Editing Menstrual cycle (section)

==== Secretory phase ====
The secretory phase is the final phase of the uterine cycle and it corresponds to the luteal phase of the ovarian cycle. During the secretory phase, the corpus luteum produces progesterone, which plays a vital role in making the endometrium [[Implantation (embryology)#Uterus receptivity|receptive]] to the [[Implantation (embryology)|implantation]] of a [[blastocyst]] (a fertilized egg, which has begun to grow).<ref name="pmid30929718">{{cite journal |vauthors=Lessey BA, Young SL |title=What exactly is endometrial receptivity? |journal=Fertility and Sterility |volume=111 |issue=4 |pages=611–617|date=April 2019 |pmid=30929718 |doi=10.1016/j.fertnstert.2019.02.009 |type= Review|doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Glycogen]], [[lipid]]s, and [[protein]]s are secreted into the uterus<ref name="pmid26661899">{{cite journal |vauthors=Salamonsen LA, Evans J, Nguyen HP, Edgell TA |title=The microenvironment of human implantation: determinant of reproductive success |journal=American Journal of Reproductive Immunology |volume=75 |issue=3 |pages=218–225 |date=March 2016 |pmid=26661899 |doi=10.1111/aji.12450 |type= Review|doi-access=free }}</ref> and the cervical mucus thickens.<ref name="pmid28801053">{{cite journal |vauthors=Han L, Taub R, Jensen JT |title=Cervical mucus and contraception: what we know and what we don't |journal=Contraception |volume=96 |issue=5 |pages=310–321 |date=November 2017 |pmid=28801053 |doi=10.1016/j.contraception.2017.07.168 |type= Review}}</ref> In early pregnancy, progesterone also increases blood flow and reduces the [[Muscle contraction|contractility]] of the [[smooth muscle]] in the uterus{{sfn|Tortora|2017|p= 942}} and raises [[basal body temperature]].<ref name="pmid28488202">{{cite journal |vauthors=Charkoudian N, Hart EC, Barnes JN, Joyner MJ |title=Autonomic control of body temperature and blood pressure: influences of female sex hormones |journal=Clinical Autonomic Research |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=149–155 |date=June 2017 |pmid=28488202 |doi=10.1007/s10286-017-0420-z |s2cid=3773043 |url=https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/files/152610705/Charkoudian_CAR_review_final.pdf |type=Review |access-date=27 February 2021 |archive-date=10 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510013255/https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/files/152610705/Charkoudian_CAR_review_final.pdf |url-status=live |hdl=1983/c0c1058c-553b-4563-8dd1-b047d9b672c1 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

If pregnancy does not occur the ovarian and uterine cycles start over again.{{sfn|Tortora|2017|page=600}}