Let’s Talk About Cervical Mucus

Cervical mucus - What some might think of as “gross” or “dirty”, let me start by saying it is a completely normal bodily secretion. In fact, it happens to be the most important biomarker we have because it provides us with so much information on our overall health, hormone levels, whether or not we are fertile, where we are in our cycle, and it is the foundation of all other biomarkers (basal body temps, cervical position, when to test LH).

During the ovulatory phase, estrogen is high and fertile mucus is produced in the cervix to allow for the most ideal conditions and transportation of sperm.

In the pre and post ovulatory phases, progesterone is the dominant hormone creating less fertile mucus that does not create ideal conditions for sperm survival.

Wondering what to look for and chart?

During the pre-ovulatory phase, your hormones start low and progesterone levels are higher than estrogen. As the follicle develops in the ovaries, estrogen increases and you will begin to notice estrogenic mucus (fertile mucus).

The pre-ovulatory pattern may look something like this post menstruation to ovulation: dry, dense, lotion consistency, cloudy —> slippery, lubricative, clear, watery, raw egg white.

Slippery, lubricative, clear, watery or raw egg white consistency are peak mucus. This is when you are the most fertile during your cycle.

Then, go a step further and start to notice the quality, quantity, changes, and patterns. The more cycles you observe and chart, the better your understanding of the observations you make!

After ovulation, you should notice a drastic change from peak characteristics to dry. However, some women are never completely dry. This could be due to excess estrogen. Doing work to balance hormones can help with this.

I encourage you to start making your own observations and see what kind of patterns you notice. **Being on hormonal BC will affect your CM and you may not be able to distinguish a pattern because CM changes are based on hormonal changes**

TIP: Make several observations throughout the entire day and always chart the most fertile type of mucus you observed.