What was THAT?! All About the Mucus Plug

Let’s chat really quickly about the mucus plug: a slimy little barrier that surprises many as they navigate those very last weeks of pregnancy.

The cervix is like a hallway or a tiny corridor out and into the uterus. The lowest portion of the uterus, the cervix generally stays shut before and during most healthy pregnancies. Pregnant women and birthing folks even form a gooey little cork to keep this hallway free, clear and closed until the baby is ready to make their debut.

What is a mucus plug?

A mucus plug is barrier formed in the cervix during pregnancy. Similar to vaginal discharge in consistency and makeup, a mucus plug is much thicker, denser and there’s a lot of it…which makes sense because it’s designed to protect your baby from any harmful material that might enter the uterus during pregnancy.

What does a mucus plug look like?

Thick and reminiscent of heavy vaginal discharge, your mucous plug will mostly look like snot. It will be a creamy range between off-white and pale yellow. It may have a brown, dark red or pink tint to it, similar to when you are expecting your period. That’s called a bloody show.

As your cervix gets ready for labor—slightly opening and thinning—the rupturing of tiny blood vessels that your uterus and cervix are lined with causes blood to show up. A small amount of brown, pink or slightly red blood is what you can expect as normal.

If you however notice you are losing your mucus plug before 37 weeks of pregnancy and you are seeing more than just a tinge of bright red blood when you wipe, be sure to let your birth provider know right away.

storytime...

As my husband and midwife walked me from the bathroom to my birthing pool, I noticed a long, slimy spattering of brown-tinged mucus running down my thigh. Based on the last couple of toilet bowl contractions, I knew I was heading into transition. It wouldn’t be long before we met our son.

Will I lose my mucus plug?

There is no way to tell if you’ll lose your mucus plug before labor.

In the last trimester of pregnancy, your uterus starts preparing for the grand finale: the birth of your baby. You may even feel this practice work in the form of Braxton Hicks contractions, false labor squeezes that are experienced as the periodic tightening of your uterus. This is not the actual start of labor and are less intense and not nearly as productive as labor contractions.

What is more important to know is that your mucus plug will come out in one of two ways: when labor is on its way, or underway. Most laboring women won’t even notice their mucus plug has come out because they’ll be will into active labor, with their cervix well on its way to being open for birth.

So you might lose your mucus plug before you go into labor, but many folks don’t see their plug—if at all—until well into active labor.

If you lose your plug before labor, it may come out in bits and pieces at different times or all at once. And remember, if you notice you are losing your mucus plug before 37 weeks of pregnancy, be sure to let your birth provider know right away.

Continue to monitor your body’s signals if you lose your plug. Keep practicing coping and comfort techniques and take this as a cue to reflect on this moment. Get your journal out and pour out the excitement or nervousness that you may be feeling.

The loss of your mucus plug isn’t a sure sign that labor will start soon. But whether or not that’s the case for you, let your baby know how much you’re looking forward to meeting them, whether its soon after you see or plug or not.