their appendages, the uterus and the fallopian tubes, the vagina, as well as the clitoris and the female genital area. Accordingly, their position of female genital organs are divided into internal and external.

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Internal female genital organs

Ovary

Ovary (ovarium, Greek oophoron) - paired organ, female genital gland, located in the cavity of the small pelvis behind the wide ligament of the uterus. Ovaries develop and mature female sex cells (ovules), as well as female sex hormones that enter the blood and lymph. The ovary has an ovoid shape, somewhat flattened in anteroposterior direction.

Ovary

Ovary

Ovogenesis

Egg cells, unlike the male reproductive cells, multiply, their number increases in embryos, females, ie, in females. When the fetus is still in the womb. Thus, the so-called primordial follicles are formed, located in the deep layers of the cortical substance of the ovary. Each such primordial follicle contains a young female sex cell - an ovony, surrounded by a single layer of follicular cells.

Ovum and ovogenesis

Ovogenesis.  Menstrual cycle

Adherents of the ovary

Near each ovary rudimentary formation is located - the appendage of the ovary, the parasite (appendage of the appendage), vesicular attachments, the remains of the tubules of the primary kidney and its duct.

Adherents of the ovary 

Uterus

Uterus (uterus, Greek metra) is an unpaired hollow muscular organ in which the embryo develops and the fetus is hatched. The uterus is located in the middle of the pelvic cavity behind the bladder and in front of the rectum. Uterus pear-shaped, flattened in anteroposterior direction. The uterus distinguishes the bottom, body and neck.

Uterus

Uterus 

Placenta

Placenta (placenta), or a child's place, is a temporary organ that forms in the mucous membrane during pregnancy, and connects the fetal organism with the mother. Through the placenta, the fetus is fed, supplied with oxygen, removed from the fetal body metabolic products. The placenta protects the fetus from harmful substances (protective, barrier function). The blood of the mother and fetus in the placenta is not mixed due to the presence of the so-called hematoplacental barrier.

Placenta

Oviduct

Fallopian tube (fallopian tube, tuba uterina, s.salpinx) - paired organ, serves to carry the ovum from the ovary (from the peritoneal cavity) into the uterine cavity. Fallopian tubes are located in the cavity of the small pelvis and represent a cylindrical shape of the ducts that run from the uterus to the ovaries. Each tube lies in the upper part of the broad ligament of the uterus, which is like a mesentery of the uterine tube.

Oviduct

Vagina

The vagina (vagina, s.colpos) - an unpaired hollow organ shaped like a tube, is located in the cavity of the small pelvis and extends from the uterus to the genital gaps. At the bottom of the vagina passes through the urogenital diaphragm. The length of the vagina is 8-10 cm, the wall thickness is about 3 mm. The vagina is somewhat curved posteriorly, its longitudinal axis with the uterine axis forming an obtuse angle (somewhat greater than 90 °) open anteriorly.

Vagina 

The vestibule of the vagina

External female genital organs

External female genital organs include the female genital area and the clitoris.

The female genital area (pudendum femininum) includes the pubis, large and small labia, the vestibule of the vagina.

The pubis (mons pubis) is separated from the abdominal region by the pubic furrow, from the hips by the hip grooves. Lobok (pubic elevation) is covered with hair, which women do not pass to the abdominal region. The hair covering continues on the large labia. In the pubic area is well developed subcutaneous base (fat layer).

Large labia majora (labia majora pudendi) are a pair of skin folds, elastic, 7-8 cm long and 2-3 cm wide. They limit the genital crevice (rima pudendi) from the sides. Between the large labia joints are joined by spikes: a wider front lip adhesion (commissuia labiorum anterior) and narrow posterior lip adhesion (commissura labiorum posterior). The inner surface of the large labia lips facing each other. This surface is pink in color and looks like a mucous membrane. The skin covering the large labia, pigmented, contains numerous sebaceous and sweat glands.

Small labia minora (labia minora pudendi) - paired longitudinal thin skin folds. They are located inside the large labia in the genital gaps, limiting the vestibule of the vagina. The outer surface of the labia minora is turned to the labia majora, and the inner surface is toward the entrance to the vagina. The anterior margin of the labia minora is thinned and free.

Large and small labia 

The clitoris is the homologue of the cavernous bodies of the male penis and consists of the paired cavernous body of the clitoris (corpus cavernosum clitoridis) - the right and left. Each of them begins with a clitoris leg (crus clitoridis) on the periosteum of the lower branch of the pubic bone. The legs of the clitoris have a cylindrical shape and connect under the lower part of the pubic symphysis, forming the body of the clitoris (corpus clitoridis) with a length of 2.5 to 3.5, ending with the head (glans clitoridis). The body of the clitoris is covered on the outside with a dense cashew shell (tunica albuginea).

Clitoris

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