5 Fast Facts About Your Lady Parts

Women’s bodies are both amazing and amazingly complex. I sometimes pity men for their less interesting and capable bodies: aren’t they jealous they can’t give birth like us? Don’t answer that: there’s a good reason, I think, women are hard-wired for birth (whether you want kids or not) – we’re an advanced species, clearly.

But while you may well love your important and delicate lady parts (as you should) and have a healthy appreciation for your body and what it can do, here are a few fun, fast facts about your vagina which you may not know about.

1. Magic button: The clitoris is your power centre, with more nerve endings than anywhere else on your body. It’s your control centre to Planet Orgasm, baby! When stimulated with skill, these nerves activate the pleasure centre of the brain, the same part that fires up when we eat something delicious, like say Nutella. Mmm Nutella. Leading Australian sexologist Dr Nikki Goldstein is also quick to remind SHESAID readers that a woman’s clitoris is in the vulva region not the vagina, which is located in the vaginal canal. In addition, she has this other fun, fascinating fact on the wonderful, magical clitoris: “The clitoris is also the one part of your sexual anatomy that never ages, so it’s good to be a women for even more reasons.” Amen.

2. Baby-making time: Trying to conceive? One of the best bits of advice I ever received, which I’m convinced helped me get up the duff in my mid-to-late 30s four times (two of which sadly ended in miscarriage) is the old “egg-white rule”. If your cervical mucus (and it’s vital that you get to know it) is clear, runny and super-stretchy like an egg white, your vagina is telling you this is the optimal time to get pregnant. This is because your cervical mucus, in this state, can best protect and nourish the sperm as it makes its long journey to meet your egg. Google “cervical mucus” and get busy, eager mums-to-be! And Dr Nikki’s advice? “There is also theory that contractions from an orgasm can help the sperm move up unto the uterus so make sure you take the time to enjoy the baby-making process and do everything to enhance pleasure,” she says.

3. Four times the fun: Still not convinced your body is far superior to that of a man’s? Check this out, lady: YOU, yes you, can actually have four different types of orgasms. Yep – it’s true. Count them: clitoral, vaginal, blended and multiple. Thank you, God! Now, how many types of orgasms can a man have? Just one? Poor babies. No wonder some idiot men hate women. Dr Nikki’s fun fact: “It’s also useful to keep in mind that 80 per cent of women achieve orgasms through clitoral stimulation alone.”

4. Hard-wired for birth: Think you and your vagina can’t birth a ten-pound (4.5kg) baby? Yep, you can: your vagina can expand that much, just as it expands to a lesser degree during sex. What’s more, you will recover well from childbirth, down the track, to be able to enjoy sex again. Trust me on this, as inconceivable as concept as it is if you’re yet to have a baby. We women are hard-wired for birth – aren’t our bodies, especially our vaginas, amazing? Dr Nikki’s top advice for a quicker and better postnatal road to recovery: do those pesky PC exercises. “It’s vital you strengthen the pelvic floor muscles by doing PC exercises, post-birth,” she says. “The added bonus to this is a stronger pelvic floor muscles can also instead the intensity of your orgasms.”

5. Your cho-cha self-cleans: Don’t believe the hype or those dodgy advertising slogans – you do not need vaginal douches or vaginal washes. These products were purely created by an evil ad man (or lady) to make money out of poor, anxiety-laden ladies. Your vagina cleans itself! Plus, many of these heinous products actually increase your risk of bacterial and yeast infections. One lovely gyno once said: “Leave your vagina well alone – there are probably more bacteria in your mouth than in your vagina.” So, don’t ever tolerate anyone who tells you your vagina is “dirty” or “unclean”, girlfriend. Dr Nikki concurs, adding: “If you are ever paranoid about potential odours, try taking a shower with your partner and incorporating it into foreplay. It might help put your mind at ease. If you do smell anything you think is not right, it could be due to poor diet or an infection.”

Main image via betterafter50.com and secondary image via pixabay.com