Understanding cervical mucus is important and can help a woman understand her fertility, body and hormones. Cervical mucus (CM) is secreted by the glands in and around the cervix and changes throughout a woman’s monthly cycle. As we mentioned in previous posts, estrogen and progesterone levels change throughout a woman’s monthly cycle. The changes in estrogen and progesterone also change the amount, type and frequency of cervical mucus.

In order to understand “how fertile” you are, you have to understand the ways that cervical mucus changes based on the hormonal changes. General guidelines to look for in your body:

Before ovulation, estrogen risings and CM becomes clear and runny/stretchy. After ovulation, progesterone rises and CM becomes thick like a mucus or completely dries up. Whether you feel this way or not, the woman’s body was created to reproduce. Runny and fluid CM helps sperm travel through the cervix, while thick CM (or lack of) makes it very difficult for sperm to travel through the woman’s body.

As always, every woman is different and might notice variations of CM, but these are good guidelines to start with when tracking. The biggest takeaway is that our body communicates to us and can be very informative in pregnancy prevention or promotion!