The Mucus Plug: What You Need to Know

Pregnancy can be a wonderful thing filled with new experiences and many physical body changes. If you are pregnant it is important to know about the mucus plug and why it is important during pregnancy.

During pregnancy, the mucus plug is a layer of mucus that collects around the cervix and aides in protection. The layer of mucus found on your cervix has a purpose to protect your cervix against infection and keeps bacteria from entering. Every woman will have a mucus plug during pregnancy because this is a vital protection barrier for your baby and is needed to ensure proper fetal development. The mucus plug can be thought of as something similar to mucus out of your nose, as in it might be clear or somewhat white during your pregnancy and also is somewhat thinner than other vaginal secretions that happen during pregnancy. A mucus plug might also appear red or pink in color and might even look brown as you get closer to giving birth. During the final weeks of pregnancy, the red or pink mucus is called a "bloody show," and is an indicator you are getting closer to delivery.

A mucus plug can start to fall apart as early as week 36 of pregnancy and can be an indication of pending labor. If you notice the mucus plug is starting to unravel before week 36 or is completely gone before week 36, you should contact your doctor right away. Although the mucus plug signals that the body might be getting ready for labor, it is not a guarantee that you will go into labor after you lose it. During this time, your cervix could become dilated a few weeks before you will actually give birth due to some women having slower dilation times. Losing your mucus plug should be an exciting time, because as the protective layer surrounding your cervix falls apart, a baby is inside getting ready to be born. Some women do not really notice they have lost their mucus plug, due to a gradual increase in vaginal secretions instead of the mucus plug coming out at one time. The loss of your mucus plug is dependent on how fast your cervix dilates, because the slower dilation and opening of the cervix means the slower loss of the mucus plug. If you are not sure if you have lost your mucus plug or not, an indication that you have lost it or are in the process of losing it is the increase in vaginal secretions which can be pink, red, or clear in nature.

If you are 36 weeks into your pregnancy and notice the loss of your mucus plug. there is no medical need to call your doctor or go to the hospital. Many women lose their mucus plug a few weeks before delivery so you have nothing to be that concerned about since it is a natural process and is harmless to both you and your baby. However, if you notice that you have lost your mucus plug and it is followed by contractions that are fairly close together in time, you should contact your doctor. Losing your mucus plug followed by contractions might be an indicator you are actually going into labor and you need to get to the hospital. Some women will not lose their mucus plug until right before labor if the cervix does not start dilating gradually but rather a quick and sudden dilation occurs. Your doctor should have given you information about when the right time to go to the hospital for delivery would be, and should have notified you in when your contractions are close enough together to warrant a trip to the delivery room.

The mucus plug is a natural and exciting part of being pregnant and should not really worry you or cause you any concern. The protective layer of mucus that surrounds your cervix should not fall out or fall apart until week 36 of your pregnancy. The only time you need to be concerned is if you notice bright red blood at any time during your pregnancy, even in the later weeks. The bright red blood is not the mucus plug as some women might assume and it can actually be a problem with the placenta. If you notice bright red blood or more than a couple teaspoons of blood, you should notify your doctor as soon as possible to ensure your safety. As with a lot of pregnancy issues, if you have a question or concern you should always share it with your doctor so they can tell you what is right and normal during this exciting time in your life.