Fun Facts About Your Mucus Plug

Your mucus plug is a snot-like, jelly-like substance that plugs your cervix. It is sometimes spelled mucous plug and sometimes called bloody show. It's all the same thing. Its function is to act as a barrier to bacteria and other pathogens from entering your womb through the vaginal canal.

Look at the picture to get a clearer idea of where exactly it is located.

There are several layers of protection to keep bacteria and other harmful substances from reaching the baby. The mucous plug is one of these.

What does it mean to lose the mucus plug?

At the end of pregnancy, as labor approaches, the cervix may begin opening a little bit. As you can see from the picture above, the baby's head presses down on the cervix, causing it both to shorten and widen. As it opens and becomes wider, the snot-like, jelly-like stuff inside starts falling out. Or oozing out. Women at the end of pregnancy get excited about this because this may be one of the early signs of labor, and so may signal the light at the end of the tunnel for someone who is just hugely pregnant and tired of it.

The thing is, your body is constantly regenerating the plug, so just because you see it once in the toilet bowl or shower or smeared on your underwear doesn't mean you won't see it again. It is very possible to keep losing your mucous plug several times.

I just lost my mucus plug. Does this mean I'm going into labor?

Not necessarily. Encountering the blob of jelly just means your body is already doing some work, getting the cervix a bit looser, a bit wider. But labor (contrary to what they show on television) doesn't usually start with a bang, and it also doesn't usually progress in a linear fashion. In other words, it's not like seeing bloody show is like throwing a the switch "labor ON" and from there it's a straight line to the baby coming out. Oh no. Labor usually comes and goes in waves. Your body is doing the work of labor days, or even weeks before you decide you really are in labor. And once you decide you really are in labor, there will be ebbs and flows. Sometimes it'll speed up, sometimes it'll slow down. This is why it's impossible to predict exactly how much time will pass between certain early labor signs and the birth of the baby.

I just lost my mucus plug. When will I have my baby?

No one knows. You may have your baby in your arms in a few hours. Or it may still be weeks. Seeing your mucous plug means nothing in terms of when your baby is coming. You just know your baby IS coming. At some point...

My mucus plug is (insert color here). Is that normal?

Mucous plugs come in a variety of colors (and amounts, too!). Most often, they are grey to translucent, but can be yellowish to green, like snot, too. And often, they contain traces of blood, which makes them red or pink. That's because as the cervix opens (which is what sets this stuff loose), tiny blood vessels may break, and tinge the mucus pink or even blood red. This is completely normal.

However, if you are bleeding bright red blood, enough to fill a sanitary pad, call your doctor or midwife or hospital immediately. Lots of bright red bleeding is never a good sign during pregnancy, and you should get it checked out by your care provider as soon as possible.

So what does the mucus plug look like?

Here are some mucus plug pictures. Note how different its appearance can be!

Click here for more images of mucus plugs.

Did you know the mucus plug was there before you got pregnant?

Fun fact of the day: there is always mucus in the cervix. Its consistency changes throughout your menstrual cycle. When you are fertile, cervical mucus becomes slippery, like egg-white, and its molecular structure also changes to form channels to help sperm swim up through the cervix. When you are not fertile, the cervical mucus changes to sticky, and its molecural structure changes to something like a brambly blackberry bush, and acts as a barrier to sperm (and everything else).

So why is it sometimes spelled "mucus" and sometimes spelled "mucous?"

"Mucus" is a noun and "mucous" is an adjective. So it's kinda like the difference between "slime ball" versus "slimy ball." Now you know. :)

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