UTERUS

The body of a human female is one of the most beautiful and intricate creations of God. The anatomy of a woman bestows her with the power to create life, to bring a new individual into this world.  The uterus plays a major role in it.

The uterus is a hollow, inverted pear-shaped, muscular organ located in the pelvis of females between the bladder and the rectum. It is the uterus that supports the growth of the foetus, meeting its nutritional and oxygen needs. It is because of this function that the uterus is also known as the womb. The uterus is a three-walled organ; its walls being: the endometrium, myometrium, and perimetrium, moving from inside to outside.

It is because of the uterus that the females have to go through menstruation every month. As a female enters her reproductive age the innermost wall of the uterus, the endometrium, starts getting thickened with a lining of blood. This prepares the uterus for implantation of the embryo in case fertilization occurs between the sperm and the ovum. In case of absence of fertilization, this lining breaks and results in the blood and mucous coming out through the vagina. This phenomenon is called menstruation which lasts for about 4-5 days. On average, a female loses 30-40 milliliters of blood during menstruation.

Fun fact: a female can go through as many as five hundred menstrual cycles from the onset of periods, menarche, to its end, menopause. 

With the onset of menstruation or periods, females are started to be treated differently by society. They are obliged to follow certain norms on the days when they are bleeding. At a lot of places, they are not allowed to enter the kitchens. However, due to the rise of nuclear families in recent decades, this restriction has been eased down at some places, especially in urban areas. They are neither allowed to enter religious places nor are they allowed to participate in any sort of religious rituals as they are considered to be “impure”. In India, women are considered to be goddesses. However, it is a shame how our society has categorized menstruation, a phenomenon that comes so naturally to females, as something impure. Period blood is no different from blood coming out from any other part of the body. In many cultures, they are not allowed to wash their hair during the first three days of their periods. Following the social norms based on menstruation should entirely be a woman’s choice; no one should be forced to follow them.

Why is it that we bow down in front of goddesses for the strength they hold while putting an end to the evil and not for bearing the periods pain, which is equivalent to the pain experienced during a heart attack, every month?  

Red: the warning signal,

Red: the ferocious fervor,

Red: the color of passion,

Red: the sweetest potation,

Red: the consuming anger,

Red: the color of their blood,

Red: I bleed every month.

 

Above all, people are still hushed upon when talking about menstruation openly resulting in it becoming a secret that is experienced by 1.8 billion females around the globe, every month. This hesitation in communicating about periods is a major issue that prevents people from addressing and normalizing the occurrence of a natural biological monthly cycle; due to this reason, many females are also only partially educated about the necessary details on periods concerning their hygiene and welfare.

Period hygiene is a must; it avoids the risk of certain infections. Females must wash their genitals at least twice when on period. Wear light, breathable clothes. Whether it is a sanitary pad or tampon, women must choose their sanitary products wisely and according to their convenience depending on their menstrual flow. Make sure to change the sanitary pads at an interval of four hours and tampons after every four to eight hours. 

Awareness must be spread about period hygiene, not only among girls but also among boys. Improvement in this area would help millions of girls who drop out of school due to a lack of proper period hygiene. Safe hygiene must also be followed by safe disposal: the sanitary products must not be flushed in toilets; they must be properly rolled in paper before disposing of it in dustbins. Consulting a gynecologist should be normalized. Not having regular periods, overflow or underflow, clots in period blood, etc. are medical conditions that might be pointing towards a disorder and must be looked out for.

It is the uterus that enables a female to carry a child. The duration of pregnancy is not an easy one to endure. The body of an expecting mother undergoes several changes in all aspects. The hormones, estrogen, and progesterone show a significant hike during this period. An increase in estrogen causes nausea and enlargement of breasts while progesterone plays a major role in increasing the size of the uterus from the size of a pear to accommodating a full-grown baby.

A female experiences mood fluctuations during this period. Changes in the sensation of sight, smell, and taste are also experienced by females. They gain weight due to which the circulation of blood and other body fluids decreases, particularly in the lower limbs resulting in fluid retention and swelling in the face and limbs. Hair loss or thickening, hyper pigmentation, stretch marks, and acne are very common during pregnancy.

The choice of bringing a new life into this world ought to rest with the mother because it's she who has to carry and nurture the child within her for nine months. It's her choice whether she wants to have a child or not, to have a child through surrogacy or if she wants to adopt a child. This choice must be respected.

There is nothing to be ashamed of in having a uterus. At the same time, preferring not to have a uterus is also valid. Females themselves should be proud of enduring all the hormonal, physical, and emotional changes which occur in their bodies every month. Womanhood should be glorified rather than being considered as something which needs to be chained and hidden away.

                                    (By Gauri Singh, Head, Editorial Dept. Advanced Healthcare Foundation)