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Reproductive System key concepts

6 revision pages for Reproductive System, each with the key facts, a memory aid where one helps, and the exam traps.

  1. Cognitive behavioural therapy for menopausal symptoms

    Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a talking therapy in which a therapist helps a woman change how she thinks and acts, so hot flushes and night sweats bother her less.

  2. Mediolateral episiotomy: which muscles are cut

    A standard mediolateral episiotomy is a surgical cut, angled to one side, in the perineum (the area between the vaginal opening and the anus) that divides superficial muscles.

  3. Pulsatile GnRH and the onset of puberty

    Puberty starts when the hypothalamus increases its release of GnRH (gonadotropin-releasing hormone) in pulses, making the front part of the pituitary gland release FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) and LH (luteinising hormone).

  4. Secretory phase: progesterone and the endometrium

    After ovulation, progesterone from the corpus luteum (the gland left when the egg is released) makes the oestrogen-primed endometrium (the womb lining) thick, with coiled secreting glands: the secretory phase.

  5. Seminal vesicles, semen volume and fructose

    The seminal vesicles, a pair of glands behind the bladder, supply most of the volume of semen (the fluid expelled at ejaculation) and the fructose that fuels sperm.

  6. Uterine atony as the commonest cause of primary postpartum haemorrhage

    Uterine atony, where the womb muscle fails to contract, is the commonest cause of primary postpartum haemorrhage (heavy bleeding within 24 hours of birth).

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