Your vaginal discharge serves several crucial purposes: It helps clean out the vagina, prevents vaginal dryness, fights off infections, and can even help you get pregnant. The cervical mucus helps protect sperm on its route through your reproductive tract, making it more likely to find the egg.
In fact, the cervical mucus method is a strategy where you track your discharge quality throughout the menstrual cycle. This data can help you see when you’re most fertile, which can help you make decisions for family planning. You may also notice some expected changes to your discharge if you’re breastfeeding, using hormonal birth control, going through menopause, having surgery on your cervix, or if something is amiss. In this video, learn the meanings behind different discharge colors and other qualities as a warning sign.
References
American Pregnancy Association. (n.d.). Cervical mucus and early pregnancy.
Nemours Foundation. (2021). Gonorrhea.
Nemours Foundation. (2018). Vaginal discharge: what’s normal, what’s not.
Nemours Foundation. (2019). What is bacterial vaginosis?
Planned Parenthood. (n.d.). What’s the cervical mucus method of FAMs?
Sobel, J.D. (2023). Patient education: vaginal discharge in adult women (beyond the basics). UpToDate.
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