What Your Cervical Mucus Says About Your Cycle

You've probably felt it before, a wet spot in your underwear. Sometimes it's white, creamy, or clear, sometimes a lot, sometimes a little. It's part of you and your wonderful body. Yes, it's vaginal discharge, also called cervical mucus. This cervical mucus is a fantastic invention of Mother Nature, because it tells you exactly what your body is doing.

What is your cervical mucus or uterine mucus?

Like all wonderful things in life, cervical mucus has countless names. You might know this wet substance as cervical mucus, uterine mucus, or simply discharge. Whatever you call it, it's all the same: mucus produced by your cervix. This mucus can tell you a lot about your health and where you are in your cycle.

Cervical mucus changes during your cycle

In the run-up to ovulation, the quality of your cervical mucus increases, which allows sperm cells to survive better and reach the egg more easily.

Think of the discharge on those days as a train 🚂 that sperm can ride on, all the way to the egg. But because you can't get pregnant all month long, this transport mucus changes after ovulation.

 

This is what your cervical mucus looks like throughout your cycle:

• Before your period

After ovulation, estrogen levels will drop again and progesterone will increase. This will cause the mucus to decrease in both quality and quantity. Your cervical mucus will become thick, sticky, white, yellowish, or grainy again, and may even be absent on some days.

• During your period

During your period, you have less estrogen and progesterone. Less estrogen means less discharge. So, you'll have little to no discharge during these days. Even if you do have discharge, you won't be able to see it now because of the blood loss.

• After your period

Shortly after your period, you may notice little to no cervical mucus. Your vulva may also feel dry. As your estrogen levels increase, you'll notice more distinct cervical mucus: thick, sticky, milky, creamy, or white. Once it dries, you'll see a grainy residue in your underwear. Sometimes it's yellow—don't worry, this is perfectly normal! 😉

• Around and during your ovulation

You're about to ovulate and are now noticing a clear difference in your discharge. Your vulva may feel wetter, and you might see stretchy and/or clear cervical mucus on your toilet paper or in your underwear, resembling raw egg white. You'll also have a lot of discharge, and it might even runny.

Are you ovulating and trying to conceive? Then it's time for some sexy time! Enjoy! 😉

What else you need to know about your cervical mucus during ovulation:

• During ovulation, your mucus makes it easier for sperm to survive in your vagina.
• Your cervical mucus acts as a natural lubricant (making sex easier and getting you wet faster).
• Your discharge may be 10 to 20 times more than normal! 👯‍♂️

Also read: When do you feel like having sex?

Good to know:

• Not all women experience the same amount of fertile mucus around ovulation. This can sometimes make analyzing your cervical mucus difficult. For some women, it's easily detectable during a bowel movement, while for others, it's barely noticeable.

• Are you hornier than a stick of butter, or have you just had sex? Then your discharge will be different. So there's no point in checking your cervical mucus then.

• Visible fertile mucus isn't required for successful conception. Many women don't notice any mucus during their fertile period, yet still become pregnant. In that case, the fertile mucus doesn't appear to leave the uterus, but it is present internally to a greater or lesser extent.

• Analyzing your cervical mucus can be a way to determine your cycle phase, but it doesn't guarantee you're not fertile. If you don't want children, always use contraception.

If you want to better understand your cycle, we recommend tracking your basal body temperature to detect a possible ovulation. By measuring your basal temperature daily, you'll know exactly when you're fertile. If you measure your temperature at approximately the same time every morning before getting up and have had enough sleep, your temperature can rise by 0.2 to 0.6°C for up to two days after ovulation. This is due to the hormone progesterone. The temperature remains high and then drops back to the low level just before or during the next menstrual period.

 

Co-founder Morgane has been using the Sensiplan method for over five years and is a huge fan. Read more about it in this blog post.  

Little cervical mucus? Here are the reasons

We already mentioned that you produce very little cervical mucus around your period. That's perfectly normal! Do you often have little discharge? Here are a few reasons why you're dry:

The contraceptive pill (with hormones)

The pill messes with your hormones: It stops the production of one hormone and adds other, artificial hormones. This also changes your cervical mucus.

Medicines

Some medications affect your cervical mucus. Common medications that can alter your cervical mucus include ibuprofen, aspirin, cold medications, sleep medications, antidepressants, and epilepsy medications.

Drinking too little water

If you drink too little, your vagina may be drier than normal.

Sitting too long

Sitting for too long also reduces blood flow to your uterus. This can cause your uterine lining to change.

Tampon

Tampons absorb moisture. If you have vaginal dryness, try using a sanitary pad or cup during your period.

Low estrogen

If you have low estrogen, your cervix produces less mucus. Low estrogen levels can occur with age (it decreases from age 35) or with hormonal disorders such as PCOS.

General health

Your cycle says something about your health. Your cervical mucus can therefore also reveal something about your overall health. Smoking, for example, can affect your cervical mucus, and extreme exercise or dieting can also throw your body out of balance, causing your cervical mucus to change.

Unsure if your cycle is optimal? Or if your cervical mucus is normal? Contact us . Our team of experts is ready to help! Looking for supplements to support your cycle? Take the quiz and discover which Guud is right for you.