What happens during the menstrual
cycle?
A: In the first half of the cycle, levels of
estrogen (the “female hormone”) start
to rise. Estrogen plays an important
role in keeping you healthy, especially
by helping you to build strong bones
and to help keep them strong as you get
older. Estrogen also makes the lining of
the uterus (womb) grow and thicken.
This lining of the womb is a place that
will nourish the embryo if a pregnancy
occurs. At the same time the lining of
the womb is growing, an egg, or ovum,
in one of the ovaries starts to mature.
At about day 14 of an average 28-day
cycle, the egg leaves the ovary. This is
called ovulation.
After the egg has left the ovary, it travels
through the fallopian tube to the
uterus. Hormone levels rise and help
prepare the uterine lining for pregnancy.
A woman is most likely to get
pregnant during the 3 days before or
on the day of ovulation. Keep in mind,
women with cycles that are shorter or
longer than average may ovulate before
or after day 14.
A woman becomes pregnant if the egg
is fertilized by a man’s sperm cell and
attaches to the uterine wall. If the egg is
not fertilized, it will break apart. Then,
hormone levels drop, and the thickened
lining of the uterus is shed during the
menstrual period.