Updated by the Progyny Clinical Team — June 2025.
Checking your cervical mucus (CM) throughout your cycle can be an empowering way to monitor your body’s cycle and help you get pregnant. If you can detect when your CM is most fertile, you can predict ovulation and time intercourse to increase your chances of pregnancy. This family planning technique requires no extra equipment or lab work.
CM consistency
As ovulation approaches, your CM changes and becomes more “sperm-friendly” or fertile. Right after ovulation, it changes back to the less fertile kind. While each body is different, mucus generally goes through several stages of consistency:
- Dry or sticky: not ovulating yet
- Creamy: ovulation may be coming
- Wet: close to ovulation
- Raw egg white: it’s the best time to have sex
How to check it
CM can be assessed in several ways. You can check by looking at the toilet paper or your underwear. However, you can often get a better sample by using your fingers.
To check it directly:
- Wash and dry your hands well.
- Find a comfortable position, either by sitting on the toilet, squatting, or standing up.
- Reach one finger inside your vagina. Using your index or middle finger is probably best. Keep your nails trimmed for comfort. Getting a sample from near your cervix is ideal.
- Remove your finger and check the consistency of whatever mucus you find. Do this by looking at the mucus and rolling what you find between two fingers, usually your thumb and index finger.
- Try pressing your fingers together and then slowly moving them apart. If the CM is very wet, stretches between your fingers for an inch or more, and resembles raw egg white, you’re likely fertile. Ovulation is pending, and it is the ideal time for intercourse.
If you are charting your Basal Body Temperature, mark your findings down on your chart:
- S for sticky
- C for creamy
- W for wet
- EW for egg-white mucus
Pointers for examination
- Don’t check your CM during or right after sex, or when you’re feeling sexually aroused.
- If you have trouble finding anything, checking it after a bowel movement may be easier.
- Some people, especially those with polycystic ovary syndrome, have several times during the month where they see “fertile” mucus. In this case, predicting ovulation by tracking it might not work well. Consider other monitoring options.
- Some drugs, including antihistamines and, ironically, Clomid, can dry up your CM. In this case, you might not find as much fertile mucus before ovulation.
- If you never or rarely notice wet or egg-white consistency, talk to your healthcare provider.
- Some people produce mucus that is wet or almost egg-white-like again right before menstruation. Be sure not to confuse this with pending ovulation.
- A day or two after sexual intercourse, you may confuse semen with wet CM. With experience, you can learn how to differentiate between the two. But for the purposes of getting pregnant, assume that you may be approaching ovulation.
Summary
Checking your cervical mucus will help you monitor the stages of your cycle so that you can better time intercourse to achieve pregnancy. It is something you can do at home and is certainly cost-effective.
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Disclaimer: The information provided by Progyny is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider for medical guidance.