These are photos from a 35 year old woman who has had four vaginal births (the last child was born 11 years ago). The couple is trying to conceive a fifth child, so they took the photos because it helps them to determine when she is ovulating.
You can see that her os (opening to the cervix) is a slit shape, which is how the muscle resumes after having dilated during her vaginal births. Also, the diameter of her cervix is larger than of a woman’s who has never given birth.
Her average cycle is 30 to 31 days with a 14 day luteal phase. In this cycle, she ovulated on day 17. Below are a few photos of her cervix; the day number is below each photo.
Day 14
Day 16
One day before ovulation
Notice os is open and cervical fluid looks gelatinous/fertile
Day 19
Two days post-ovulation
Day 23
Seven days post-ovulation
Os closed
Was this person gregnant when the final photo was taken???
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Comment by Interested — April 4, 2009 @ 7:13 pm
No, she did not conceive this cycle.
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Comment by beautifulcervix — April 5, 2009 @ 8:15 am
This is to congratulate your bold initiative which will be of tremendous use to the research community. Wish you all the best and hope you will succeed in your future such endeavours
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Comment by Chandra Mohan — April 7, 2009 @ 7:14 am
Hi,
I found your website because I am trying to understand my cycle more as we are trying to start a family. I’ve seen my cervix a few times while getting colposcopies (I have cervical dysplasia), and noticed the slit shape of my os. I’ve never had children before, saw the pics of the woman who has had 4 vaginal births, and thought you may be interested to know the slit shape of my os. Great website, I wish you luck in all you do.
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Comment by ea — May 9, 2009 @ 10:46 am
I would like to see a picture of a woman on her ovulation day. I will be ttc starting in Sept. and have picked up on the discharge clues but would like to witness ovulation.
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Eram Memon Reply:
December 12th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
I like this web site is very good knowledge for me and world woman and man to + work
Best regards
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Sarah Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 12:22 pm
You cannot witness ovulation from the cervix. Ovulation happens at the ovaries, inside the abdomen. I bet you could find some photos/video through google of ovulation. I know I have seen a photo series before.
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Comment by ttc09 — May 18, 2009 @ 10:28 am
This is very informative! I’d love to see some pictures of a pregnant woman’s cervix, in the end stages. I am currently 33 weeks along and am wondering what a closed cervix versus a dilating cervix looks like.
Thanks for all your work
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Laurann Reply:
March 7th, 2011 at 8:44 pm
I second the idea. Thanks for this very informative website.
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Comment by Amber — May 24, 2009 @ 9:53 pm
Hi,
Great website. I was recently told I had LSIL w/ positive HPV. I’ve been looking for pictures and info regarding the two. I wanted to know what are the dark red areas around her OS? According to the pictures mine should look like that.
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Comment by Arizona — June 19, 2009 @ 6:33 pm
What type of photographic equipment did you use, its source and how much did it cost?
Thank You.
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Comment by Gary Wayne Garcia — July 22, 2009 @ 2:23 pm
It would be great if you studied a cycle of a person who is trying to get pregnant. And show what the cervix and cervical mucous looks like when the person does conceive
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Comment by natasha Glenn — July 24, 2009 @ 10:57 am
We used a digital point-and-shoot Cannon powershot SD900. But any digital camera with a good macro function would work fine.
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Comment by beautifulcervix — July 26, 2009 @ 9:53 am
I’ve just experienced postcoital bleeding at nearly it’s worst. My gynocologist found the vaginal tear underneath my cervix and stitched it closed. Three days later, I started bleeding to where most of my time was spent on the toilet. It took a trip to the ER (via ambulance) to stop the bleeding and add more stitches. I would really like to see photos of this nature just so I (as well as other women) could see what bleeding during sexual intercourse could result in.
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Comment by Rayne' McCoy — September 1, 2009 @ 7:16 pm
[...] you MUST check out The Beautiful Cervix Project created by a student midwife. This is an ode to being a woman, where cervixes aren’t objects [...]
Pingback by Love your cervix | Pregnancy News — October 26, 2009 @ 6:14 pm
hey great site i can use this when it come time to have the talk with my one year one in 9 years… i have a iud the merina it was neat to see a cervics in color with an iud… you should get some pictures of cervics with cervical cancer or the hpv spots… that would be helpful for me been diganosed since june of 2008 when i was 6 months pregnant had three copos since then have another coming up in feb… well let me know and good luck on your site this is great.
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Comment by alexandria — November 7, 2009 @ 2:11 am
Wow, what a great reference guide to women like me who even after 3 vaginal births have really not given much thought to my cervix until now, as I have had LEEP procedure (CIN III) recently and the little sketch the doc. draws prior was not very informative at all. I too would like to see images of a HPV infected or Cancerous Cervix. Thanks very much.
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Comment by Danni — November 30, 2009 @ 1:46 am
To Arizona,
The dark red area is a normal occurrence in older women/women who’ve had babies. The type of cells inside the cervix is different than those on the outside. In this woman, you can just see some of the inside type. Perfectly normal!
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Comment by Kelsey — December 5, 2009 @ 1:45 pm
This woman has an incredibly healthy appearing cervix. Especially given her age and number of vaginal deliveries. Excellent project!! I learned a lot!
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Comment by Lorrie — February 10, 2010 @ 6:46 pm
i wanne to become pregnant bt i try for two
years know and im so emotional
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Comment by elna gabone — April 29, 2010 @ 1:38 am
I would just like to thank you so much for all the hard work you are doing to help us women understand our bodies more. I am 25 and have never given any thought about what my cervix may look like until now since me and my husband have been TTC for 2 years. This is truly amazing site and cant wait to see more updates. Thanks!!
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Comment by Sarah — June 23, 2010 @ 12:50 pm
Hi, I wanted to ask if there was a difference in the cervix of a woman who is fertile and one who is infertile. I have a menstrual cycle every month but I don’t get the cervical mucus anymore and I don’t think I ovulate either and I am only 28 years old.
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Kim Reply:
December 23rd, 2011 at 12:56 am
While you are having a bleed every month, you may not be ovulating – which means you are not having a full, true, “period”. Try tracking your basal body temperature for a few months, and see what pattern comes up. http://www.fertilityfriend.com is a great site to help track and interpret results. If you are not ovulating, you need to see a gyno for assessment. One thing – you need the gyno to figure out WHY you are not ovulating, not just throw medication at you to get you to ovulate!
A common cause of lack of ovulation is PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). PCOS is really a metabolic issue that just happens to affect female hormone balances, and therefore fertility. While fertility meds can “force” ovulation, it is MUCH more effective to treat the metabolic imbalance FIRST. In fact, many women who do that find that they don’t need any further medical assistance in becoming pregnant. Also, one unfortunate effect of PCOS is a higher risk of early miscarriage. That doesn’t seem to happen as often when the metabolic issue is addressed prior to conceiving.
Of course, it could be something completely different from PCOS – that’s just one example of why it’s important to treat the root issue, and not just “force” the body to “behave”.
Take care, good luck baby dancing, and I hope you have great success!
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Comment by Jallen — September 19, 2010 @ 11:38 pm
how do you know when you are ovulating i heard it was 2 weeks after your menstrual cycle is this correct? phoos above show ovulation on day 16 and stuff i thought it only lasted for 14 days. and how is this picture being taken if that is deep inside her vagianl canal.
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Comment by brianna helm — September 21, 2010 @ 2:56 pm
hi there – this site is awesome!
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anon Reply:
October 18th, 2010 at 9:23 pm
yes, it is! the creator is so cool!
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Comment by oms — October 18, 2010 @ 9:21 pm
Hello there,
I was very surprised when i found your website. I am a teacher for cytology-technysians in the Netherlands and i want to recomment this site to my students. These are wonderfull pictures!! A lott of succes with your own study!!
Manita
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Comment by Manita — October 30, 2010 @ 12:42 pm
I have been looking for pics of a cervix. Mine is backwards (facing my back) and I have been dying to know what a normal one looks like. This site is awesome! Thank you!
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amanda Reply:
February 19th, 2011 at 1:03 pm
23… have you ever been told you have a tilted o retroverted uterus? mine faces the same way and i was wondering if that is why…
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Comment by GodCan1 — November 4, 2010 @ 4:45 pm
this is cool
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Comment by elaine12qw — November 15, 2010 @ 1:01 am
i was wondering if you know how i can tell if i have a tilted uterus. all of the photos i have seen the cervix seems to point straight down towards the vaginal opening, and when i feel mine in self exam for CM, it faces the back wall of my vagina(the wall shared with the anus)instead of straight down. also i tend to have pain during intercourse, as if the penetration is too deep. i am curious, as i am pregnant now, and they are having a hard time seeing the baby inside of the sac, and i have heard that having a tilted uterus can make this occur. thanks.
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Comment by amanda — February 19, 2011 @ 1:02 pm
I just would like to know why the os is closed if she is not pregnant ?
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Comment by Christelle — March 11, 2011 @ 12:08 pm
Very good information for all that cares.
Please can I recommend this web page to my friends
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Comment by pat — April 29, 2011 @ 11:23 pm
This great work will go a long way to educate women for better understanding of their circle.
You never can tell how many more people your selfless service would help.
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Comment by Uzo- anyanka — April 29, 2011 @ 11:30 pm
[...] Can I get more info? There’s an incredibly detailed website called The Beautiful Cervix Project with tons of pictures of the cervix at various stages in a woman’s cycle and during [...]
Pingback by Can I Check My Own Cervix To See If I'm Dilating? | Being Pregnant — May 24, 2011 @ 10:54 am
Question: If you think your cervix has torn last labour will it effect your ability to have more children and can it cause stabbing pains?
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Comment by Melanie — August 14, 2011 @ 12:31 am
It is amazing how the cervix in some stages is similar to the male glans,the pink colour,the shine, the softness,the shape,provided that the covers(foreskin) were not cut of as the USA still do by 32% and when the glans loose its protection it become very rough and insensitive not as Nature intended it. A rough glans can damage the cervix on top of the useless cervical exams that only benefit the greedy doctors in USA just as the genital mutilations on USA males. Nature knows what She is doing, She do all for a purpose be it the beautiful cervix or the anti-friction device on all intact males, the trees, the flowers, the endless Suns in the Universe Never in the history of the mankind would a woman submit her cervix to some device that will rip cells from inside of her cervix This and the male mutilated rough glans could damage the cervical mucosa protective walls and rub in the cancer causing virus in to it No wonder the USA have the highest cervical cancer.
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Comment by Paul Frohlich — August 29, 2011 @ 11:43 pm
i will apreciate to have a look at a pic of woman that have conceived after ovulation immediately. Early stage of pregnancy before missing period
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Comment by Lucy — September 15, 2011 @ 3:45 am
I mean to say Cervix pic pls. The cervix project programme is so great
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Comment by Lucy — September 15, 2011 @ 3:49 am
That is interesting on day 19 two days after ovulating you see redness on her cervix. I guess that is from sexual intercourse? It also is there the days leading up to it.
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Comment by Ashley — September 17, 2011 @ 12:30 pm
[...] Beautiful Cervix Project -Age 35 – 4 vaginal births В» These are photos from a 35 year old woman who has had four vaginal births (the last child was born 11 years ago). … [...]
Pingback by Benefactor » Blog Archive » Pictures of vaginal birth — September 22, 2011 @ 2:58 am