Cervical mucus is something that most women are aware of from their teen years or later in their adult life. During these stages, they may question what all this mucus thing is about. Well, it becomes more of worth when the reproductive years are coming. The term mucus may be uncomfortable to hear, but it’s worth knowing the different mucus states since they show you or indicates ovulation, fertile times as well as infertile times during your menstrual cycle.

How Does Cervical Mucus Relate to Your Fertility?

You can find so many ovulation predictor kits all over the market, but there is an exclusive predictor which lies in the body of every woman.The periodical changes in secretions that are produced by a woman’s cervix are helpful and provide a simple way for women to monitor their cycles as well as determine their most fertile times. This is contrary to the fluctuations in the basal body temperature (BBT) which occurs mostly after ovulation. Cervical mucus changes occur some days before ovulation giving you an opportune time to have intercourse for conception.

Cervix lies just at the entry leading to the vagina. The cervical mucus is produced and secreted from here. The hormonal deviations play a major role in influencing the consistency as well as the amount of this mucus. The cervix provides the entry point for sperms which swim past the cervical mucus (CM) if they have to go all the way to fertilize the egg.

The CM for most of the cycle may well function as a barrier or hindrance to the sperm navigation. It contains white blood cells and other chemicals which hinder the foreign bodies. In addition, it closes the cervix mechanically to hinder their propagation.

When a woman is fertile, CM varies in composition and consistency, in this way it aids the propagation of sperms through the cervix. It also enhances their longevity, allowing the sperm to live for up to five days in the woman’s body. Observing and keeping an eye on the state of your CM can greatly help you determine when to conceive successfully.

Here is a video to help you understand more about cervical mucus. Check it out:

 

What Does Cervical Mucus Look Like in Different Menstrual Phases?

1. Appearance of Cervical Mucus in Different Menstrual Phases

There exist some descriptions which could be of importance when it comes to determining various phases of your menstrual cycle. Some of the descriptions have been listed below and can help you understand which phase you are entering to.

Phases of Your Menstrual Cycle	What Cervical Mucus Looks Like
Before Ovulation	The first few days after your period, you may realize very little discharge. The area around the vulva could be dry too and the probability of getting pregnant is close to zero.
Nearing  Ovulation	A sticky and moist discharge is noticed which is usually cream or white colored. The mucus usually will not stretch for a long distance when finger stretch test is performed. Volume of CM increases as it progresses, and the color becomes more opaque.
During Ovulation	At this stage, the CM looks more like egg-white, and mostly it is thin, most copious and clearest. When stretched, it goes a longer distance before it breaks apart. The volume increases tremendously until a point referred to as the mucus peak where ovulation is in progress and conception possibilities are high.
After Ovulation	The CM returns to its previous consistency, breaks easily and the volume decreases. The vulva region also becomes dry. Incorrect interpretation can be made if confused with semen and thus caution should be taken with this test. In addition, there are some other factors that may render incorrect interpretation, such as diseases, birth control methods, or other vagina infections.

2. Tips on Handling CM Problem

Finally, most often after tracking your cervical mucus changes, probably you may find that most of the time you don’t get the fertile CM at the time of ovulation. Furthermore, the mucus could be sticky and thick rather than stretchy and thin. The cause of this could be stress, diets, hormonal factors or even medications. You can use the following tips if you encounter these problems:

• Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.
• Take Fertile CM which is a dietary supplement which increases the cervical mucus production.
• Lastly, you can use the lubricant that is sperm friendly such as PreSeed. It has a consistency and pH is similar to egg white CM. This may help sperms to survive and reach the egg to fertilize it. 

How to Check Your Cervical Mucus

1. Collecting Your Cervical Mucus

Collection of samples of your cervical mucus is very crucial and before collection it’s good to make sure your hands are clean to avoid bacterial infections. Here is how to collect the CM sample.

• Put or insert one finger into your vagina, try to sweep around your cervix to obtain adequate secretion amount.
• Try to wipe the entrance of the vagina with tissue paper and analyze carefully the secretion collected.
• You can as well use a cotton swab or just insert a finger directly into your vagina and sweep the region close to the uterus to get the specimen directly. It is quite an accurate method.

2. Tips on Checking Your Cervical Mucus

The following are some tips on checking on your cervical mucus:

• Take accurate sample: Sometimes you can just check your underwear or tissue paper. But to get accurate sample, it is better to use the outlined method above.
• Do not check after sex: You should not check your CM when you are sexually aroused or right after sex since the sexual fluids could render your sample inaccurate.
• Check after a bowel movement: In case you find difficult checking, do it after a bowel movement and remember to wash your hands before inserting your finger into the vagina.
• Combine with basal body temperature in cases of PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome): Women who have got PCOS sometimes may show patches of cervical mucus that may look like fertile mucus all through their cycle. In this case, you may have to rely on the basal body temperature which will help in determining the patch of fertile mucus that may be related to ovulation.
• CM may dry due to medicines: Some of the medicines, like Clomid and antihistamines, may remove or even dry out the CM and you can find much of the fertile CM after ovulation.
• Visit your doctor if CM is never wet or egg-white like: If you realize that your CM is never wet or egg-white in consistency, you can contact your doctor since hostile cervical mucus may be the cause of infertility.
• Egg white like CM before menstruation is not a sign of ovulation: You may find that the cervical mucus is wet and somewhat egg-white like soon before menstruation; of course this is not a sign of ovulation.