Cervical alterations during pregnancy in Small Ruminants
P. Goswami and G. M. Wani
Directorate of Extension Education,
SKUAST-K, Shalimar Srinagar
The cervix uteri is a thick walled fibromascular tube connecting the body of the uterus and vagina. It a muscular organ composed of connective tissues predominantly elastic fibres. In the non pregnant ewes, the cervical canal is impassable except during oestrous. Five or six hard prominences within the canal assist the sphincter effect of the cervix (Nickel, Schummer & Seiferle, 1973). During the course of gestration, the length of cervix increases and in late pregnancy the wall becomes thicker, with an overall increase in the compliances of the tissues (Cloete, 1939; Abusineina, 1969). This may be related to disaggregation of densely packed collagen fibre in the cervix of pre-partum ewe. This paper will focus some of the important physical and microscopical changes occurred in the cervix of small ruminants during pregnancy
Anatomy of the cervix:
