All You Wanted to Know About Sex (6 page)

The menstrual cycle

It is estimated that a woman who starts to menstruate at 13, stops at 50 and has two children could have more than 400 menstrual cycles in her life time. When girls start menstruating, their menstrual cycles are often not very regular. They may menstruate three or four times in the first year. A middle aged woman’s menstrual cycle may also become irregular before the menopause.

Sudden shock, worry or great joy can affect the cycle and may make the menstrual period come late or early or prevent it altogether. These are called psychic impression and sensations. There are women who are regular to time. Others are never quite certain when to expect the period. Influence of climate, way of life, constitutional and hereditary tendencies may cause variations.

Myths Connected with the Menstruation

There are many myths attached to menstruation. There are many dos and don’ts to be followed during your menstrual period like you must not wash your hair or have a bath or play sports etc.

Some religious and cultural restrictions are also inposed during this period like the girls cannot enter the kitchen or do puja etc.

Sex During Menstruation

Excitement during the menstrual cycle is quite significant in women. Sometimes the desire for sex is quite high in some women during menstrual period. Modern medical researchers on behavioural sex have conclusively established that sexual intercourse performed during mentruation period is not harmful at all. If the partners do not mind the mess, they can merrily go ahead. Moreover, there is an added advantage, the chances of conception are negligible.

Still it is considered unhygienic in many communities to indulge in sex with a woman undergoing the menstruation period. Actually, it is more out of aesthetical consideration that such acts are avoided.

There is, however, no doubt that medically such acts are not forbidden but obviously they would cause much inconvenience to both. Medical theories apart, one can hardly enjoy the act during the menses. Therefore, sometimes a taboo would seem more rational than the rationality of medical theories.

Time to Exercise

This is particulary a good time to exercise, since moderate activity helps relieve cramps and the sensation of heaviness often experienced during a period. If you are bleeding a lot, it is a good idea to use a tampon and a sanitary towel for exta protection. You can carry on all your regular activities as normal.

Follicle

Follicle is a tiny ball of cells in a woman’s ovary. A follicle contains an ovum. Follicles play an important part in a female’s menstrual cycle. About every 28 days, between 10 and 20 follicles start to mature, producing the sex hormone
estrogen
as they do so. At the time of ovulation, one follicle bursts open and releases an ovum. Once it has released the ovum, it starts to produce another sex hormone
progesterone
. Oestrogen and progesterone prepare the endometrium to receive the nourished fertilized ovum. If the ovum is not fertilized, the ovum
corpus luteum
and endometrium start to break and menstruation takes place.

Follicle Stimulating Hormone

It is a hormone produced by the pituitary gland, in the girls who have reached puberty as well as in boys. Its function is to stimulate ovarian follicle growth in the female and spermatogenesis in the male. Production of the follicle stimulating hormone begins to increase significantly at puberty, and in the male it is believed to influence the growth of the seminiferous tubules of the testes. It helps the testes to produce sperm.

Menopause

The period during which menstruation ceases and the female reproductive cycle comes to an end is called menopause. But sexual desire and enjoyment are usually maintained and may actually increase when fear of pregnancy is no longer a concern.

Most women start the menopause when they are about 50 years old. But it can happen any time between the age of 40 and 55. A woman’s menstrual period may be irregular for a year or two before they actually stop. Women going through the menopause often have hot flushes, night sweats and vaginal dryness. Emotions and personality are also affected during menopause and they may become irritable or depressed. Some women find the menopause hard to cope with as it affects their bodies and feelings. Other women are pleased to reach the menopause because it means no more menstrual periods and no more worries about getting pregnant.

Sexual Maturity in Women

Sexual maturity lasts longer in some women than in others. In 40% of women it ceases between forty-six and fifty years of age; in about 26% between forty-one and forty-five or more commonly before forty.

As a rule, sexual maturity ceases earlier in women who have not borne children than in those who have. A late child birth which occurs after forty years of age, postpones the menopause. The influence of race and climate also affect it.

Ceasation of this function affects all the activities of a woman. The cyclic ebb and flow of maturity ceases, and the vital processes remain at a continous level of a lesser degree of vigour and acuteness than the average of former years.

Effects of Menopause

One of the signs of changes in metabolism is frequently increased development of fat all over the body. There are palpitations, dizziness, vertigo, roaring in the ears and blackness before the eyes; all the signs of faintness.

Some women find the menopause hard to cope with because of the way it affects their bodies and feelings. Some other women are pleased to reach menopause because it means no more menstrual periods and no more worries about getting pregnant. Thus the mental balance forms a well merited compensation of nature for extremely high biological demands of women during sexual maturity.

Pregnancy

Pregnancy refers to the time span between the conception of a foetus and the delivery of the child.

When a man and a woman have sexual intercourse, the man puts his erect penis into the woman’s vagina. When he ejaculates, a small amount of semen containing upto 400 million tiny sperms shoot out at the end of his penis and into the woman’s vagina. These sperms then swim through the woman’s cervix into her uterus. Some get as far as the woman’s fallopian tubes where they may meet a mature ovum on their way to the uterus.

Fertilization

Fertilization takes place if one sperm manages to get through the outer layer of the ovum and joins with the ovum to form a new cell called
zygote
. This new cell will eventually develop into a baby. The woman does not produce any ova while she is
pregnant
. So fertilization can not happen again until after she has had the baby.

Doctors and midwives do not count pregnancy from the day of fertilization but from the first day of a woman’s last menstrual period. The pregnancy usually lasts for 40 weeks. But a pregnancy can be shorter or longer depending on the biological condition of the mother. The average pregnancy lasts 280 days or nine calendar months. Doctors divide pregnancy into three trimesters, each lasting for three months.

Fertilization

First Trimester

During the first trimester, the woman can feel very tired and may have morning sickness. While the baby is developing and growing inside her, her body too starts changing. Her breasts get larger. She probably has more vaginal discharge and needs to pass urine more often. She may also have a strange taste in her mouth and may have a craving for certain foods.

By the end of the first trimester, the foetus is fully formed and woman starts to bloom and feel much better. She may feel happy and excited about being pregnant. But most women have days when they worry or are fed up with being pregnant.

Second Trimester

The second trimester marks the woman’s changing shape. In the fourth or fifth month, the foetus heart starts to beat and it begins to move. All this confirms the reality of the pregnancy. Most women carry on a dialogue of sorts with the foetus, slowly making it a part of their life. Expectant parents accept the presence of the baby in the womb and give an affectionate name to it.

Changes in mother’s figure during pregnancy

By the end of the second trimester, the foetus may weigh 2 lb but the mother may have gained 10 lb. Some women show patches of temporary skin discoloration on the face, stomach and breasts. A clear yellow secretion called colostrum may seep from the nipples. These changes are harmless but undue weight gain should be controlled.

Third Trimester

During the final trimester, the foetus continues to grow, gaining about one lb a week-during the last two or three weeks. By the eighth month, all the body systems of the foetus are well developed and it is ready for the precarious life outside the womb. The ninth month in the womb ensures extra strength and better resistence to the trauma of life outside. As the foetus takes up a head-down position in the womb, its movements become increasingly noticeable to the mother. As the head enters the pelvis, it pushes against the mother’s bladder, making urination a more frequent necessity.

Preparing for Birth

As the foetus enlarges and moves down, the diaphragm is pushed upwards, making rib cage and breasts more protuberant and breathing more audible. As birth approaches, the foetus can be felt pushing down against the pelvis muscles and cervix. This is variously called engagement, lightening or dropping. Gradually the
cervix
(neck) or exit from the womb, becomes thinner. This process is known as effacement. The woman’s pelvis now begins to relax.

This makes walking awkward and sometimes painful but it is a part of the preparation for birth and a sign that labour will soon begin.

Labour Pains

Labour is the passage of the foetus and placental tissues from the womb, via the vagina, to the outside. It is usually described as having three phases.

In the first phase of labour, the cervix, which is closed with a plug of mucus during pregnancy, opens up, strong muscular contractions of the uterus help this to happen, but it can still take between two and twelve hours for the cervix to stretch enough to let the baby out.

In the second phase, the baby passes out of the uterus and down the woman’s vagina. The woman has to push hard with each contraction until the baby’s head starts to come out through the vaginal opening.