Female Reproductive Physiology Pituitary and Ovarian Hormones of a Woman's Reproductive Cycle J.B. Brown D.Sc. The ovulatory mechanism also produces the two ovarian hormones , oestradiol and progesterone. After ovulation, progesterone and oestradiol are produced by the corpus luteum which forms from the ruptured follicle. This progesterone causes the abrupt change in the mucus which occurs immediately after ovulation and defines the Peak symptom.
Progesterone also prepares the oestrogen-primed endometrium for implantation of the fertilized ovum.
In the absence of pregnancy, production of oestradiol and progesterone begins to decline approximately 7 days after ovulation and this results in shedding of the endometrium as menstrual bleeding 11-16 days after ovulation. The Billings Ovulation Method utilizes the changes in cervical mucus production as observed by the woman herself for identifying the underlying events of the ovulatory cycle. Production of these hormones is controlled in turn by an area of the brain called the hypothalamus. The ovarian cycle proceeds in an well-ordered series of events. During the latter half of the preceding cycle, the high output of oestradiol and progesterone acting via the hypothalamus suppress the production of FSH and LH by the pituitary gland.