Picture of Your Body Before Pregnancy

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Uterus before pregnancy
Source: The Growing Uterus Charts,
© 1989, 2006 Childbirth Connection

If you could look into your body before you are pregnant, you would see that most of the space in the abdomen is taken up by the large and small intestine. There is no real separation between the pelvic and abdominal cavities. The chest cavity, containing the heart and lungs, is separated from the abdominal cavity by a large muscle, the diaphragm.

Below the diaphragm is the left side of the liver, above and in front of the stomach. In this cross-section, the descending colon, small intestine, transverse colon, and stomach hide the gall bladder, ascending colon, and portions of the liver and small intestine in the right side. The ribs are visible beneath the right breast. The symphysis, coccyx, sacrum, some vertebrae, and the spinal canal are also shown.

Behind the symphsis are the bladder and the urethra, which extends from the neck of the bladder to the urinary opening in the vestibule of the vulva. In front of this opening is the clitoris. Behind the bladder and urethra is the vagina. The uterus, in its normal position, is above and behind the bladder, with its cervix protruding into the vagina. The pelvic colon, rectum and anal canal are behind the vagina and uterus.

The individual organs accommodate themselves to the changing conditions of those that surround them and to the size and shape of the body cavity. The configuration of the bony framework and the tone of the muscle walls - determined by heredity, age, nutrition, disease, injury, and habitual posture - control the size and shape of the body cavity.

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6 and 7 Weeks Pregnant

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Childbirth Connection is a national not-for-profit organization founded in 1918 as Maternity Center Association. Our mission is to improve the quality of maternity care through research, education, advocacy and policy. Childbirth Connection promotes safe, effective and satisfying evidence-based maternity care and is a voice for the needs and interests of childbearing families.

Most recent page update: 6/4/2013