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Article: pregnancy
- Article from:
- The Oxford Companion to the Body
- Author:
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Copyright information© The Oxford Companion to the Body 2001, originally published by Oxford University Press 2001. (Hide copyright information)
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pregnancy
The biological event of pregnancy is established when a fertilized egg successfully implants itself in the lining of the
uterus
, about a week after conception.
The
corpus luteum
, which formed in the
ovary
when it released the egg, secretes hormones that keep the uterine lining in a suitable state for implantation; if fertilization had not occurred, this hormone secretion would have ceased, and the uterine lining would be shed after two weeks. The hormonal ‘message’ from an implanted embryo via the mother's bloodstream to the ovary prevents its own rejection.
Early pregnancy continues to be maintained by the hormones produced by the corpus luteum in the ovary that ...
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