Changes in your cervical mucus can change at many times throughout your monthly cycle.  In addition, changes to your cervical mucus can also occur after conception.  In fact, changes in cervical mucus can be one of the telling signs of pregnancy.

After conception, changes to your cervical mucus will occur.  To understand these changes, it is necessary to understand exactly what cervical mucus is and what it does.  Cervical mucus is a jelly-like substance that a woman’s body produces during her monthly cycle.  Cervical mucus is an important part of conception, in that it helps sperm to survive once it is inside of a woman’s body, and it helps that sperm to get to an egg so it can fertilize the egg.

Cervical mucus changes during your cycle.  After your period there will be no cervical mucus for anywhere from three to five days.  After this time, you will have a small amount of cervical mucus that will be sticky and range in color from white to a cloudy clear color.  As you get closer to ovulating, you will notice an increase in cervical mucus.  At this time, cervical mucus will also become moist and sticky, and will be similar in consistency to hand lotion.  During ovulation, cervical mucus will resemble an egg white, both in terms of texture and appearance.  In fact, this is known as “egg white cervical mucus,” and is necessary for conception.  After ovulating, your cervical mucus will decrease again, and will become less slippery.

After conception, your cervical mucus will form your mucus plug.  The mucus plug will cause your cervical mucus to become more and more dry as your pregnancy continues on.  Later in pregnancy, you may have some discharge of cervical mucus that again resembles an egg white.

While changes in cervical mucus after conception may not be the easiest way to know if you are pregnant, they can be one indicator, among many.  If you have concerns about changes to your cervical mucus or about conception, or about how the two are related to one another, you should speak with your health care provider.