Menstrual cycle

• What is the menstrual cycle?

  Monthly sequence of events in which the female body releases an egg and prepares the uterus in case it receives a fertilised egg
• The menstrual cycle has 4 stages:

  Stage 1:

  • Day 1 is when menstruation (bleeding) starts.
  • The uterus lining breaks down for about four days

  Stage 2:

  • The lining of the uterus builds up again, from day 4 to day 14, into a thick spongy layer full of blood vessels, ready to receive a fertilised egg
• Stage 3:

  • An egg is released from the ovary at day 14.
  • This is called ovulation

  Stage 4:

  • The wall is then maintained for about 14 days, until day 28.
  • If no fertilised egg has landed on the uterus wall by day 28, the spongy lining starts to break down again and the whole cycle starts again.