Girls and young women

Getting to know your body is one of the best ways to improve and protect your sexual health. Understanding what happens during puberty, exploring your body and finding out how it responds and knowing what signs to watch out for that might mean you're not sexually healthy are all really important.

This section is all about the bodies of girls and young women. It looks at what happens to girls and young women during puberty and takes a closer look at some of the body parts that you might not be so familiar with - your gentials.

Just because this section is about girls and young women, that doesn't mean that boys and young men aren't also welcome to look around and find out more. And there's a section on boy's and young men's bodies that girls and young women might be interested in looking at too.

What is normal?

It is important to remember that everyone develops differently, but we all worry a lot about the way our bodies look. There's lots more information in these pages, but you might like to look at the facts below to put your mind at rest about some of the commonest worries:

  • one breast is often a bit bigger than the other
  • some girls develop very quickly and others more slowly
  • during the average period, about half a teacupful of blood is lost
  • people can't tell when a girl is having a period
  • vaginas come in all shapes and sizes!

If you have any questions about your body, and you can't find the answers here, call Ask Brook on 0808 802 1234. Your call will be confidential. That means we won't tell anyone about it.


 

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