Reproductive Phase

Question 1 What is menstruation?

Question 2 Define the term menarche?

Question 3 Around which age menarche occurs in girls?

Question 4 Around which age menopause occurs in women?

Question 5 Define menopause?

Question 6 Explain when menopause and ovulation stop in a woman?

Reproductive Phase 

Adolescent boys grow and become men. Adolescent girls grow and become women. In men, the capacity to produce male gametes usually lasts throughout life. In women, the capacity to produce female gametes lasts only up to 45 to 50 yrs of age. The reproductive phase of life in men lasts much more than in women..

(1) With the onset of puberty, the eggs begin to mature in the ovaries of a women. One mature egg or ovum is released by one of the ovaries once in about 28 to 30 days. During this period, the inner lining of uterus grows and become thick and spongy, and prepares itself to receive the fertilised egg. In case the fertilisation of egg cell occurs by sperm, the fertilised egg cell begins to divide to form an embryo. The embryo then gets embedded in the thick uterus lining. This results in pregnancy which ultimately leads to the birth of a baby.

(2) If fertilisation does not occur due to lack of sperm, then the egg released by the ovary dies within a few days and the thick lining breaks down. Since the thick uterus lining contains a lot of blood vessels, therefore, the breaking down of uterus lining produces blood along with other tissues. The blood and other tissues come out of vagina of woman in the form of a bleeding.

The bleeding from the uterus which occur in a woman or mature girl every month (if the egg cell has not been fertilised) is called menstrual flow or menstruation.

Menstruation occurs every 28 to 30 days because ovulation occurs after every 28 to 30 days. It is also called as monthly periods or menses or periods. It usually lasts for 3 to 5 days in a month.

The first occurrence of menstruation at puberty is called menarche. It is the beginning of the reproductive life of a girl.

It stops temporarily when a woman is pregnant. It restarts after the birth of the baby. It stops permanently when a women reaches age of about 45 to 50 yrs.

The permanent stoppage of menstruation in a women is called menopause. A woman stops ovulating at menopause and can no longer becomes pregnant.