Is your period ideal to support your fertility?

I hear it all the time in consults – “My period is pretty normal”. Then I proceed to tell my patient or client what I consider the ideal menstrual cycle to be, and they say “wow, mine is nothing like that. That would be nice!” So let’s talk about what an ideal period looks like, because it can tell us a lot about your overall healthy and your fertility.

1. 28 days long – ideally your cycle should be 28-30 days long on a consistent basis. And yes, stress can really affect your cycle and can make it longer or shorter.
2. Ovulation around cycle day 14, with no pain or spotting – it’s important for ovulation to be close to cycle day 14. If it’s too short then your eggs may not be mature enough when you ovulate. If it’s too long then the egg may be over matured. Either way, it may create an egg that isn’t of optimal health and may affect fertilization. And although it’s normal for women to feel some pain around ovulation, it’s not ideal (note: there is a difference between a gentle awareness and pain, what we don’t want is the later)
3. Abundant cervical mucus: ideally I like to see 3-6 days of clear, stretchy, abundant cervical mucus. This does several things:
   1. Lets us know your cervix is opening, so if we’re mid cycle we’re hitting our fertility window (date night people!)
   2. Helps the sperm travel faster through the vaginal canal and cervix to help them reach the egg.
4. 4-5 days of  menstrual flow with NO PMS, pain, spotting, cramping, clotting, or any of those other things that you’ve grown accustomed to experiencing with your period each month. Let’s discuss these a little further:
   1. Color: 4-5 days of bright red flow, without any clotting indicates a healthy uterine lining was formed that month. You should soak a pad or tampon every 4 hours while awake (regular or super, not a super plus).
   2. Quality:
      1. Clots are bad. They’re coagulated blood, and they’re coming from your uterine lining. I frequently hear patients say that they thought the clots were forming because they were wearing a tampon. Do an experiment and wear a pad for a day, you’ll discover your clots are still there. Since clots are coagulated blood, they’re sticky and hard for the uterus to get rid of. So:
         1. you may be experiencing pain on the days that you notice clots,
         2. your body is bleeding more than it wants to in an attempt to help expel the clots
         3. and a healthy embryo cannot implant into a clot – so they’re actually decreasing the healthy surface area for a healthy embryo to implant.
      2. Pain is bad: As mentioned above, if you’re experiencing pain with your menses, you’re probably also experiencing clots. And clots are bad (see above).
      3. Thick and Dark are also bad: In addition you may also notice the flow is thicker or more viscous and and the blood may be darker. I’ve had patients with everything from dark red to dark brown, purple, even black blood during a period. This is not an ideal place for an embryo to call home.
   3. Spotting frequently comes from not making enough blood, heat, poor circulation to the pelvis, or some combination of these. The color of the spotting is important and gives us signs as to what is causing it. Is the spotting light red or even pink? Then it’s more likely the patient isn’t making enough blood. Is it dark purple or black? Then it’s more likely poor circulation and stress feeding the issue. Or is it brown? Then we may be looking at a combination of both with some involvement of heat.
   4. PMS symptoms indicate that the liver isn’t doing a good job of metabolizing hormones and that’s why we’re experiencing headaches, acne, and mood swings before our period. So when PMS symptoms are present, that’s an indication that the liver is not working at an optimal level.

There are many other symptoms that you may be experiencing with your menstrual cycle. Realistically your cycle should be:

• 28 days long
• At ovulation good cervical mucus should be present
• Period should be 4-5 days, soaking a pad or tampon every 4 hours
• No pain, PMS, clotting, or spotting

A less than ideal cycle isn’t just an inconvenience, it may be a road block to conception and a healthy pregnancy. If your period doesn’t look like this, don’t loose hope! There’s a lot we can do to correct it with exercise, diet, and other lifestyle modifications. And I’m always happy to discuss what your period is trying to tell us about your fertility during a free consultation (book here).

I hope you found this article helpful, and if it was, I’d love for you to share it with someone else that may be having a difficult fertility journey. Until next time, don’t stop dreaming!

Misty M. Reed, Fertility Consultant & Coach

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