How Much Does A Uterus Weigh?

To get a better understanding of your question of how much does a uterus weighs, we need to dig deep into the organ uterus.

The uterus is a secondary sex organ of the reproductive system in humans, particularly women. In most cases, it is also known as the womb.

The lower end of the uterus is known as the cervix and opens into the love box. Subsequently, the upper end, which is the fundus, is connected to the fallopian tubes.

Uterus, being a hollow muscular organ of the female reproductive system is responsible for the development of the embryo and fetus during pregnancy.

The uterus can expand during pregnancy from around the size of a closed fist to become large enough to hold a full-term baby.

It is also a very strong organ, which can contract forcefully to allow a full-grown baby out of the body during childbirth. Now back to the question:

How Much Does A Uterus Weight?

The uterus is usually pear-shaped, it is about 7.6 cm (3.0 inches) long, 4.5 cm (1.8 inches) broad, and 3.0 cm (1.2 inches) thick. A normal adult uterus weighs about 60 grams.

The uterus can anatomically be divided into four regions. This includes the fundus (the uppermost rounded portion of the uterus), the corpus (body), the cervix, and the cervical canal.

The cervix protrudes into the love box. The uterus is held in position within the pelvis by ligaments, which are called endopelvic fascia.

These ligaments include the pubocervical ligaments, transverse cervical ligaments or cardinal ligaments, and uterosacral ligaments. It has coverage of a sheet-like fold of the peritoneum, which is also referred to as the broad ligament.

The narrow inferior region of the uterus, known as the cervix, connects the uterus to the love box below it and acts as a sphincter muscle to control the flow of material into and out of the uterus.

The body (or corpus) of the uterus is the wider area of the uterus which is higher than the cervix. The body is an open and hollow region where the fertilized egg, or zygote, implants itself and develops during pregnancy.

The walls of the body are much thicker than those of the cervix. Subsequently, the walls provide for the protection and support of the developing fetus. They also contain the muscles that help the fetus come out of the mother’s body during childbirth.

Three Distinct Tissue Layers That Make Up The Walls of The Uterus:

• First is the perimetrium which is the outermost layer that forms the external skin of the uterus. It is a serous membrane that continuous with the peritoneum which covers the major organs of the abdominopelvic cavity.

Additionally, the perimetrium protects the uterus from friction by forming a smooth layer of simple squamous epithelium along its surface. More so, this is achieved by secreting watery serous fluid to lubricate its surface.

• Secondly, deep inside the perimetrium layer, the myometrium forms the middle layer of the uterus. This contains many layers of visceral muscle tissue. In the processes of pregnancy, the myometrium allows the uterus to expand and then contracts the uterus during childbirth.
• Thirdly, the endometrium layer that borders the hollow lumen of the uterus is found in the myometrium. The endometrium is made of simple columnar epithelial tissue with many associated exocrine glands and a highly vascular connective tissue that provides support to the developing embryo and fetus during pregnancy.

Within the period women ovulate the uterus usually builds a thick layer of vascular endometrial tissue. It is basically prepared to receive the zygote, or fertilized the egg cell.

However, if the egg cell does not become fertilized by the time it reaches the uterus, it will pass through the uterus and trigger the blood vessels of the endometrium to atrophy and the uterine lining to be shed. The shedding of the egg cell and the uterine lining is known as menstruation and it occurs anywhere around every 28 days for most women.

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If the fertilization of the ova is successful, a zygote will implant itself into the endometrial lining. It then begins to develop over many weeks into an embryo and finally into a fetus.

As the embryo develops into a fetus, it triggers changes within the endometrium that lead to the formation of the placenta.

The placenta provides the developing fetus with vital nutrients and oxygen from the mother’s blood while transferring the carbon dioxide and metabolic waste products to the mother’s blood for disposal.

At the end of pregnancy, the uterus plays a critical role in the process of childbirth. Prior to delivery, hormones trigger waves of smooth muscle contraction in the myometrium that slowly increase in strength and frequency.

At the same time, the smooth muscle tissue of the cervix begins to efface, or thin, and dilate from less than a centimeter in diameter to around ten centimeters at full dilation.

Once the cervix is fully dilated, the uterine contractions drastically increase in intensity and duration until the fetus is pushed out of the uterus, through the love box, and out of the mother’s body.

So far, we did not only answer your question, how much does a uterus weigh, we have gone far in detailing the role of the uterus in a woman’s reproductive system.

Some Diseases Involving The Uterus

There may be several pathologies and disease conditions involving the uterus. These include:

• Congenital abnormality of the uterus including the congenital absence of the uterus Rokitansky Syndrome and others like Uterine Didelphys, bicornuate uterus, and septate uterus
• Benign or non-malignant tumors of the uterus or uterine fibroids
• Uterine prolapse
• Adenomyosis
• Cervix cancer
• Adhesions within the uterus or Asherman’s syndrome
• Cancer of the endometrium or uterine cancer
• Pyometra (infection of the uterus)

Congenital Uterine Conditions In Women

Congenital may be something anyone is born with. This can be a defection in the size, shape, or structure of the uterus.

When a baby girl is developing in the womb, two small tubes called Mullerian ducts come together at about 10 weeks gestation to form her uterus. For some baby girls, the Mullerian ducts don’t come together completely. This can cause problems with the uterus, including:

• Septate uterus. This is a major congenital uterine abnormality. This kind of condition brings about a band of muscle or tissue which divides the uterus into two sections. This can cause women to have several miscarriages.
• Bicornate uterus (also called heart-shaped uterus). This is a situation where the uterus has two cavities instead of one large cavity. Most women with this condition don’t need surgery to fix it.
• Didelphic the uterus is also known as double uterus. This problem comes with two small, separate cavities, each with its own cervix.
• Unicornate the uterus is a condition that happens when only half the uterus forms. Surgery can’t make the uterus any larger.

Congenital Uterine Conditions Problems During Pregnancy

It is possible that some congenital uterine conditions may not cause any problems at all during pregnancy. However, some may raise the chances of having these complications.

These include:

• Slow growth in your baby
• Premature birth.
• Miscarriage
• Improper position or other problems with the baby’s position in the womb. Improper position refers to when a baby’s bottom or feet are facing down right before birth. However, the best position for birth is when the baby is head down.
• Birth defects may be caused by restricting the growth of parts of a baby in the womb. This situation can cause those parts to be deformed. Birth defects are health conditions that are present at birth. Birth defects change the shape or the function of one or more parts of the body. They can cause problems in overall health, how the body develops, or how the body works.
• The occasion of having a cesarean birth can cause a congenital uterine problem. This situation is surgery in order to bring out a new baby from the womb of the mother.

How to Know if You Have A Uterine Condition

The easiest way to dictate the uterine condition is by conducting a special medical test. In fact, you need to undergo more than one test in some cases. The tests include:

Sonohysterogram: In this test, your health care provider puts saltwater into the uterus through the cervix and then does a love box ultrasound. The saltwater allows a clearer picture of the inside of the uterus than a regular ultrasound. The cervix is the opening to the uterus that sits at the top of the love box. You get this test when you’re not pregnant.

Love box or 3-D ultrasound. An ultrasound is a prenatal test (a test that you get during pregnancy) that uses sound waves and a computer screen to show a picture of your baby inside the womb. A 3-D ultrasound makes an image that’s almost as clear as a photograph.

Magnetic resonance imaging (also called MRI). MRI is a medical test that makes a detailed picture of the inside of your body. It’s highly accurate in diagnosing most uterine abnormalities. You get this test when you’re not pregnant.

Hysterosalpingogram: In this test, your health care provider inserts dye into the cervix and then takes an X-ray of the uterus. With this test, your provider can check your cervix, uterus, and fallopian tubes. Fallopian tubes are the tubes between your ovaries and your uterus. You get this test when you’re not pregnant.

If after these tests and it proves that you have a problem with your uterus, surgery may recommend. This can be mostly if you’ve had a miscarriage or premature birth in the past.

How Much Does A Uterus Weigh- Wrap UP

Obviously, you have come to understand that the uterus of an adult weighs 60 grams. The uterus is a very vital organ in women that is why you need to know much about it.