Understanding your Reproductive Health

We strive to educate our patients at every opportunity. Why? Because we believe that understanding your reproductive health empowers you on the path to parenthood.

Being informed allows you to act as the architect of your own. Our team of experts will work with you towards a single common goal: helping you take home a beautiful, healthy baby.

Ingredients for a healthy pregnancy

The key ingredients for a healthy pregnancy include:

healthy eggs to be fertilised
healthy, good quality sperm to fertilise the eggs
fallopian tubes with no blockages so that the sperm can reach the egg
a healthy embryo that can implant in the uterus
a healthy uterus

If you’re trying and not getting pregnant, it could mean there’s a problem with one of these factors.

A quick guide to the female reproductive system

The female reproductive organs are located inside the body. They include:

the vagina
the cervix
the uterus
the fallopian tubes
the ovaries

These organs work together to help a woman menstruate (have their period). If you’re trying for a baby, these organs are designed to help you conceive and carry a baby to term.

The female reproductive system

Looking to learn more about the female reproductive system? We go into more detail below.

Your vagina is a tube-like structure connecting your internal reproductive organs with your external genitalia. The vagina is flexible and designed to stretch when giving birth. Pretty incredible!

The cervix is located between your vagina and uterus. It secretes mucus (known as cervical mucus) that - when working well - helps the sperm fertilise the egg. The cervix is also very flexible and expands in childbirth.

Sometimes referred to as the womb, your uterus is a muscular organ made up of three layers:

the outer layer (peritoneum)
the middle layer (myometrium)
the inner lining (endometrium)

When an egg is released from your ovaries, it can take several days for it to reach your uterus. Once the egg is fertilised, it implants in the endometrium (the inner lining). The embryo will develop and grow in the uterus throughout your pregnancy.

Most women have two ovaries: left and right. Ovaries store your egg follicles. Each month, a follicle matures and releases an egg into your fallopian tubes.

Did you know your eggs are made before you’re even born and start to decrease straight away? Amazingly, you are born with about 2 million eggs. You will have around 400,000 left by the time of your first period.

Your ovaries also produce oestrogen and progesterone. These hormones are crucial for reproduction and pregnancy.

Your fallopian tubes connect your ovaries to your uterus. They have 20-25 finger-like structures on their ends - a bit like tentacles. These tentacles hover above the ovaries and collect the egg that’s released from your ovaries. The sperm fertilises the egg in the fallopian tubes. If your tubes are blocked, you may struggle to get pregnant naturally without some help.

A quick guide to the male reproductive system

Most of the male reproductive system is located outside the body. External male reproductive organs include:

the penis
the scrotum
the testicles

Internal reproductive organs include:

the epididymis
the vas deferens
the urethra

The male reproductive system

If you’re keen to learn more about the male reproductive system, we go into greater detail below.

The penis is the organ used during sex. During orgasm, semen ejaculates from the end of the penis. Semen is a natural fluid produced by the male reproductive system that can contain sperm.

The scrotum is the pouch of skin located beneath the penis which contains the testicles, or testes. The testes produce sperm, which can fertilise an egg. They also produce testosterone - a hormone crucial for reproduction.

When sperm are released from the testes, they’re still immature - meaning they can’t fertilise an egg. From the testes, sperm pass slowly through the coiled channels of the epididymis. Here, they mature and grow ready to fertilise an egg.

Once sperm are mature, they move into the vas deferens. The vas deferens is a tube connecting the epididymis to the pelvic cavity.

The urethra is a tube running from the bottom of the bladder to the end of the penis. From the pelvic cavity, sperm move to the urethra to prepare for ejaculation. When the penis is erect during sex, urine is blocked from the urethra. This way, only semen is ejaculated.

Common questions

Once an egg has been released from the ovaries, it travels down the fallopian tubes towards the uterus. As it travels, it produces an enzyme (a natural substance) to attract sperm.

Men release millions of sperm when they ejaculate. However, only a few hundred will make it from the cervix, up into the uterus and into the correct fallopian tube - the one on the side the egg has been released that month. Of these few hundred sperm, only one can make it through the egg’s tough coating to begin fertilisation.

The fertilised egg then continues down the fallopian tube to the uterus. It implants in the inner lining, known as the endometrium. Here, it officially becomes an embryo.

Each month, your body completes a menstrual cycle. Roughly halfway through, an egg is released from the ovaries. This process is known as ovulation. On average, ovulation occurs 14 days before the start of your period. However, it’s normal for women to ovulate anywhere from 12-18 days before their period starts.

In order to tell when you’re due to ovulate, you need to first work out the length of your menstrual cycle. You can do this by counting the days from the first day of your period up to (but not including) the first day of your next period. The average menstrual cycle is about 28 days. However, it’s perfectly normal for your cycle to be anywhere from 24-34 days.

There are other ways to tell you’re ovulating. You could:

buy an ovulation kit from a pharmacy or supermarket and test your urine or saliva
check your cervical mucus

Just before ovulation, your mucus becomes clear and slippery - like an egg white. This slippery mucus creates the ideal environment for sperm to travel through the cervix. It’s your body’s natural way of telling you: now’s the best time to try and get pregnant!

After ovulation, your cervical mucus changes again, becoming thicker with a white or yellow colouring. This consistency makes it harder for sperm to reach the cervix.

Once you’ve determined when you ovulate, it’s a good idea to calculate your fertile window. Your fertile window is the time during your menstrual cycle when it’s possible to fall pregnant. Technically, this is only about six days per cycle: on the first day of ovulation and during the five days leading up to ovulation.^[1]

If you have sex six or more days before ovulation (outside of your fertile window), your chance of falling pregnant is close to 0%. However, if you have sex five days before ovulation, your chance of pregnancy increases to 10%.^[1] Your chances rise steadily until the day of ovulation.

To boost your chances of conceiving naturally, we recommend having sex at least every two days during your fertile window. If you have irregular periods, however, it can be difficult to calculate this fertile window. In this case, we suggest you try to have sex every two to three days.

Start your fertility journey

Wherever you are on your journey, one of our supportive nurse enquiry team can help you understand your options and take the next step. These conversations are free and informative.

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