Do you have cervical mucus when pregnant

Cervical Mucus: An Early Pregnancy Sign?

Medically reviewed by Debra Sullivan, Ph.D., MSN, R.N., CNE, COI — By Erica Cirino on June 13, 2019

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Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

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Medically reviewed by Debra Sullivan, Ph.D., MSN, R.N., CNE, COI — By Erica Cirino on June 13, 2019

Chart, Stages, Tracking & Fertility

Overview

Checking cervical mucus for fertility using your fingers.

What is cervical mucus?

Cervical mucus is a fluid produced by and released from the cervix (the opening to uterus). Hormones cause your cervical mucus to change in texture, volume and color throughout your menstrual cycle. It can be used to identify when you are most fertile.

Your mucus is thick, white and dry before ovulation (when your ovary releases an egg). Just before ovulation, your cervical mucus will turn clear and slippery. This consistency makes it easy for sperm to swim up to meet an egg at ovulation. If you want to get pregnant, this type of discharge tells you it's time for sex.

Some people chart their cervical mucus to tell them where they are in their cycle. Cervical mucus can tell you when you are fertile or most likely to conceive. It can also indicate when you are not fertile and pregnancy is less likely. This process is called the cervical mucus method of natural family planning.

Function

What does cervical mucus do?

Cervical mucus, or cervical fluid, has two jobs depending on where you are in your cycle. The first is to help sperm move through the cervix so it can fertilize an egg during ovulation. The second job is to prevent sperm or other substances from getting into the cervix.

What are the different types of cervical mucus?

Not every person will be the same, but your cervical mucus will resemble all or most of the following during your menstrual cycle:

Dry or no cervical fluid.
Sticky like paste. It can be white or yellow.
Creamy like yogurt. Smooth in texture and usually white.
Slippery, stretchy. Resembling raw egg whites.
Wet, watery and clear in color.

The type or texture of your cervical mucus will depend on what stage of your menstrual cycle you're in. Your mucus generally starts as dry or pasty before moving to a creamier texture. As ovulation nears, your discharge will become wet, stretchy and slippery. The most common analogy used for super fertile cervical mucus is looking and feeling like raw egg whites. If you see that texture, you will know you're at your most fertile time. After ovulation, your cervical mucus goes back to thick and dry.

How does cervical mucus help with conception?

Cervical mucus plays a key role in conception. The hormone estrogen peaks just before ovulation. This causes cervical mucus to change from pasty or creamy to resembling stretchy, raw egg whites. This wet, slippery discharge makes it easier for sperm to swim up the vagina and into the uterus to meet an egg. If you have sex at this time, you increase your chances of getting pregnant.

Think of your uterus as a swimming pool, your cervical mucus as water and the sperm as a person trying to swim. If the water was thick or mud-like, there's no way a person could swim through it to reach the other side of the pool. This is how hard it is for sperm to reach your fallopian tubes if your cervical mucus isn't fertile. It's easier for sperm to swim up the uterus to meet an egg for conception in thin, wet, egg white mucus.

How does cervical mucus change throughout my menstrual cycle?

The changes in cervical mucus happen as a result of hormones shifting throughout your menstrual cycle. Estrogen increases before ovulation and makes your cervix produce the fertile, egg white mucus. It's your body's way of making it easy for sperm to reach the egg it's about to release. After ovulation, estrogen levels drop and progesterone levels rise. This rise in progesterone helps the fertilized egg implant into your uterus if conception occurs. However, this causes your cervical mucus to begin to dry up.

If you have a 28-day menstrual cycle, your cervical mucus will generally follow this pattern:

Days 1-4 after your period ends: Dry or tacky. It can be white or yellow-tinged.
Days 4-6: Sticky. Slightly damp and white.
Days 7-9: Creamy, yogurt-like consistency. Wet and cloudy.
Days 10-14: Stretchy and resembles raw egg whites. Slippery and very wet.
Days 14-28: Dry until menstruation occurs.

Most women with a 28-day cycle ovulate around day 14. This is why your cervical mucus is slippery, stretchy and highly fertile just before the egg is released.

How long will I have egg white cervical mucus?

The egg white discharge lasts about four days. If your cycle is 28 days, the fertile cervical mucus occurs around days 10 to 14.

How does cervical mucus change during early pregnancy?

Changes in cervical mucus can be a sign of early pregnancy. After ovulation, your cervical mucus thickens or dries up, then you eventually get your period. However, if you conceived at ovulation, you may still produce some cervical mucus. This can indicate to some women that they might have conceived. In other cases, implantation bleeding occurs. Implantation cervical mucus is tinged brown or pink. This happens around your period, leading some people to think they didn't become pregnant.

It's important to note that every person is different and not everyone has implantation bleeding or noticeable changes in cervical mucus.

Anatomy

Where does cervical mucus come from?

Cervical mucus is produced by your cervix when the hormone estrogen rises. Your estrogen level begins low, then climbs to its peak at ovulation before dropping again. This is why you see the changes in your mucus instead of it being the same all the time.

What can cervical mucus look like?

Cervical mucus can look sticky, creamy, pasty, watery, stretchy or slippery. At your most fertile time, your mucus is slippery and watery. When you're not fertile, the mucus will be thick or pasty. Your cervical mucus is generally odorless. If it's foul-smelling, it could mean you have an infection. It's common for your mucus to be white, off-white or clear in color.

At certain times, especially if implantation has occurred, your discharge might be tinged with pink or brown. If this happens regularly, talk to your healthcare provider as it could be spotting between periods or signs of a problem.

Conditions and Disorders

What can cause changes to cervical mucus?

Certain factors can play a role in the amount of cervical mucus you have or what it looks like. Things that can affect your cervical mucus are:

Breastfeeding.
Sexual lubricants.
Hormonal birth control.
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Other vaginal infections like yeast infections or bacterial vaginosis.
Surgery on your cervix.
Medications.
Stress and diet.

How do you know if you have a problem with your cervical mucus?

If you check your cervical mucus and don't believe you see the slippery, fertile cervical mucus, it could be a sign of ovulatory problems, infection or other issues. Your healthcare provider will diagnose cervical mucus problems by performing a pelvic exam and discussing your health history and any medications you take. They'll examine your cervix for signs of infection, scarring or other conditions that could impact vaginal discharge.

Care

Are there medications to take to increase cervical mucus?

To naturally increase your cervical mucus, try increasing your water intake and eating more fruits and vegetables. Certain medications and vitamins are available that claim to increase cervical mucus. Before taking any supplements for cervical mucus production, talk to your healthcare provider. They will want to discuss issues you are having with conception and rule out any problems.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I check my cervical mucus?

You can check your cervical mucus a few different ways:

Use your fingers: With clean hands, place a finger in your vagina. Remove your finger and look at the mucus. You may need to use another finger to see if it stretches.
Check your underwear: Look at your underwear when you go the bathroom and note the discharge you see.
Use toilet paper: Using toilet paper is probably the least reliable method to check cervical mucus, but it can still be helpful. After urinating and wiping, check your toilet paper for cervical mucus.

Pay attention to how your cervical mucus looks and feels. Is it sticky, creamy, watery or dry? If it's dry or sticky, you're probably not fertile yet. If it's wet, slippery or soaking your underwear, you are likely fertile.

How do I start charting cervical mucus to get pregnant?

Charting or tracking your cervical mucus is called the cervical mucus method of family planning. Determining ovulation is one of the best tools you can have in your toolbox if you want to conceive.

To chart your cervical mucus, keep track of the changes you see each day — the amount, texture and color. It might be helpful to use a calendar and label days as pasty, creamy, wet or dry. You're most fertile around the time your mucus becomes slippery and wet, like raw egg whites. Once you see this type of mucus, it's time to have sex if conception is your goal. To prevent pregnancy, you should abstain from sex or use another method of birth control.

If you need help recognizing patterns or think your cervical mucus never reaches a fertile stage, talk to your healthcare provider for guidance.

A note from Cleveland Clinic

Tracking your cervical mucus is a helpful way to track your menstrual cycle and identify when you're fertile. Learn how to check your vaginal discharge and note your findings, especially if you're trying to conceive. Cervical mucus alone isn't a reliable form of contraception, so if you don't wish to become pregnant, talk to your healthcare provider about more effective contraception. If you notice any foul-smelling discharge, speak with your healthcare provider so they can rule out any issues.

why they appear in the early and late periods, in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimester, what to do at home

While carrying a child, any changes in a woman's body can be alarming and cause concern. Including mucous secretions that occur during different periods of pregnancy. Together with gynecologists, we will figure out which of them are considered the norm, and which indicate the development of serious pathologies.

Obstetrician-gynecologist, gynecologist-endocrinologist of the Institute of Reproductive Medicine REMEDI Nina Antipova tells what is discharge in women. They consist of:

secretion of the vaginal mucosa;
cervical mucus, cervical mucus;
a secret that is released from the uterine cavity (during menstruation - blood, on the days of the beginning and end of menstruation - mucous secretions that are produced by cells of the endometrium, the mucous membrane of the uterus).

- Discharge from the genital tract - an individual story, so the norm here is ambiguous. As such, the concept of mucous discharge during pregnancy does not exist, emphasizes Nina Antipova. nine0003

Pregnancy mucus discharge

Pregnancy mucus may vary in color, texture, smell, quantity and feel. The norm is considered to be discharges that meet the following characteristics.

Color	colorless or white, without bloody interspersed
Consistency	Not dense
Number	Moderate, not abundant
Smell	None
Feel	No itching, burning or pain

Clear discharge

900 But in the second and third trimester, they can be confused with amniotic fluid. Therefore, if abundant colorless discharge occurs, you should be wary.

Learn more

White discharge

White mucus that is not accompanied by odor, itching or discomfort is normal (1). The main reason for their appearance is the formation of a mucous plug that prevents the occurrence of infections. nine0003

Learn more

Yellow discharge

Yellow mucus may be a symptom of severe inflammation. The most likely cause of their appearance is a bacterial infection (2). In such cases, additional symptoms appear: smell, burning and itching.

Learn more

Bloody discharge

The appearance of bloody mucous discharge during pregnancy can signal serious processes, such as a threatened miscarriage. In such a situation, immediate medical attention is needed. nine0003

Learn more

Brown discharge

Brown color indicates blood in the discharge. This is not always a dangerous symptom, for example, discharge with a brown tint can be observed with cervical erosion. But you should not lose vigilance. In the first months of pregnancy, brown discharge can mean the presence of serious pathologies, and in the last, among other things, the onset of the birth process.

Learn more

What causes mucous discharge during early pregnancy

Mucus discharge in a woman can occur for various reasons, which depend on the stage of pregnancy.

1st trimester

Abundant mucous discharge at the beginning of pregnancy may be one of the signs of its onset. In this case, they are painted white, do not smell and do not cause discomfort. Discharge with an unpleasant odor, accompanied by itching, may indicate a violation of the microflora. The treatment of this problem should be entrusted to a doctor.

Brown discharge may indicate an ectopic or miscarriage, or a threatened miscarriage. The symptom is dangerous, so you need to act immediately. nine0003

Why there is mucous discharge during late pregnancy

Any discharge during pregnancy should not go unnoticed. The closer the date of birth, the more closely you need to monitor your well-being and the changes that occur in the body.

2nd trimester

Mucous discharge in the second trimester of pregnancy, which is colorless and odorless, is most often associated with the action of hormones (3). But sometimes they can be a signal of problems. For example, abundant mucous discharge may be amniotic fluid. To understand whether this is true or not, you should consult a doctor and pass the necessary analysis. nine0003

If the discharge is white, itchy and painful, a fungal infection (eg thrush) may have flared up. It is impossible to treat it on your own with the help of pills during pregnancy, so you must definitely see a doctor.

3rd trimester

Mucus discharge in the third semester of pregnancy may indicate the following processes:0014

the presence of a gynecological disease or infection.

If heavy discharge occurs in the last months of pregnancy, you should immediately consult a doctor. Any of these causes is a pathology and can lead to serious consequences.

How to deal with mucus discharge during pregnancy at home

If the discharge does not increase and does not cause concern, then it is usually not necessary to treat it. It is important to visit the gynecologist on time, monitor any changes and observe intimate hygiene. nine0003

- A pregnant woman often perceives mucous discharge as a minor symptom that she herself can eliminate. But in no case should this be done, because self-medication can negatively affect the development of the fetus, - notes obstetrician-gynecologist, doctor of the highest category Elena Kollerova . - Doing anything at home is not necessary categorically, because this can lead to dangerous consequences.

2nd week of pregnancy what happens to the fetus

Contents

The second obstetric week is ovulation and conception. The egg, ready for fertilization, is released from the ovary. Fertilization will take place only if the sperm meets the egg. What happens next?

What happens in a woman's body?

The production of hormones by the pituitary and ovaries regulates the release of the egg and initiates ovulation.
At this time, the discharge from the vagina is like egg white, clear and stringy. They are called "cervical mucus". It is she who promotes the passage of spermatozoa and their filtration. nine0003

After fertilization of the egg, these secretions will become transparent, less viscous, odorless and colorless, and will soon disappear. A sharp jump in basal temperature will also indicate successful ovulation. During the day, it will drop and return to the same indicator as it was before, or even increase.

What other symptoms does the woman have in the second week?

There may be an increase in libido, breasts begin to swell.
In some women, taste preferences may change, drowsiness and fatigue may occur. nine0014
Small rashes may appear on the face as a reaction to hormonal changes.
Sometimes disturbed by unpleasant sensations in the lower abdomen or pulling pains in the lower back.
Often there is a decrease in blood pressure.
Urination may also become more frequent.
And of course, the ovulation test will show a positive result.

These symptoms are typical of the second week of pregnancy, but are not at all obligatory for each individual woman. nine0003

What happens after fertilization?

After fertilization occurs, the hormonal background changes dramatically in the woman's body. At the end of the third week of pregnancy, the fertilized egg attaches to the wall of the uterus. Attachment of the embryo may cause slight pain and be accompanied by some bleeding.

It is worth remembering that all of the listed symptoms are not accurate indicators of pregnancy. The same signs can indicate stress, overheating, overwork. Therefore, there are no signs that guarantee the fact of conception. nine0003