Female reproductive organs

Looks like

Two almond ovaries, two tubes, a pear-shaped womb, the vagina and the vulva.

What it does

Releases eggs, carries a pregnancy, and drives the monthly cycle.

Keeping it well

Folic acid before pregnancy prevents neural-tube defects — one of the best-supported preventives there is. Contraception and screening are choices with numbers on both sides. Bleeding after menopause always needs investigating.

Its parts

• Ovaries
• Fallopian tubes
• Uterus
• Vagina
• Ligaments of the uterus
• Vulva
• Vessels of the female pelvis
• Pouches of the pelvic peritoneum
• Placenta (in pregnancy)

Related conditions

• Absent periods (amenorrhoea)
• Adenomyosis
• Adrenal insufficiency (Addison's)
• Asherman's syndrome
• Bartholin's cyst and abscess
• Bone metastases and spinal cord compression
• Botulism
• Cervical cancer
• Cervical ectropion and Nabothian cysts
• Cervical insufficiency
• Chronic venous insufficiency
• Clotting disorders (thrombophilia & APS)
• Deep vein thrombosis
• Early puberty (precocious puberty)
• Ectopic pregnancy
• Endometrial (womb) cancer
• Endometrial polyps and hyperplasia
• Endometriosis
• Female genital mutilation (FGM)
• Female infertility
• Fetal growth restriction
• Fibromyalgia
• Frailty & falls in older age
• Gestational diabetes
• Heat exhaustion & heatstroke
• Heavy & painful periods
• Hereditary cancer syndromes (BRCA, Lynch)
• Hernia (inguinal, hiatal, umbilical)
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Hyperemesis gravidarum
• Hyperthyroidism & Graves' disease
• Hypothermia & frostbite
• Hypothyroidism
• Kawasaki disease
• Lichen sclerosus
• Malnutrition & refeeding syndrome
• Maternal (puerperal) sepsis
• Menopause & perimenopause
• Metabolic syndrome
• Miscarriage
• Molar pregnancy and gestational trophoblastic disease
• Mumps
• Muscular dystrophy
• Obstructed labour and obstetric fistula
• Orthostatic hypotension & POTS
• Ovarian cancer
• Ovarian cysts
• Ovarian torsion
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Perineal tear in childbirth
• Peripheral artery disease
• Phaeochromocytoma & hyperaldosteronism
• Placenta praevia
• Placental abruption
• Polycystic ovary syndrome
• Polymyalgia rheumatica
• Postnatal depression
• Postpartum haemorrhage
• Pre-eclampsia
• Premature ovarian insufficiency
• Premenstrual syndrome and PMDD
• Preterm labour and birth
• Raynaud's phenomenon
• Rhabdomyolysis
• Rubella (German measles)
• Sarcoma
• Sarcopenia
• Sepsis
• Sexually transmitted infections
• Shock (circulatory failure)
• Stillbirth
• Tetanus
• Thrush & bacterial vaginosis
• Turner syndrome
• Type 1 diabetes
• Uterine fibroids
• Vaginal cancer
• Varicose veins
• Vasculitis (GCA & others)
• Vulval cancer
• Vulvodynia and vaginismus