Chapter 14: Objective Classification of the Mucus Cycle

This chapter describes the consistency, color, change, and sensation mucus cycle scoring system (3 C’S MCSS), which assigns points to a woman's vulvar mucus observations and averages them over the six days up to and including the Peak Day. In a blind comparison with chart interpretation covering 197 cycles from 122 patients, the mean scores were 11.3 for regular, 8.1 for intermediate regular, 6.8 for intermediate limited, 3.8 for limited, and 0.0 for dry mucus cycles, and the chapter reports that the means differed significantly across all five classifications. From these data, Hilgers develops a classification of mucus cycles by score range and describes the method as physician-independent because it needs no internal examination. The chapter also notes a general consistency in the type of mucus cycle within a particular woman, especially for dry, limited, and intermediate limited cycles in women with infertility and repetitive miscarriage.