Top 3 Common Cervical Mucus Mistakes I’ve Seen [Fertility Awareness Method Users]

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When I first learned FAM, it wasn’t a secret that I really struggled with cervical mucus observations. In today’s post, I want to share the top mistakes I made (and see others making on online forums!) and how I worked around them in the hope of helping others. 

Using underwear as an indicator of what’s going on

I don’t think I’ve read any fertility awareness manual that allowed what you see on your underwear as a reliable source for charting purposes (please correct me if I’m wrong someone!). The only reference I recall is part of one book where it’s mentioned that circular patterns in underwear signify higher water content while streaky marks were lower water content. Unfortunately, many have taken this section as part of a method which just isn’t correct.

Underwear observations can be skewed by sweat, the potential for urine drips or even the fabric of underwear from day to day. Only the official methods of observing cervical mucus according to your chosen method should be used as part of your charting, anything else interesting that you’d like to make a note of can be written down separately (but not used as part of your analysis). 

Hoping for a perfect pattern right off hormonal birth control

As I was preparing to quit the pill, I was like a kid in a candy shop with all of my textbooks containing textbook charts. Perfect build-ups to peak cervical mucus followed by sharp, abrupt dry ups that had me thinking that this was the norm for everyone. Unfortunately, while it’s definitely possible, it certainly isn’t the case for many. After stopping hormonal birth control or even after other life events such as giving birth or having treatment for conditions of the cervix, cervical fluid patterns can vary. Something crucial in my charting journey was letting go of the expectation for my body to always follow a perfect pattern and instead, learning my unique pattern and successfully following the rules from there.

Not seeking an instructor when things are confusing

I’m not ashamed to admit that cervical mucus was a really confusing thing for me at first. After reading lots of books, I would question whether something I was experiencing was peak, non-peak or did it fit the description of one category or another? The constant self-doubt became exhausting and I knew that it wasn’t necessarily a good idea to trust well-meaning but untrained people on online groups if I asked for advice. This led me to work with an instructor. Her guidance provided me with the clarity and confidence boost I needed to feel ready to identify where I was in my cycle without second-guessing myself. I wrote about how to find an instructor here.

I hope this article has helped to break down some common errors I’ve seen when observing cervical mucus. If you have any further things to add or questions, please comment below! I have also covered common temperature-taking errors in this post.