2
$\begingroup$

If directly exposed to the vacuum of space, what would be the effects on a woman’s reproductive system?

I’m doing research for a writing project with a plot point centered around the health effects of a pregnant woman’s forced unprotected exposure to space.

Because the vagina, uterus, and fallopian tubes open into a body cavity would this cause internal injuries to the woman? Or would the very thin tissues of the vaginal canal immediately swell and push together to form a seal, stopping any injury from occurring due to the body’s internal fluid pressure?

Also, if the pressure drop did reach the uterus, would the mucus plug in the cervix protect the baby and if not, would the amniotic sac rupture?

Lastly, if the woman was not pregnant, would the pressure drop effect the uterine lining and force early period bleeding?

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
7
  • 5
    $\begingroup$ Pregnant Women are remarkable resilient in terms of keeping the Baby alive I am going say I am not a doctor and am woefully unqualified to give a thorough answer. That said, the absolute super-power of Women is centered around their ability to give birth. So, as a Frame Challenge of sorts - if you said that nature involuntarily found a way to keep the baby safe... I'd believe it. $\endgroup$
    – TheDemonLord
    Commented Sep 19 at 6:27
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ Welcome to worldbuilding. You are asking too many questions and not giving enough information: how long is the exposure to space vacuum lasting? how is it happening? Is it only involving the nether parts or the whole body? Please read our help center to see what we expect from a well asked question. $\endgroup$
    – L.Dutch ♦
    Commented Sep 19 at 7:06
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ If the woman survived a short-term exposure to vacuum, the next danger is all the radiation. Space is not safe due to radiation. I would expect that any sensible space traveling population would put pregnant women into heavily shielded areas. $\endgroup$
    – David R
    Commented Sep 19 at 14:10
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Note: Monty Wild's answer says, "...unconscious within 10-15 seconds..." That's a real thing. There are people who've trained themselves to hold their breath for multiple minutes at a time, but it's physically impossible to hold your breath when you're exposed to vacuum, and when your lungs are open to vacuum, they will very quickly remove all of the oxygen (and other dissolved gasses) from your blood. $\endgroup$
    – Ohm's Lawman
    Commented Sep 19 at 15:21
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Hi @Tracy. Please be clear. What's being exposed to the vacuum of space is a human female, not the reproductive system (meaning the organs of the body). In other words, you're NOT asking "what would happen if a woman's ovaries, Fallopian tubes and uterus were directly exposed to the vacuum of space?" (I wouldn't be surprised if you thought, "duh, of course that's what I intended" but we get unclear questions all the time - and it's likely one of the reasons you got that comment from the Automated Community BOT, which is complaining that your Q failed SE's good question metrics.) $\endgroup$
    – JBH
    Commented Sep 19 at 15:54

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
17
$\begingroup$

Normally, the vagina is a potential cavity, that is, the walls are normally collapsed and there is no air space. It opens and becomes a real cavity if something is inserted into it from either end. (It also opens slightly when the woman is sexually aroused.) But since the inside of body of the woman is at normal pressure, if exposed to a vacuum they walls will be even more tightly squeezed shut.

Long story short, the pressure drop won't reach the uterus.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ Note that all potential cavities in human body are muscle controlled thus forcefully closed. $\endgroup$
    – Crowley
    Commented Sep 20 at 13:15
5
$\begingroup$

Consider that there is a fetish where some people expose parts of their body to vacuum in order to cause engorgement... and that some of these people are women, who apply that vacuum to their vulva.

So, considering that exposure to vacuum causes engorgement of the skin and underlying tissues, I would expect that the engorgement of the vulva and vagina would cause swelling that would close off the vagina and prevent any immediate harm to a pregnancy.

Of course, exposure to vacuum is not immediately lethal, and a person so exposed might tolerate 90 seconds or more of exposure to hard vacuum with no long-term effects, though a person would fall unconscious within 10-15 seconds of vacuum exposure.

So, I would expect that if a woman survived exposure to vacuum, there would be little effect upon a pregnancy, nor would period-like symptoms occur.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
2
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ The problem is a sex toy does not provide hard vacuum. Specifically, the boiling point of water hits normal body temperature (37 C/98.6 F) at 65 mbar (0.94 PSI). Given there's heat of vaporization, you're going to need to get in the mbar range or deeper to get some biological effects. $\endgroup$
    – user71659
    Commented Sep 19 at 18:46
  • $\begingroup$ @user71659 at least long term effects. Overall though, when you're in deep vacuum (especially in the hard radiation environment of space) you've bigger problems than a potential miscarriage. Problems like a quick and nasty death within minutes. $\endgroup$
    – jwenting
    Commented Sep 23 at 6:05

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .