Puberty - a time of change?

download this page

Growing up is about many things and involves changes from the way you choose to spend your free time to the shape of your body. Growing up doesn’t happen all at once, and some changes you will hardly notice at all because they take time to develop. This time of change is called adolescence and is the in between time of being a child and becoming an adult. Puberty can begin between the ages of nine to fourteen and there are some changes that only happen to boys and some happen only to girls. It is your hormones that cause your body to change.

Hormones are natural chemicals that control all sorts of changes in your body. Growth hormones make you grow taller and sex hormones control the changes in both girls and boys. In girls, these hormones cause the ovaries to make other hormones called oestrogen and progesterone. You will start to become curvier at this time and your breasts will start to develop by gradually growing and getting fuller, so you may need to start wearing a bra, especially if you are playing sports because this will support them and stop them from feeling uncomfortable. Often, one breast grows a little quicker than the other. Some girls’ breasts grow more quickly than other girls, and some remain small all their adult life. Also during puberty, your waist becomes narrower and your hips rounder, and soft hair will start to appear under your armpits, on your legs and you will gradually develop pubic hair. The pubic area in girls is made up of the Vulva, which contains the Labia, Clitoris, Urethra and the opening of the Vagina.

You will also start to put on a little more weight. Hormones are also the reason why you feel emotional. You may feel angry, sad and feel moody and lose your temper easily. This is natural, but if you feel that you are not able to cope with these strong emotions, talk to a parent, your teacher or your doctor about how you feel. Remember that not everyone develops at the same rate or at the same time, so some of your friends may already have gone through these changes while others may not have even begun them. Speak to your friends or set up a “buddy network” to share experiences.

Puberty also means that you will soon begin menstruating – or having your period. This is one of the most important changes because it means that you are becoming a woman and it is nature’s way of letting you know that you are now physically able to have babies. The parts that can make a baby are inside our bodies and are called the reproductive organs.

Reproductive organs

Girls have two ovaries that hold thousands of tiny eggs. These eggs would have been inside you when you were still developing as a baby inside your mother’s womb. About once a month, one of your ovaries releases an egg that passes into one of the fallopian tubes and onwards towards the uterus. This is called ovulation and is very important because this is the time that an egg can become fertilised and develop into a baby.

Before an egg is let go, the uterus creates a rich lining of tissue and blood vessels, which is important to keep a fertilised egg alive. Usually, an egg breaks apart before it reaches the uterus, but if sperm from a boy or man’s penis meets the egg on its way to the uterus, it can fertilise the egg and pregnancy begins when this fertilised egg attaches itself to the lining of the uterus.

When the unfertilised egg breaks apart, the lining is no longer needed, so it flows out of the uterus, through the cervix, down the vagina and out of the body. This is the menstrual flow. To protect your clothes from this flow of tissue and blood, you will need to use sanitary pads or tampons.

A period can last from 3 to 7 days and the menstrual cycle repeats itself approximately every 28 days until the age of between 45 and 55, with the exception of when becoming pregnant.