What do you call your outer genitalia? If you said "vagina", that is technically incorrect. What you see on the outside of your body, is in fact, called the vulva. Every vulva is unique, but most of them consist of the same several parts, and if you have one but don't know what it looks like, now would be a great time to take out the mirror and take a look. If you are not quite comfortable looking at your vulva, you can follow along with your hands, or consult the handy diagram to the right, or the video below.
- We have the mons pubis (not pictured) which is the fleshy, rounded bit over the pubic bone (That bone, at the very bottom of the front of your torso) This area is where the majority of your pubic hair grows (the hair continues underneath to various areas of the pelvic floor, which may be slightly different based on your individual hair growth patterns).
- There are 2 sets of labia (lips) the labia majora, and the labia minora.
- The labia majora are the larger, fleshy lips on the outside. They are often close in color to your natural skin color, or may be a bit darker, or pinker. Again, it depends on your individual body. The labia majora are also often covered with pubic hair.
- If you part your labia majora, you will find 2 smaller, thinner lips. These are your labia minora. For many women, the labia minora are tucked away inside of the labia majora, for many others, they hang a bit longer and protrude from between the outer labia. The labia minora are usually a more delicate type of tissue, and are often a bit moist. You may or may not have hair present on your labia minora.
- If you follow your labia minora toward the front of your body, you will find the hood, which is the same type of tissue as the labia minora, and makes a triangle shape at the top (front) of your vulva. The hood is the covering for the clitoris, and the clitoris may be hidden underneath, or poke out from under it. Either way is completely normal, and once again, unique to you. The clitoris contains more nerve endings than anywhere else in your body, and when stimulated in a positive way, can trigger or intensify arousal. The clitoris is not just a little button of nerves on the outside, it actually extends into the vaginal wall, and can be stimulated from the inside of the vagina, this is often known as the G-spot.
- If you move a bit toward the back of your body from your clitoris, inside of the labia minora, you will encounter a very small opening. This is called the urethral hiatus. This is where the urine comes out of your body. A surprising number of women are unaware of the existence of this orifice, and assume that they urinate (pee) from the same place that they have sex, or from which their menstrual fluid flows. This is not so. It is because of this additional opening that you are able to urinate when you have a tampon, sponge, or cup inserted during your period.
- If you continue moving toward the back of the body from the urethral hiatus, inside of the labia minora, you should encounter a larger opening. This is known as the vestibule. It is the opening of the vagina. You may or may not have an additional fold of tissue at the edge of the vestibule known as the hymen (not pictured). If present, the hymen may cover a portion of the vestibule, but it will rarely cover the whole thing. Not every woman/girl has a hymen. It simply isn't present for everyone. For those who are born with a hymen, it will likely rupture at some point in their lives. This may occur if you sustain an injury to your pelvic floor, but more commonly will rupture during sex. Even if a woman has had sex, she may still have an intact hymen, as it does not always break if the intercourse is gentle. The rupturing of the hymen is a perfectly normal occurrence and is generally nothing to worry about.
- If you continue moving toward the back of your body from the vestibule, you will encounter a flat portion of skin. This is called the perineum. The perineum may be long or short depending on your unique anatomy. The perineum occasionally tears during childbirth, or is cut in the event of an episiotomy. There are varying degrees of tears and cuts, and most are fairly minor. The perineum basically separates your genitalia from your anus, which helps to keep things cleaner, and make UTIs less likely.
- You may have guessed from the last bullet point, that if you move along the perineum toward the back of your body, you will find your anus (not pictured). It is out of this orifice that you release stool when you have a bowel movement (poop). It is not really considered a part of the vulva, but I wanted to include it in this description because it is in the same area, and along with your vulva makes up your pelvic floor.
So, if what we are used to seeing is the vulva, what exactly is the vagina? The vagina is a canal located inside of the vestibule (see above), and is used for vaginal sex, menstruation, and childbirth. Every vagina is a slightly different shape and size and will change a bit throughout your menstrual cycle. It will also get larger with arousal, so you may have noticed that a penis or toy fits nicely when you are aroused, but some of you may only be able to fit a finger or two in there at any other time. For some people the change is drastic, for others (particularly those who have given birth vaginally) the change is much less pronounced. The vagina also contains some other important structures. We discussed the clitoris in the section above, but you also have some important glands known as the greater vestibular glands. As the name suggests, they are located just inside of the vestibule, and their job is to secrete a fluid to lubricate the vagina during sex, and prevent the delicate tissue from tearing. This fluid also helps to nourish and protect sperm and help them move toward their goal of finding an egg. Thus, the closer you are to ovulation, the more fluid these glands will secrete. Your vagina is also full of good bacteria and is lined with a mucous membrane. These two things combined help to keep your vagina clean so that you never have to wash it out (blog about douching is in the works), and to help prevent infection. It should be noted that although your vagina will naturally protect you from many infections, there are still several varieties of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that are resistant to the good bacteria in your vagina, so it is important to practice safe sex unless you are in a completely monogamous relationship.
The uterus, or womb, is the organ in which a fetus (what we call a baby before it is born) develops to maturity. It is held in place by eight ligaments; the two broad ligaments which stretch from your uterus to the sides of your pelvis, two round ligaments which connect the uterus to the pelvic floor, two sacro-uterine ligaments which connect your uterus to your sacrum (the broad, flat bone just above your tailbone), and 2 other small ligaments which connect your uterus to your bladder in front and rectum in back. It is made up of three layers including an outer protective layer (perimetrium), a muscular layer (myometrium), and an inner lining (endometrium). The uterus itself can be divided into 3 sections; the cervix (neck), the body, and the fundus (top).
- The cervix is one of the most talked about parts of the uterus because it is the part that dilates during childbirth. You can feel your own cervix by inserting one or two clean fingers into your vagina. It will be up toward the top, and depending on where you are in your menstrual cycle, it may be very prominent and feel like the tip of a nose, or it may be very high and soft so that you can barely reach it. If you bear down a bit, you should be able to feel it a bit more easily. You may also be familiar with the terms "cervical fluid" or "cervical mucus". This is a fluid that is secreted by the cervix, and much like the fluid from your greater vestibular glands, it helps to nourish and protect sperm on their journey to find an egg. Your cervical mucus will also change consistency throughout your cycle, and you may notice that sometimes it is very wet, and other times it is sticky or non-existent. Your cervical fluid will generally get more slippery as you near ovulation, as this is the best consistency for nourishing sperm.
- The body of your uterus is where your baby grows. When we get pregnant, the embryo will generally implant into the lining somewhere in the body of our uterus. This lining gets thicker or thinner depending on where we are in our menstrual cycle, and naturally sheds once a month when we are menstruating.
- The word fundus quite literally means "top". The fundus is the top curve of your uterus. When you are pregnant, your uterus will grow, and your doctor or midwife may measure the location of your fundus to estimate the size of your baby. After delivery, someone will likely "massage" your uterus to cause contractions (which can help to close off blood vessels and prevent hemorrhage) which helps the fundus move down toward it's lower position.
Our fallopian tubes are attached to our uterus and extend to open just above our ovaries. They do not actually connect to the ovaries, and are held in place by the broad ligaments. The opening closest to the ovary has several wavy, fingerlike projections called fimbriae, and when the egg is released during ovulation, the fimbriae will begin to wave, creating a current to pull the egg into the tube. If fertilization occurs, it most commonly happens just inside of this opening at the upper curve. If fertilized, the egg will then travel along the tube to the uterus where it will implant into the lining of the uterus. This process may take about a week.
The ovaries are the female gonads. They are our counterpart to the male testes. Gonads is the proper name for an organ that produces sex hormones and gametes. Gametes are sexual reproductive cells also known as spermatozoa (male) and eggs (female). Ovaries are the places where our eggs develop, mature, and then are released to either become a baby or not. A baby girl's ovaries begin to develop in utero, and by the time she is born, she has all of her primitive eggs already inside of her. The primitive egg cells begin to mature when we reach puberty, at which time we begin producing larger amounts of hormones which help the eggs to mature and be released during ovulation. Starting with a girl's first menstrual cycle, her ovaries will release one or two eggs each month or so. Around the age of 35, we begin to release more eggs each cycle increasing the likelihood of pregnancy, particularly with multiples. Our ovaries are located just below our fallopian tubes and to the sides of our uterus, and are held in place by the broad ligaments.