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All About the Cervix
The Opening to the Womb
By Teri Brown
We women spend very little of our lives thinking about our cervix. We are reminded of its existence every two years when we go in for a pap smear, but that's about it.
Until we get pregnant.
Pregnancy brings this tiny organ to the forefront of our minds, as the cervix softens, lengthens, elongates, dilates, thins and does all sorts of interesting things. So just what is the cervix and exactly what is its role in pregnancy? The following questions and answers will tell you what you need to know about this very important piece of our anatomy.
The cervix is the opening to the womb. It's located between the vagina and the uterus and plays a crucial role in pregnancy and labor. During pregnancy, it remains closed and the opening is blocked with a mucus plug.
According to Dr. Adelaide Nardone, medical advisor to the Vagisil Women's Health Center and clinical instructor at the Brown University School of Medicine, it depends on whether the woman has had a vaginal delivery or not.
"If a woman has never had a baby, her cervical opening is very small, in some cases as small as a pinhead, but large enough to allow for menstrual blood to flow out and to allow for the insertion of a cytobrush [used when obtaining Papsmears]," says Dr. Nardone. "If a woman has had a vaginal delivery, the external opening of the cervix can be described as a small 'slit' or 'fish mouth,' but the internal 'os' [the junction between the cervix and the uterus] should be closed."
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All About the Cervix by Anonymous on 06/12/2009 04:05PM
sometimes its uncomftable in sex different positions this is if your cervix is short etc does anyone else feel this