Cervix

Looks like

The firm lower neck of the womb, about 3 cm long, with a small channel into the vagina.

What it does

Holds a pregnancy in, then opens to let a baby out; its mucus changes across the cycle.

Keeping it well

HPV vaccination sharply cuts cervical precancer in trials, and national registries now show far fewer cervical cancers in women vaccinated young. Screening finds precancer before it becomes cancer; many low-grade changes clear on their own, and cone treatment raises the risk of premature birth in a later pregnancy.

Related conditions

• Absent periods (amenorrhoea)
• Adenomyosis
• Asherman's syndrome
• Bone metastases and spinal cord compression
• Cervical cancer
• Cervical ectropion and Nabothian cysts
• Cervical insufficiency
• Ectopic pregnancy
• Endometrial (womb) cancer
• Endometrial polyps and hyperplasia
• Endometriosis
• Female infertility
• Fetal growth restriction
• Gestational diabetes
• Heavy & painful periods
• Hereditary cancer syndromes (BRCA, Lynch)
• Hyperemesis gravidarum
• Maternal (puerperal) sepsis
• Miscarriage
• Molar pregnancy and gestational trophoblastic disease
• Obstructed labour and obstetric fistula
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Placenta praevia
• Placental abruption
• Postpartum haemorrhage
• Preterm labour and birth
• Sexually transmitted infections
• Stillbirth
• Thrush & bacterial vaginosis
• Uterine fibroids