Your anatomy, plainly explained

Understanding the basic parts of your reproductive anatomy takes the mystery out of a lot of things, including your period. The names can sound complicated, but the parts themselves are straightforward once someone explains them plainly. Knowing them also makes it much easier to describe how you feel if you ever need to talk to a doctor.

The outside parts

The vulva is the name for all the external parts, the bits you can see. This includes the outer and inner folds of skin, called the labia, and the clitoris. People sometimes use the word vagina for this whole area, but technically the vagina is internal. The vulva is the outside.

The inside parts

The vagina is the muscular canal that connects the outside to the inside. At the top of it sits the cervix, a small, firm opening that is the lower part of the uterus. The uterus, also called the womb, is a pear-shaped, muscular organ where the lining builds up and then sheds each cycle, which is what your period actually is. On either side are the two ovaries, which hold your eggs and produce the hormones that run your cycle. The fallopian tubes connect the ovaries to the uterus.

Why knowing this helps

When you know what each part is and does, your period stops feeling random. You understand that the bleeding is the uterine lining shedding, that cramps are the uterus contracting, and that your ovaries are behind the hormonal shifts you feel. There is no mystery and nothing to be embarrassed about. It is just your body, explained.