An A – Z guide on cervical mucus fertility. How can knowing about cervical mucus help me get pregnant? What is egg white cervical mucus (EWCM), and when do I have it? Can tracking cervical mucus show me when I’m most fertile? Can cervical mucus help me know my ovulation time and plan baby-making sex? Get the answers you’ve been looking for, here.
You’ve done your homework and changed your life:
- You eat 2-3 servings of oily fish a week;
- No smoking;
- Alcohol? No more than a glass at dinner time and sometimes not even then;
- You’re the poster child for healthy eating: lots of color in your diet and only wholesome organic will do for you, you’re eating so much of the good green stuff that you go green at the thought of eating any more;
- You exercise moderately and are able to keep yourself at a healthy weight;
- Oh, and of course you meditate to keep you stress levels under control.
- You take dietary supplements? You betcha;
- Keeping track of your menstrual cycle? That’s great!
- Have you been charting your basal body temperature? Wonderful, because you now know among other things whether you are actually ovulating, or not.
Hmm, and still not pregnant.
Is there something more you should do?
Yes! You could be missing the most fertile time of your monthly cycle!
For a woman trying to get pregnant she needs one final weapon in her armory- her fertile cervical mucus. Fertile cervical mucus marks the most fertile time of your menstrual cycle. Cervical mucus fertility is one of the key markers of fertility that women know the least about and tend to ignore most . It can make or break your chances of getting pregnant, even if you’re getting everything else right.
What is Cervical Mucus?
Mucus is a protective hydrogel. Lodged in the lining of your cervix (the doorway to your womb) are tiny groups of cells. These cells are concentrated in pits or furrows along the length of the cervix called cervical crypts. The job of these cells is to release fluids. This fluid is made up of about 90 – 95% water, enzymes, simple proteins, a glycoprotein matrix, salts and simple sugars like glucose, mannose,etc., plus cells sloughed off from the inner lining. This fluid is called cervical mucus. It can allow or hinder pregnancy by helping or preventing the sperm from crossing the cervix and entering the womb. The fluid-releasing cells do this by changing the type and amount of fluids which they make. The properties of cervical mucus change depending on the level of hormones progesterone and estrogen circulating in the blood. These hormone levels rise and fall depending on where you are in your menstrual cycle.