Menstruation in layman’s terms is when blood is expelled out of the vaginal opening roughly once a month. But that is not all what menstruation is…. Menstruation is only one part of the menstrual cycle. The menstrual cycle is a series of hormonal changes the body undergoes every month. Hormones are chemicals which are present in the blood, which help with certain body functions, such as maintaining blood sugar levels,or functioning of sex organs. 

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Our journey starts at the pituitary gland, a pea shaped gland at the bottom of the brain, which secretes various hormones including something called the Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) which kick starts the maturation of the ovaries and testes, which produce eggs and sperm respectively. This secretion starts once a person hits puberty. For Men, Their testicles become bigger, they start producing sperm, their voice becomes deeper, hair starts growing in the crotch,underarms and face. For women, breasts start developing, hair starts growing in the underarms and crotch, and the ovaries start releasing an egg every month. This is called Menarche. 

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 The egg and sperm,  are also nown as  sex cells, or gametes . When an egg and a sperm meet they form a zygote, which later turns into a baby.  egg cells are made in the ovaries which are two sac-like structures on either side of the uterus. The ovary houses many egg cells, and every month one matures, and then is released, which is then sucked up by the fallopian tube, which leads to the uterus. At the end of the fallopian tube, there are thread-like structures, which pick up the eggs. This is called ovulation. The egg travels through the fallopian tube, and then moves towards the uterus. In this period the chances of pregnancy are high, and to get the body ready to hold the baby, the uterus makes a lining, full of blood vessels and tissue. So once a month when the egg doesn’t get turned into a baby, the lining sloshes off, and blood and egg debris come out of the vagina. This takes place for 5-7 days. To make sure the blood doesn’t stain the clothes, and to make a woman’s life easier, women wear sanitary products. Of Course when a woman does get pregnant she doesn't have her period till the baby is born, as the uterine lining exists to nurture the baby. 

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So to recap, what you read so far 

The menstrual cycle starts with the menstrual phase, where a woman’s uterine lining comes off, then comes the secretory phase, where all the hormones are secreted, and the egg starts maturing.  The next is the ovulatory phase, which as the name suggests is when ovulation takes place. The last phase is the luteal phase-don’t let the name scare you, that complicated word refers to something called the corpus luteum. The corpus luteum is a piece of tissue which comes into being once the egg is released. It's during this phase that if the egg does get fertilized, then it would secrete more hormones which the female body needs(such as oestrogen and progesterone) , to make sure the body is absolutely ready for the baby. If the woman does not get pregnant then the corpus luteum shrinks and the levels of the aforementioned female hormones reduce and because of which one's period begins. Though a woman doesn’t Menstruate for all her life, when a woman reaches around her 40s or 50s, they go through 

something called Menopause. Menopause is when a woman’s period stops and after which they can no longer get pregnant.Like Menarche Menopause happens because of natural hormonal changes in the body.