If you are born female, you will undoubtedly at one time or another be accused of being “hormonal.” Female hormones are blamed for everything from irritability to depression, and while they are certainly prevalent in our lives they hardly control it. Just as in males, female hormones are present from birth. But it is during puberty that the female hormones make their presence known – in a big way!

Later, when a woman becomes pregnant, the female hormones support the pregnancy by shifting accordingly. The ovaries are alerted to a pregnancy by the detection of HCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin), a new hormone released only during pregnancy – and the hormone that is detected by home pregnancy tests. Subsequently, the ovaries begin to produce higher levels of estrogen and progesterone and continue to produce these levels until the placenta is able to produce its own hormones to support the pregnancy – usually around the fourth month of pregnancy.

In a well-timed choreography that the female body has been doing since the beginning of time, female hormones shift again after childbirth. The result is the return of the womb to its non-pregnant state, as well as the return to normal of the various body functions that had changed to support pregnancy. Instead, female hormones now allow the production of breast milk with which to feed our newborn.

This delicate dance of female hormones continues until menopause – generally reached anywhere from a woman’s mid-forties to mid-fifties. During menopause the ovaries stop producing eggs for reproduction and stop producing estrogen – all resulting in the permanent cessation of the menstrual cycle.

For easy to understand, in depth information about female hormones visit our ezGuide 2 Hormones.