The luteal phase of the cycle is the phase of the yellow body

In the female body, many changes occur during the month, which are related to the work of the reproductive system. For example, 10 to 16 days before the start of menstruation, after ovulation, the luteal phase of the cycle begins.

Menstrual cycle is divided into two main phases: before ovulation - follicular and after it - luteal. The phase preceding ovulation may last for a different time period, and not only for different women, but for each of them. As a rule, this phase determines the duration of the entire cycle, and the delay of menstruation depends on it, since the phase of the yellow body is almost always unchanged.

The phase of the yellow body

The luteal phase of the cycle can normally last 12-16 days, but mostly lasts no more than fourteen days. If the yellow body does not function adequately, then the luteal phase may be shortened. It should be noted that such a feature of the body can be one of the reasons for miscarriage at an early age. Diagnose this problem is possible only with the help of ultrasound and a blood test for progesterone. Thus, the luteal phase is determined, what day of the cycle and whether the hormone level in the woman's body is normal.

As a rule, after establishing the cause and treatment of the primary disease, the level of progesterone in the body is normalized. But in some cases, women are prescribed progesterone preparations and stimulation of the yellow body with drugs containing chorionic gonadotropin.

In pregnancy or in the presence of a cyst of the yellow body, the duration of the luteal phase may increase. Basically treatment in this case is not required, such a cyst goes without interference.

What is characteristic of the luteal phase of the cycle

The phase of the yellow body begins immediately after ovulation. The release of luteinizing hormone during this period of the menstrual cycle stops, and in the follicle from which the ripe egg leaves, the yellow body begins to function. It is on it depends the production of the hormone progesterone and the normal development of pregnancy. From the moment of ovulation, the progesterone rate varies from the lowest indicator - 6.99 to the highest value - 56.63 n * mol / l. This is the luteal phase of the cycle. The day on the seventh progesterone begins to accumulate, and its level gradually decreases to the beginning of the next menstruation.

During the same period, the uterine lining will actively grow in the uterus. In the first half of the menstrual cycle, its active growth is noted due to an increase in the level of hormones, but after the arrival of ovulation it becomes more dense and absorbent. Thanks to this, the fertilized egg, getting into the uterus, can freely penetrate into this uterine layer.

The luteal phase of the cycle is a kind of waiting mode in which the organism is located. He is ready to bear a child and develops hormones that will help maintain the embryo in the first few weeks after fertilization. But if by about the tenth day a fertilized egg into the uterus is not implanted, then the yellow body begins to gradually die off, the level of progesterone decreases, the uterine lining is rejected and menstruation begins.