L5.2.4.1.1.2: Cervical Mucus/Billings Method

• Cervical Mucus

  ❖ Produced by the cervix and changes in volume and consistency throughout the menstrual cycle.

  ❖ Works by keeping the vagina healthy, facilitating pregnancy, and preventing pregnancy.

  Cervical Mucus/Billings Method

  ❖ Entails observing the changes in the cervical mucus secretion during the menstrual cycle.
• Step 1:

  Check daily for any cervical secretions on underwear by tissue paper or by finger in or around the vagina. Note that the consistency of your cervical mucus changes throughout the menstrual cycle.

  Step 2:

  In checking, take note of the Peak Day:

  ● Refers to the last day of secreting clear, slippery, stretchy, and wet mucus.

  ● You can only identify the peak day after it occurs, when you notice your cervical mucus has become dry.
• 4 Cervical Mucus Stages

  • Dry phase
  • Sticky phase
  • Creamy phase
  • Clear phase
• Dry Phase (Not Fertile)

  ● Happens in days 1-3 after period

  ● Dry or mostly dry consistency
• Sticky Phase (Not Fertile)

  ● Happens in days 4-6 after period

  ● White or cloudy consistency and forms sticky globs
• Creamy Phase (Semi Fertile)

  ● Happens in days 7-9 after period

  ● Creamy, cloudy, and thick consistency
• Clear Phase (Fertile! - Indicates Ovulation)

  ● Happens in days 10-14 after period

  ● Stretchy and slippery consistency like an egg white.

  The mucus thins during this period to facilitate a better environment for the sperm to travel to the egg.
• When to Avoid Intercourse

  If there are any secretions observed, and for the next 3 days after the peak day. You must also avoid unprotected sex on days of heavy monthly bleeding.

  ● Ovulation may occur early in the cycle, particularly during the last days of monthly bleeding, and heavy bleeding could make mucus hard to observe.
• When to Resume Intercourse

  Between the end of monthly bleeding and the start of secretions every other day but NOT for 2 days in a row!

  ● This is because it could yield a false positive result

  ● Seminal fluid could be mistaken for cervical mucus

  ● Thus, AVOID sex on the 2nd day allows time for semen to deposit and disappear in vagina. On the 4th day after the peak day and until the next monthly bleeding begins.
• Factors that Affect Billings Method

  A client who has a vaginal infection or any condition that changes cervical mucus may find this method difficult to use.
• EFFECTIVENESS OF THE BILLINGS METHOD:

  About 3 per 100 women who use the method correctly and consistently and abstain from fertile days become pregnant over the first year of use.