Q 01/05

The human uterus is usually described as being shaped like which fruit?

A) An apple

B) A pear

C) A fig

D) A plum

Answer · why

B) A pear

It measures roughly 7.6 cm long, 4.5 cm wide and 3 cm thick when not pregnant, then expands enormously to hold a full-term baby.

Q 02/05

What is the inner lining of the uterus, shed during a period, called?

A) Perimetrium

B) Myometrium

C) Endometrium

D) Epimetrium

Answer · why

C) Endometrium

The three layers from inside out are endometrium, myometrium and perimetrium; the middle one is mostly smooth muscle and does the work in labour.

Q 03/05

The thick muscular wall of the uterus that contracts during childbirth is called what?

A) The endometrium

B) The myometrium

C) The perimetrium

D) The decidua

Answer · why

B) The myometrium

Its innermost part, the junctional zone, thickens in the condition adenomyosis; the outer serous coat is the perimetrium.

Q 04/05

Roughly how many oocytes (immature eggs) are present in the ovaries at birth?

A) About 1 million

B) About 400

C) About 30,000

D) About 20 million

Answer · why

A) About 1 million

Only around 500 of them will ever be ovulated; the rest quietly degenerate over a lifetime.

Q 05/05

Approximately how many mature eggs will a woman release over her whole reproductive life?

A) 400 to 500

B) 40 to 50

C) 4,000 to 5,000

D) About 100

Answer · why

A) 400 to 500

The pool falls from a peak of several million before birth to about 300,000 at puberty; everything else undergoes atresia.