Josie and Mucus Cycle

8/9/2019 Josie and Mucus Cycle

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3 Louise Kirk 2009

You can see all sorts of lovely liquids there, just ready to feed the baby, until suddenly,

whoosh! The follicle disintegrates, the progesterone levels in the blood drop

dramatically, and the lining of the womb begins to be shed. Theres the period all over

again.

Its very interesting, Mummy, Josie said, craning over the drawing. But you

were going to tell me about mucus. Does that come from all those glands?

A good question, but actually it doesnt. It comes from the cervix. Can you tell

me what the cervix is?

I know you said you

have to look after it, replied

Josie, thinking hard. You said

it was something like the

gateway of the uterus.

It is. You can see it

here in the diagram. Its

actually part of the uterus and

joins the uterus to the top of the

vagina. Its a bit like a tube and

measures about 1 inches

long. Its made of lots of

expandable material becausewhen a baby is born it has to

stretch from being only about

an inch in diameter to being

wide enough to let the baby out.

Can you see all those wiggly folds? she went on. Theyre called cryptsand

inside the crypts there are hundreds of glands which produce the mucus I was talking

about. They dont only produce one kind of mucus there are lots of different kinds.

The scientists are still discovering quite how many and what it all does. Anyway, Im

going to keep it very simple and talk about the two basic types.

She continued drawing round her diagram.

Most of the time the cervix produces mucus which looks like this. She pointed

to her right-hand diagram. Can you see that it is made up of blocks designed to keep

things out? That protects the uterus from germs, and it also prevents any of the mans

sperm reaching the uterus and the tubes.

Figure 3: Cervix and its mucus


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4 Louise Kirk 2009

Oh, said Josie. Does that mean that most of the time you cant have a baby?

Well, the time of possible conception, when the mans sperm and the womans

egg can join to become a new cell, is much shorter than that. You should be able to

work it out from what I told you last time.

Josie thought hard.

Ill give you a clue, her mum ventured. How long does the egg live in the

tube after ovulation if it hasnt been fertilised?

Umm, 24 hours? Josie asked.

Well done. Up to 24 hours and usually nearer 12. So that means that the actual

moment of conception, when the mans sperm and the womans egg join together, can

only take place within 12-24 hours each month. But nature has extended the period oftime when an act of intercourse can lead to conception by something else. What else do

you think it could be?

Alice looked really puzzled at this. Cant think! she said after a bit.

If you want to make sure that you catch a bus, and you only know roughly

when it will arrive, what do you do? her mother asked.

Alice shrugged and said, Arrive early and hang around, I suppose.

If sperm arrive early, thats exactly what they do. They hang around and wait

for the egg. But theyre only able to do that round about the time that the bus is

expected, i.e. that the precious egg is

released. Normally, the sperm die pretty

quickly in the vagina, but round the time

of ovulation they can live for several days.

The reason they can do that is because of

this other kind of mucus.

Josie looked again at the seconddiagram. Wow, Mum. Its completely

different! Isnt nature clever? And does

the sperm travel up all those channels?

Yes, it does. So the mucus acts

like a biological valve, open round the time of ovulation and closed at other times.

When oestrogen levels are high it opens, and when they are low it closes.

Figure 4: Picture of fertile cervical mucus under

microscope


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Mum, if you can only start a baby for such a short time each month, why does

everybody talk about using contraception? Josie asked.

Her mum met Josies inquiring look. There are various reasons, but I suspect

the main one is that most people dont realise how clearly the body works and how easy

it is to read its language. Your dad and I only discovered about it recently and we were

so impressed with what wed learnt that we made it our business to discover as much as

we could. Now, we want you and your brother and sister to know and respect the

full beauty of your bodies from the beginning.

Josies mum paused and smiled. Your generation is much luckier than mine

was. You see, a lot of the science has only been discovered quite recently, and even then

it hasnt been widely taught.

She looked down again at the diagrams in front of her. When youre older Ill

teach you how to read all your fertility. But for today its enough to remember that there

are two main types of mucus. One nourishes and helps the sperm along, and the other

blocks it. Theres another big difference. The barrier mucus stays where it is in the

cervix. You wont be aware that its there. But the stringy mucus the mucus which

looks after the sperm drips down through the vagina and is clearly visible on the

outside of the body. It appears as a sticky discharge, a bit like white of egg. Sometimes

its like a gluey white lump. Youll come to recognise it. When I was young, nobody

ever told me about it. I remember seeing it and thinking there must be something wrong

with me! I thought I must have tape worms (I didnt know what they were either)!

When you see it, youll know its a pretty good clue that you can expect a period in

about a fortnights time youll get to know your own pattern.

Josie looked up at her mum and gave her a big hug. Thanks, Mum, she said.

You know, youre the best mum in all the world!

Diagrams with amended captions taken fromReproductive Anatomy and Physiology for the Natural Family Planning

Practitioner, Thomas W. Hilgers, m.d. (Creighton University), 1981 with kind permission of the author.

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Josie and Mucus Cycle