What Every Woman Should Know About Her Luteal Phase

The luteal phase is the second half of your menstrual cycle, which takes place after ovulation and ends when you get your next period. The average luteal phase typically lasts from 12–16 days, and is usually about the same length of time each month. It can be also as short as 10 days. During the luteal phase, your body prepares for the possibility of a pregnancy.

After you ovulate, the corpus luteum — a structure inside the ovaries that holds a developing egg — collapses and begins to produce progesterone. Progesterone helps the endometrium thicken and become more vascular so that if there is a fertilized egg, it has a “soft pillow” on the uterine lining in which to implant itself. If no egg implants, the corpus luteum stops producing progesterone and you shed your uterine lining in your period.

Progesterone has the side effect of raising the woman’s basal body temperature. The shift in basal body temperature between the follicular and the luteal phase is to 0.5°C (0.9°F).

Likely, the amount of mucus will decrease (some women experience dryness or no feeling in the vagina), or the color-texture of the cervical mucus will change to a lower quality.

When progesterone is high, women may experience tender breasts and nipples.Confoundingly, this is also an early pregnancy symptom. If you are charting your cycles and you know where you are throughout, you can dismiss this early tenderness as a possible effect of post-ovulation progesterone. However, if the tenderness continues or intensifies when you normally do not experience this sensitivity, you may be experiencing early signs of pregnancy.

The high content of progesterone can also precipitate premenstrual syndrome symptoms such as mood swings, anxiety, and irritability.

IMPORTANT: When you’re trying to get pregnant, the length of the luteal phase is one of the most important keys to pay attention to.

It provides a wealth of information about your hormonal balance, your cycle regularity, progesterone secretion, and your ability to conceive.

If your luteal phase is under 10 days, it’s a sign that your body isn’t making enough progesterone (i.e. luteal phase deficiency). A fertilized egg may not have sufficient time to implant and burrow into the uterine lining before the progesterone starts to decrease, signaling the body to shed the lining and become your next period.

If the luteal phase is sufficiently long, the egg has plenty of time to implant and to signal the ovaries to start producing Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), the hormone detected in pregnancy tests.

Your progesterone levels matter even if you aren’t trying to conceive. Adequate progesterone is crucial for maintaining healthy bones, long-term heart health, sleeping well, and feeling your best.

Luteal phase deficiency (LPD) has been diagnosed in 3–20% of patients who are infertile, and in 5–60% of patients experiencing recurrent pregnancy loss. However, data shows that 6–10% of women who are fertile demonstrate an inadequate luteal phase, which confirms the need for a better understanding of normal variations in the menstrual cycle, as well as in variations that could be pathologic.

Some of the causes for shorten luteal phase are:

IMPORTANT: Test progesterone when it’s highest, which is about halfway through your luteal phase. It’s when you are 5–7 days after ovulation, and 5–7 days before your period.

The best plan is to try to detect ovulation and then count 5–7 days after. There are two ways to do it:

Treatment for a short luteal phase will vary depending on what’s causing it.

IMPORTANT: The most common cause for luteal phase defect is a hormonal imbalance.

There are many causes of hormone imbalance, such as lack of nutrition, toxins in the body from improper eating habits (processed food, fast food) and from the environment. Fortunately, lengthening the luteal phase due to low progesterone levels is the easiest of fertility problems to treat and correct.

The changes in the extension of the luteal phase may be noticed in a period of 3–6 cycles by taking the following supplements:

We hope you found this post helpful.

My name is dr. Simona Medvescek and I help and support women and couples on their fertility journey.

I am a professional fertility awareness educator for more then 10 years. I have made a training in accordance to the standards of the AG NFP working group from Koeln, Germany.

To this day I consulted with over 500 women and couples.

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