The first menstruation

If we would poll women, we would realize that many don’t remember when their first menstruation occurred. Others, remember it perfectly since it was sudden and surprising. The arrival of the first menstruation represents a fundamental difference of maturity with the opposite sex and, specially, sexual attraction quickly stops being a “children’s game” for transforming into an adult game.

The first menstruation doesn’t appear from one day to the next, even when it seems to, but is part of a transformation process from girl to woman, that starts some time before. The beginning of the menstrual cycle has a name and it’s called Menarche. The menarche or first menstruation usually arrives with some discomfort an a greater length than the successive periods. Menstruation is a periodic phenomenon that repeats, often, every twenty eight days and lasts between two to six days. Its external manifestation is the normal expulsion of blood and tissue through the vaginal conduct which is named menorrhea.

Halfway through a normal menstrual cycle (28 days on average) a mature ovule is released from the ovary (ovulation) and is directed to the uterus through the Fallopian tubes. In the uterus the mucosa prepares for nesting in case the ovule is fertilized by a spermatozoid. If it has not been fertilized, upon the arrival of the ovule to the uterus, the uterine mucosa “degenerates”, causing the menstrual flow.

The exactitude of a baby’s gestation stage is determined at birth, after a physical and neurological exam.