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At Your Cervix
A Lifetime of Cervical Health
By Shel Franco
"In a [cervix which has never been through childbirth], the external opening or os is small and round," says Dr. Nardone. "It looks something like a doughnut with a tiny hole in the middle. After a vaginal birth this opening becomes a transverse slit and is referred to as a parous os."
Your non-pregnant cervix would most likely be pinkish in color. Its texture would vary.
Women who are actively trying to conceive often check their cervix and their cervical mucus for signs of fertility. Mucus that is clear, sticky and stretchy is considered "fertile mucus."
"I feel more in control of my health and more comfortable with my fertility since I started tracking my cervical changes," says Laurie Schultz* of San Jose, Calif. With the help of her partner, a speculum, a mirror and a flashlight, Schultz charts her cervical changes each month.
"It is so interesting that my cervix has moved around all this time without me knowing it," she says. "It opens, closes, changes colors and moves closer or further away. It's wild, and it tells me so much. Before, I really didn't know that anything was going on there. I discovered that I have little bumps on my cervix that come and go that are totally normal. I like that I know what IS normal for my body and that allows me to track ovulation."
"Once the uterus is pregnant, the cervix acts as a sphincter and keeps the pregnancy enclosed within the uterus," says Dr. Nardone.
The pregnant cervix can turn some amazing colors, as my midwife so joyously proclaimed Purple or even blue cervixes are not unusual during pregnancy.
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