The Ultimate Guide to Cervical Mucus, with Photos!
If you’ve ever wiped and wondered, wtf?!, you’re not alone. Cervical mucus can feel mysterious, confusing, and, let’s be honest, a little weird at first.
Mucus is actually a powerful sign of your fertility, and understanding it can completely change the way you relate to your cycle. Whether you’re trying to avoid pregnancy or just want to feel more in tune with your body, learning how to track your cervical mucus is one of the most valuable skills you can develop.
Let’s break down what your mucus is telling you, and how to start making sense of it. I’m going to deep-dive into the different types of cervical mucus as well as how to check for mucus!
Making cervical mucus make sense is one thing. Knowing what it’s telling you about your fertile window is another. You can keep learning about FAM and charting ovulation here.
why is cervical mucus important, anyways?
Cervical mucus has a biological purpose. Without its presence, sperm would die very quickly in the vagina. Cervical mucus neutralizes the PH level of the vagina, nourishes and feeds sperm, and allows it to make the journey to the egg. Certain types of cervical mucus also filter out bad sperm, only allowing the “right” sperm to reach the egg. How cool is that?!
Cervical mucus is a hydrogel secreted by your cervical crypts. Your cervix is the entrance to your uterus, and it responds to hormonal changes throughout your cycle (specifically estrogen and progesterone).
Prior to ovulation, an egg is being recruited to mature while estrogen slowly builds, triggering the creation of estrogenic cervical mucus. At ovulation, estrogen is at its peak. Following ovulation is when the hormone progesterone takes over, until your next cycle, when the process starts all over again.
how do i check cervical mucus?
Check for mucus every day, every time you go to the bathroom, as well as pay attention to sensation throughout the day.
Sensation is important for categorizing your cervical mucus for the day. If it helps, close your eyes and decide what the sensation is before you look at the toilet paper. Once you’ve decided sensation, observe the colour, quantity and consistency. Then, at the end of the day, chart the most fertile mucus you observed that day on a paper chart or in an app.
Sensation can also be noted when you’re walking around during the day, you may feel a sensation of something, whether that’s a moist feeling, a dampness, a slickness, or wetness. Note that in your chart as well!
cervical mucus throughout the cycle
What is normal cervical mucus after your period ends, around ovulation, or before your next period? You can read more here.
After menstruation, you may notice several days of dryness, or even some unchanging discharge, before estrogen levels begin to rise.
As estrogen begins to rise and ovulation approaches, you may notice a change in your mucus from dryness or unchanging discharge to something more moist, watery, milky, creamy. This is all normal!
As estrogen rises to peak levels, and you’re around ovulation you may notice ES mucus. Mucus might feel slick or slippery, and you might see a clear or partly clear discharge that looks like raw eggwhites.
Once ovulation has passed, and you’re in the time before your period, you might notice an abrupt dry-up. It’s normal to have some discharge in the luteal phase, especially a sudden feeling of wetness or visible mucus right before your period starts.
Fertility Awareness Educator Note: If you’ve recently come off birth control, you might notice mostly G or EL days, with very little ES days. Think: a lot of creamy, pasty mucus day after day. This is normal, and your mucus changes will be more subtle, with a gradual improvement over time. If you’ve come off birth control and feel stumped by your mucus, working with an educator might be worth it!
the three cervical mucus categories
FEMM categorizes cervical mucus in three different types, which may be similar to other methods which categorize mucus into peak/non-peak mucus categories.
G mucus is influenced by progesterone. We experience G mucus as dryness because it generally stays up in the cervix as a barrier to infection and bacteria, and doesn’t make it’s way down.
EL and ES mucus are influenced by estrogen. Their job is to filter out bad sperm, facilitate the sperm reaching the egg, and to nourish and feed sperm so it stays alive.
G/Dry
Sensation: Dry, rough
Appearance: Nothing
Remember that your vagina is a mucus membrane, like the inside of your mouth. It will never be fully dry.
Not everyone will experience absolutely dry days. Some people have continuous, unchanging mucus immediately after menstruation. If this is the case you may want to seek support from a Billings Ovulation Method teacher to establish what’s called a Basic Infertile Pattern (BIP).
EL/Non Peak Mucus
Sensation: Moist or smooth
Looks: creamy, lotiony, clumpy, milky, tacky, school glue like, opaque.
After menstruation, you may notice several days of dry or unchanging discharge. Once estrogen begins to rise, you will begin to notice EL type mucus indicating what is called the “point of change.”
ES/ Peak Type Mucus
Sensation: Lubricative, slippery, slick, oily. May also feel like a water gush sensation as you’re walking around, like you just got your period.
Appearance: like raw eggwhites, clear or partly clear, stringy. Spotting may also be mixed in with ES mucus, which is normal around ovulation.
Your last day of ES before a switch to dry or EL mucus around ovulation is called peak day. Peak day marks the approximate time of ovulation.
Mucus is important, mucus is not gross, and mucus is a sign of health. Learning about what your cervical mucus means can help normalize it, turn something that may have been confusing into something empowering.
Cervical mucus is your real time indicator of fertility, and helps you identify ovulation! With that information, you can use the fertility awareness method to avoid pregnancy, and that’s a whole other level of empowering. Happy charting!
making mucus sexy again
I’m Nat, FAM educator, cervical mucus queen, and the person who’s going to help you finally trust your cycle for birth control.
I’ve helped hundreds of women go from second-guessing their charts to confidently using FAM to avoid pregnancy, without relying on an app or stressing over every temp shift.
If you’re ready to stop going down Reddit Rabbit Holes and actually understand your cycle, you’re in the right place.