bild

Female reproductive organs (pink) with surrounding organs and pelvic bones, artwork. This is an oblique frontal view. At lower centre is the vagina, which also functions as the birth canal. Above it is the uterus, within which a foetus develops during pregnancy. At centre left and right are the two ovaries, from one of which an egg (ovum) is released during the monthly ovulation cycle. This egg travels down the adjacent oviduct (Fallopian tube) to the uterus, where it either embeds in the uterine wall (if fertilised) or is lost with the uterine wall (endometrium) during menstruation. (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/SPRINGER MEDIZIN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)