Cervical mucus is a natural secretion, and tracking and observing your cervical mucus can give you a good indication of your overall health and fertility. Observing cervical mucus gives you daily insight and real time data into your fertility stages, allowing you to determine if you are fertile on any given day of your cycle, all throughout the month.
Cervical mucus has many functions, but most notably, it nourishes sperm and helps transport it on its long journey towards the egg.
The quantity and quality of your cervical mucus is key to whether you are fertile or not, and sufficient fertile cervical mucus is necessary for pregnancy to occur. In fact, the presence of fertile cervical mucus near the time of ovulation enables sperm survival for anywhere up to 5 days.
How Cervical Mucus Changes Throughout the Cycle
There’s no denying that when learning to chart your cycles with the fertility awareness method, cervical mucus is the most challenging aspect to master.
As your cycle progresses and ovulation approaches, your mucus will go through changes and display increasingly more water content, thus becoming more sperm friendly.
The CM pattern that you notice within your cycle is unique to you and may not be exactly as described in this guide. It is important to take note of the changes and patterns relative to you.
Identifying types of Cervical Mucus
Cervical mucus can be categorised into 3 types- non fertile, non peak and peak fertile.
The FEMM Fertility Awareness method uses the symbols G, EL & ES to define these different kinds of CM.
Non-fertile (G mucus) is usually present right after menstruation through until the ‘point of change’ or POC, which is the onset of estrogenic mucus (non peak & peak) and the beginning of the fertile phase. It is then typically present after ovulation, through until your next cycle.
When observing non fertile (G) cervical mucus you will typically experience the following;
Sensation: rough or dry
Observation: no visible cervical mucus
Non-peak mucus (EL Mucus) is secreted when estrogen levels are low but rising. EL mucus performs the essential role of locking in malformed and slow moving sperm, filtering them out from normal and healthy sperm to ensure only the highest quality sperm make their way to the egg.
When observing non peak (EL) cervical mucus you will typically experience the following;
Sensation: Moist | similar to the consistency of creamy hand lotion
Observation: opaque | cloudy | milky | creamy | lotiony
Peak fertile mucus (ES mucus) is secreted when estrogen is at high levels. ES mucus forms channels like little sperm highways that nourish and guide sperm along them toward the egg. ES presents high fertility and is produced around the time of ovulation.
When observing Peak fertile (ES) cervical mucus, you will typically experience the following;
Sensation: slippery/lubricative sensation when you wipe or walk around, a lot of water content, could also feel like a gush of water
Observation: Clear | stretchy | similar consistency to raw egg whites | watery
Cervical mucus is the direct line to your ovaries
Are you keen to learn more about your Cervical Mucus? Check out my new and improved Cervical Mucus Master – Mini Course! Whether you have limited knowledge under your belt or an experienced charter and feel CM could be the missing part of the puzzle, this training will give you the confidence to own your charting and control your reproductive health.
Helpful resources
Download my FREE Preconception guide here 👉 Download the Guide
Join my exclusive TTC Community here 👉 Join the community
Book a free 30-minute Fertility Chat here 👉 Book a free chat
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