Many women reach reproductive age without knowing that their body sends signs when it is ready to conceive a baby. There are several signs, actually, but not always the same for everyone. One specific sign, however, is often recurrent in women during the fertile window: elastic mucus. This is the greatest sign of fertility a woman can have during her cycle. This, along with others that we list below, are strong indicators that ovulation is underway, regardless of the person and the number of days in their cycle.

What Is Elastic Mucus?

Elastic mucus is cervical mucus, but with a different composition and specific functions for the fertile period. Cervical mucus is usually made up of cells from the cervix and protects the uterus against possible infections and the penetration of bacteria present in the vaginal flora1. In this mucus there are hormones such as progesterone and others just as important, like estrogens. Throughout the entire infertile cycle, the mucus is thick and whitish, and during the fertile period this mucus becomes very elastic, even watery, due to the hormonal peak that occurs during ovulation. Women who do not have this obvious mucus can use lubricating gels that do not harm sperm, such as FamiGel.

How Does Elastic Mucus Help with Fertility?

Elastic mucus is certainly a major helper for fertility. Its composition (estrogen and mineral salts) guides and nourishes sperm while they are inside the woman. After male ejaculation, sperm can survive for up to 72 hours in the female body. Cervical mucus, when at its ideal composition, ensures intrauterine living conditions. Furthermore, it helps identify the fertile window. There are effective methods that prove this fact, such as the Billings method, for example.2

How to Identify the Fertile Period by Elastic Mucus?

The mucus changes as the fertile period approaches. From whitish, like ointment or moisturizing cream, it becomes a transparent gel, sometimes firm and quite different from before. The appearance resembles that of egg white that is slightly thicker or even very liquid.

Elastic mucus can sometimes appear suddenly, without whitish mucus as a forewarning. These are cases where the woman has a shorter preparation phase for ovulation, which is why it is important to know your menstrual cycle.

How Do You Know It’s Really Ovulation Mucus?

To know if it is really ovulation mucus, we need to consider the length of the menstrual cycle. Cycle length varies greatly from person to person3, but the most common is between 28 and 32 days, and it can extend up to 40-something days for some women.

Important: the fertile period usually occurs 14 days before menstruation, so we can use the first day of bleeding as the start of a new cycle. But it is fundamental to remember that the luteal phase is fixed and lasts 14 days. The follicular phase, however, can vary, which makes cycles longer or shorter.

The ovulation calculator can help you know if the mucus is really ovulation mucus, since it shows the likely fertile days. For it to work properly, the woman should have a regular cycle, meaning no long menstrual delays. If you want a more precise tool, we recommend using ovulation tests. Learn more about these ovulation tests here. If you have irregular cycles, the calculator will not help much and it will be easier to follow the signs your body gives you. Speaking of signs…

What Are the Signs That, Together With the Mucus, Show That Ovulation Is Happening?

When ovulation is happening, the body works together. Brain, ovaries, uterus, fallopian tubes… Everything in sync. Besides the changed cervical mucus, there are other signs that the body is fertile, including:

  • Lower abdominal pains: this is a sign that the ovaries are working and will soon be releasing the egg to be fertilized.
  • Breast tenderness: common during the fertile period due to increased estrogen in the body.
  • Increased libido: having sex becomes an irresistible urge, thanks to increased estrogen during ovulation. Combined with testosterone wisely produced by the pituitary gland, the desire to have sex increases a lot.
  • Rise in basal temperature: the body undergoes changes during the fertile window, including temperature. An increase of 0.5 up to 1.5 degrees can indicate that a woman is ovulating.