Although pregnancy is a normal physiological process the modern women and the attending doctors have made it feel like a disease and an abnormal condition! The concept that the fetus is a patient, an individual whose maladies are a proper subject for medical treatment as well as scientific observation, is alarmingly modern! It was not so until the last half of this century when the prying eye of the Ultrasonographer rendered the once opaque womb, transparent, letting the light of scientific observation capture the awe of birth by presenting a scene no one had actually witnessed till then. Let us now go on to understand the structure and function of the reproductive system as understood by modern science, with a view to know about the reproductive fitness of the couple and develop an internal awareness of the dynamics of what is happening within the uterus, this helps in improving the quality of life of the mother, fetus and the labour. This book is to be read by pregnant women to get a positive attitude and confidence to go through labour.

1.2 Anatomical Features

2.1 Female reproductive system

a. External organs

These are referred to collectively as the vulva. The vulva includes the labia majora, the labia minora, the clitoris, and the vestibular glands.

Labia Majora

enclose and protect the other external reproductive organs. This is composed of two round folds of fat tissue and a thin layer of