The Menstrual Cycle, Pregnancy and Birth

Question 1

What are the 4 important hormones that control the menstrual cycle in females?

Answer 1

1. Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH)
2. Luteinising Hormone (LH)
3. Oestrogen
4. Progesterone

Question 2

What does FSH cause?

Answer 2

Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH) - causes a follicle to mature

Question 3

What does LH do?

Answer 3

Luteinising Hormone (LH) - makes the egg burst out of the follicle, this is ovulation

Question 4

What does oestrogen help do?

Answer 4

Oestrogen - lining of the uterus grows thicker

Question 5

What does progesterone help do?

Answer 5

Progesterone - maintains the lining of the uterus, when it’s levels drop, the lining sheds

Question 6

What happens in stage 1 of the menstrual cycle?

Answer 6

Day 1 - 4: period (menstruation), bleeding, breakdown of uterus lining

Question 7

What happens in stage 2 of the menstrual cycle?

Answer 7

Day 4 - 14: pre-ovulation, lining starts to thicken from the ovaries

Question 8

What happens in stage 3 of the menstrual cycle?

Answer 8

Day 14: egg released (ovulation)

Question 9

What happens in stage 4 of the menstrual cycle?

Answer 9

Day 14 - 28: Maintaining of the lining of the uterus (post ovulation)

Question 10

How long is a menstrual cycle typically?

Answer 10

28 days long

Question 11

Where is oestrogen produced?

Answer 11

In the ovaries

Question 12

Where is progesterone produced?

Answer 12

In the ovaries

Question 13

Where is LH produced?

Answer 13

In the pituitary gland - centre of the brain

Question 14

Where is FSH produced?

Answer 14

In the pituitary gland - centre of the brain

Question 15

On which day does the period start in the menstrual cycle?

Answer 15

Day 1 - 5

Question 16

What happens if an egg isn’t fertilised?

Answer 16

The lining of the uterus sheds

Question 17

Why doesn’t a woman have a period while she’s pregnant?

Answer 17

A woman doesn’t have a period while she’s pregnant as the uterus lining is maintained

Question 18

Which days is a woman most fertile?

Answer 18

Days 6 - 17

Question 19

What day is a zygote classified a zygote?

Answer 19

Day 1

Question 20

When is a blastocyst classified as a blastocyst?

Answer 20

7 days

Question 21

When is an embryo classified as an embryo?

Answer 21

2 weeks

Question 22

When is a fetus classified as a fetus?

Answer 22

9 weeks till birth

Question 23

When is a baby classified as a baby?

Answer 23

At birth

Question 24

How long does a baby take to develop?

Answer 24

38 weeks to develop - from fertilisation to birth

Question 25

What is the baby classified as at 8 weeks?

Answer 25

The first 8 weeks, the baby is called an embryo - because all the specialised cells are developing (differentiation)

Question 26

Why is the first 8 weeks of pregnancy critical?

Answer 26

It is a critical period of development and growth for the baby. The baby can be affected by smoking, drugs or alcohol

Question 27

What does the developing embryo float in?

Answer 27

It floats in a fluid enclosed within a membrane called the amnion

Question 28

How does a blastocyst form?

Answer 28

The zygote begins to divide and travels down the fallopian tube towards the uterus. As it travels it keeps dividing until a hollow ball of cells called a blastocyst forms

Question 29

How does implantation happen?

Answer 29

Around 5 -7 days after the fertilisation, the blastocyst reaches the uterus and burrows into the uterus lining - this is known as implantation

Question 30

Does the mother’s blood mix with the embryo’s blood?

Answer 30

No

Question 31

How are food and oxygen given to the embryo?

Answer 31

Food and oxygen from the mother’s blood pass through the placenta to the embryo

Question 32

What are the 3 stages of birth?

Answer 32

Labour – Dilation of the Cervix to
10cm – around 10 hours (there’s a
big range)
Delivery – Birth of the Baby via the
vagina (expulsion) (unless C-section,
then through the abdomen)
Placental Delivery – the afterbirth

Question 33

What are the dates of the 3 trimesters in pregnancy?

Answer 33

1st Trimester – up to 12 weeks

2nd Trimester – 13-27 weeks

3rd Trimester – 28-40 weeks

Question 34

What is the gestational period?

Answer 34

The period during which the baby
develops in the uterus is known as
the gestation period

Note “Weeks pregnant” refers to
the time since the first day of a
woman’s last period

Question 35

What is the umbilical cord?

Answer 35

The umbilical cord joins the embryo in
its abdomen

Question 36

What is your belly button?

Answer 36

Your “belly button: is where your
umbilical cord joined you to your
mother in the uterus

Question 37

What is copulation?

Answer 37

It is a term for 2 individuals joining together for sexual reproduction (or commonly known as ‘sex’ in humans)

Question 38

What happens in sexual intercourse?

Answer 38

The penis becomes stiff and erect and it is inserted into the vagina

Question 39

What does stimulation cause?

Answer 39

Stimulation causes sperm to be squeezed out of the penis in a process called ejaculation

Question 40

What does ejaculation deposit?

Answer 40

Ejaculation deposits several hundred MILLION sperm near the cervix

Question 41

How can sperm swim?

Answer 41

Sperm can swim, propelled by their tail using the sugar in their semen as their energy source