Cervical mucus: What it looks like through your cycle

Cervical mucus, sometimes called ovulation discharge or just vaginal discharge, is fluid produced by your cervix. The amount, color, and consistency of your cervical mucus changes throughout your menstrual cycle due to fluctuating hormone levels.

You may not have given much thought to cervical mucus in the past, besides noticing it in your underwear. But if you're trying to get pregnant, keeping track of your cervical mucus can be an important tool because it helps you predict when you're ovulating.

For most of the month, you may have very little cervical mucus, or it may be thick and sticky. But in the few days before, during, and immediately after ovulation, you'll notice an increase in cervical mucus and a change in its texture: It will turn clear, slippery, and stretchy (like raw egg whites). This is the time, just before ovulation, when intercourse is most likely to lead to conception.

You can check your cervical mucus three ways:

• Wipe your vagina with clean white toilet paper before you pee, and notice any discharge.
• Insert a clean finger into your vagina and reach toward your cervix, then examine any mucus on your finger.
• Look at the vaginal discharge in your underwear.

Feel the consistency by rubbing and seeing if you can stretch the mucus with your thumb and index figure.

You may have a few days of cloudy, sticky discharge a few days after your period stops. The consistency is thick and chunky, and the texture feels like paste or glue from a glue stick, making it hard for sperm to swim through. Sticky or tacky cervical mucus is the least fertile type, so your chances of getting pregnant are low. (Sperm can live for many days, though, so it's not something you want to count on for birth control.)

Next in your cycle you may notice creamy cervical mucus, which is considered non-fertile because it greatly restricts the movement of sperm. Creamy cervical mucus can be a pearly white or creamy yellow. It's thick and feels like lotion when rubbed between the fingers.

As your most fertile time approaches, you may notice your cervical mucus becomes clear. This type of cervical mucus allows sperm to move unhindered into the cervix, but it doesn't make the sperm's job quite as easy as egg white fertile-quality mucus, which is next in your cycle. When you have plentiful cervical mucus, you may feel as though you've leaked urine in your underwear.

Once your cervical mucus has the consistency of raw egg whites, you're in your fertile period. This mucus (called spinnbarkeit) means your body is getting ready to ovulate. If you hold the mucus between two fingers, it can stretch an inch or two without breaking in the middle. This type of thin, slippery cervical mucus allows the sperm to swim easily into the cervix.

After you ovulate, you'll notice less cervical mucus. Instead of the clear, thin egg white cervical mucus you may have seen before ovulation, your cervical mucus after ovulation may look cloudy and be more thick and glue-like.

You may wonder whether changes in your cervical mucus will signal whether you're pregnant. Usually, no. While many women notice an increase in vaginal discharge during pregnancy, you're not likely to notice this symptom in the week or two just after conception. And it's not one of the early pregnancy symptoms that women commonly report during those first few weeks. If you suspect you might be pregnant, your best bet is to take a pregnancy test around the time you would expect your period.

Many things affect the texture and consistency of cervical mucus. For example, changes in your health, medications, feminine hygiene products, douching, sex, and lubricants can all interfere with cervical mucus and make it difficult to tell where you are in your cycle. Infections can also alter your cervical mucus. If you notice your vaginal discharge change color to yellow-gray or green, develop a strong fishy odor, or if you feel burning, irritation, or swelling around your vagina or when you pee, seek medical attention.

Not everyone will experience the same variations in cervical mucus. For instance, you may not have much mucus except right before ovulation. The main thing to look for is some kind of change in cervical mucus mid-cycle. And if your cervical mucus pattern doesn't end up helping you predict when you ovulate, consider other methods for predicting ovulation.

Find out how to predict ovulation by charting your cervical mucus and basal body temperature. Also, learn the pros and cons of charting versus using an ovulation predictor kit.

Where to go next

• How to get pregnant fast
• Top signs of pregnancy
• Vaginal discharge during pregnancy