It’s all very welll taking supplements, etc to maximize your chances of conceiving. But one of the keys to getting pregnant is understanding how your body works.
Your body goes through a number of significant changes during your menstrual fertility cycle to prepare you for pregnancy. Your body also has its own way to prevent you from getting pregnant. One of these is infertile cervical mucus.
During the menstrual fertility cycle from menstruation to ovulation back to menstruation again, vital changes occur in your cervix intended to either promote or prevent pregnancy. These changes are controlled by hormones. 
What is Cervical Mucus
The lowest one third of your womb or uterus is called the cervix. Along the length of its internal lining can be found tiny structures, called glands, and their job is to produce and release mucus.
When you have a terrible cold you go from having a very runny nose to a nose that is stuffy. This is because the mucus produced by the glands in your nose changes from being fluid to thick giving you a blocked nose. Although the previous example is part of your body’s defence mechanism, in your cervix the hormone estrogen is responsible for the runny, fluid fertile mucus, progesterone makes for the thick kind of sticky infertile cervical mucus
What is Infertile Cervical Mucus
Infertile cervical mucus is the mucus produced by the glands of the cervix from after menstrual bleeding to a little before ovulation, and also after ovulation. The job of infertile cervical mucus is to prevent sperm from crossing through the cervix.
When do you have Infertile Cervical Mucus
The body, being very efficient, works on the assumption that the only time you will want to get pregnant is when you are ovulating. Around the time of ovulation is the only time you have fertile cervical mucus
After ovulation there is increasing amounts of progesterone in the blood. Progesterone influences the glands in the cervix to produce infertile cervical mucus. The cervical mucus remains infertile from after ovulation to the time of the following menstrual bleeding.
After menstrual bleeding you still have infertile cervical mucus. This is because cells of the developing egg sacs, or follicles, are not producing enough estrogen yet to change the cervical mucus produced by the cervical glands to fertile cervical mucus
What does Infertile Cervical Mucus look like
- Infertile Cervical Mucus Before Ovulation
- Infertile Cervical Mucus After Ovulation
Menstrual Cycle:
1 – 7 days of menstruation (depending on the length of your menstrual cycle)
3 – 5 days after the menstrual bleeding there tends to be little to no cervical mucus. The vagina tends to be dry, or have a little moisture from cells of the vagina. You may not experience this part if you have a short cycle.
Next 2 – 3 days shows the presence of cervical mucus. It is sticky, white, thick, gummy, there isn’t very much of it, and doesn’t stretch rather it breaks. Kind of like undercooked egg white. It drys fast and is infertile.
2 – 3 days before fertile period the cervical mucus is less thick but less resistant to stretch. It is cloudy to white like white lotion or a thickish face cream, It stretches a little forming slight peaks at the ends.
At the end of the fertile ovulation period there is a slight decline in estrogen and progesterone takes over. Your body doesn’t know whether or not conception has taken place yet but it responds as if it has. The cervical mucus forms a mucus plug that is sperm-resistant by being sticky, gummy, thick and rather dry as it has a lower water content.
In summary, the only time you have fertile cervical mucus is during the time of ovulation. For the rest of your cycle till the next ovulation, you have infertile cervical mucus.
Cervical Mucus Infertility and Hostile Cervical Mucus
Infertile cervical mucus is part of a natural cycle of fertility and infertility that the body goes through to promote and prevent pregnancy.
If however the infertile cervical mucus does not change at the time of ovulation (when the body should be doing everything it can to receive and nurture sperm, to encourage conception ) then it is known as Hostile Cervical Mucus, which is a whole different kettle of fish all together.