. . (b) Female Reproductive System The female germ-cells or eggs are made in the ovaries. They are also responsible for the production of some hormones.
Look at Fig. . and identify the various organs in the female reproductive system. Figure .
Figure . Figure . Figure . Figure .
Human–male reproductive system Figure . Figure . Figure . Figure .
Figure . Human –female reproductive system When a girl is born, the ovaries already contain thousands of immature eggs. On reaching puberty, some of these start maturing. One egg is produced every month by one of the ovaries.
The egg is carried from the ovary to the womb through a thin oviduct or fallopian tube. The two oviducts unite into an elastic bag-like structure known as the uterus. The uterus opens into the vagina through the cervix. The sperms enter through the vaginal passage during sexual intercourse.
They travel upwards and reach the oviduct where they may encounter the egg. The fertilised egg (zygote) starts dividing and form a ball of cells or embryo. The embryo is implanted in the lining of the uterus where they continue to grow and develop organs to become foetus. We have seen in earlier sections that the mother’s body is designed to undertake the development of the child.
Hence the uterus prepares itself every month to receive and nurture the growing embryo. The lining thickens and is richly supplied with blood to nourish the growing embryo. The embryo gets nutrition from the mother’s blood with the help of a special tissue called placenta. This is a disc which is embedded in the uterine wall.
It contains villi on the embryo’s side of the tissue. On the mother’s side are blood spaces, which surround the villi. This provides a large surface area for glucose and oxygen to pass from the mother to the embryo. The developing embryo will also generate waste substances which can be removed by transferring them into the mother’s blood through the placenta.
The development of the child inside the mother’s body takes approximately nine months. The child is born as a result of rhythmic contractions of the muscles in the uterus.