A-Z of sex word meaning

Touching or stimulating your own or someone else's genitals for sexual pleasure. Masturbation is a natural and normal way of exploring your own body. Also called wanking.

Another way of saying when a girl has her period.

A healthcare worker who looks after pregnant women and helps to deliver babies.

Also known as the progestogen-only pill, it prevents pregnancy by changing a woman's mucus so sperm can't reach the egg. See our Contraception page for more information.

A kind of coil which is a contraceptive device inserted into the womb. See our Contraception page for more information.

When a foetus (unborn baby), comes out of a girl's womb before it is old enough to survive outside its mother’s body. Also called 'losing a baby'.

Another name for emergency pills. Taken within 5 days (or 120 hours) after unprotected sex, the morning after pill prevents pregnancy. For more information visit our Emergency Contraception page.

An infection caught through unprotected sex that if untreated can cause pelvic inflammatory disease.