Losing your mucus plug: what it looks like and what it means

You wipe and find a glob of thick, sticky mucus on the toilet paper, maybe streaked with pink or brown. Late in pregnancy, that may well be your mucus plug. Losing it is a normal part of the last weeks. At 37 weeks or later, it usually isn’t a reason to worry on its own (Cleveland Clinic).

It means your cervix has started to soften or open, but it can’t tell you when labor will begin. Call your provider instead of waiting if you’re not yet 37 weeks or you’re bleeding more than a little.

What is a mucus plug?

Early in pregnancy, mucus collects in the canal of your cervix and forms a thick plug. It seals the opening of the cervix and acts as a barrier that helps keep bacteria from reaching your uterus. Rising pregnancy hormones such as progesterone form it.

As your due date gets closer, your cervix starts to soften, thin out (efface) and open (dilate). That loosens the plug and pushes it into your vagina, which is why you find it in your underwear or on toilet paper. Sex in the last weeks of pregnancy and a cervical check at a prenatal visit can also loosen it.

Your body keeps making mucus throughout pregnancy, so the plug can partly regenerate. That’s why some people lose part of it and then more of it later.

What does a mucus plug look like?

Every mucus plug looks a little different. Cleveland Clinic describes a typical one as:

• clear, off-white or slightly bloody, which can mean pink, red or brown
• stringy, sticky and jelly-like
• about 1 to 2 inches long, or 1 to 2 tablespoons of mucus
• mostly odorless

The closest comparison is the thick mucus you cough up with a cold, and it looks very different from period blood. It may come out as one blob or in several smaller pieces. If it comes out gradually, you may never notice it at all.

Mucus plug color: what’s normal

What you see	What it usually means	What to do
Clear or off-white	A typical mucus plug	Note it and watch for other signs of labor
Pink, or streaked with red or brown	A little blood from the cervix, as with a bloody show	Keep an eye on the amount
Bright red, or more than a few streaks	May be a sign that something is wrong	Call your provider right away
Green or yellow, or an unpleasant smell	Can be a sign of a vaginal infection (NHS)	Call your midwife or doctor

Mucus plug vs. bloody show

The two are closely related. The NHS in the UK simply calls it a “show” when the mucus plug comes away. Cleveland Clinic draws a finer line: the mucus plug is mostly mucus, while a bloody show is mainly blood from your cervix. It may be mixed with some mucus from the plug.

Your cervix has a lot of blood vessels, and they can bleed a little as it softens and opens. A bloody show can be red, brown or pink, with the same stringy, jelly-like texture. Sometimes it’s mucus with just a few streaks of blood. Cleveland Clinic says it shouldn’t add up to more than a tablespoon or two of discharge.

Some people have a bloody show weeks before labor, some only once labor has started, and some never notice one. Light spotting after a cervical check is normal and isn’t necessarily a bloody show. A membrane sweep can cause either. After a bloody show, labor can start within hours, or it can still be days away.

Mucus plug vs. discharge vs. your water breaking

Vaginal discharge increases toward the end of pregnancy, so seeing more in your underwear than before is normal. This is how the four usually compare, based on the NHS and Cleveland Clinic:

What it is	What it looks like	What to do
Normal discharge	Thin, clear or milky white, no unpleasant smell	Nothing, unless it changes
Mucus plug	Thicker and jelly-like, more at once, clear to pink or brown	Note it and watch for other signs
Bloody show	Mucus with a little blood, pink, red or brown	Watch the amount
Amniotic fluid	Clear and pale, a trickle that keeps coming or a sudden gush	Call your provider

Amniotic fluid can be hard to tell apart from urine, and it may be slightly bloodstained at first. If you’re not sure whether your water has broken, use a pad rather than a tampon and call. The NHS says a pad lets your midwife check the color. Our guide to your water breaking explains what usually happens next.

How long after losing your mucus plug does labor start?

There’s no fixed answer, and the sources below describe the timing a little differently:

• ACOG (the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) says the plug is pushed out when the cervix begins to dilate. That can be several days before labor or at the start of labor.
• The NHS says labor may follow quickly or may take a few days.
• Cleveland Clinic says labor may start within hours or days, though sometimes not for a few weeks.

Cleveland Clinic says most people don’t lose their mucus plug until after 37 weeks. It can happen a few days or a few weeks before the due date. Some people don’t lose it until they’re in active labor. You can also go into labor without ever noticing it.

Losing it doesn’t tell you how dilated you are, either. You can dilate a few centimeters before the plug comes out, and it can come out at any point while your cervix opens.

Contractions tell you more. Labor contractions come in a regular pattern and get closer together over time (ACOG). For the other changes worth watching, see signs of labor.

What to do after you lose your mucus plug

If you’re less than 37 weeks pregnant and think you’ve lost your mucus plug, call your provider. Cleveland Clinic says it could be a sign of early labor or other complications. If you’re unsure whether what you saw was your mucus plug, you can always call and describe it.

• Note the color, amount and texture, or take a photo. Cleveland Clinic says this helps your provider tell whether it was your mucus plug or a bloody show.
• If you’re at least 37 weeks and have no other symptoms, your provider may have no concerns. Cleveland Clinic says there typically isn’t anything you need to avoid as long as your water hasn’t broken. Check with your provider about your situation.
• If you call, say how many weeks pregnant you are, what you saw and when, and whether you’re having contractions or leaking fluid.

Cleveland Clinic lists other signs that labor is coming:

• period-like cramps that come and go
• more pressure in your pelvis as the baby drops lower
• contractions that get stronger and more frequent
• your water breaking

If contractions start, time them to see whether a pattern builds. The free online contraction timer shows how long each one lasts and how far apart they are. The Contraction Timer app does the same on your phone, and how the app calculates shows how it gets its numbers. Once the contractions become regular, when to go to the hospital helps you judge when to head in.