Pregnancy and mucus discharge
Vaginal discharge - NHS
You will always have some vaginal discharge starting a year or 2 before puberty and ending after the menopause.
How much discharge you have changes from time to time. It usually gets heavier just before your period. When you're pregnant, it's normal to have more discharge than before.
Healthy vaginal discharge is usually thin, clear or milky white, and should not smell unpleasant.
Non-urgent advice: Call your midwife if you have vaginal discharge and:
- it smells unpleasant or strange
- it is green or yellow
- you feel itchy or sore around your vagina
- you have pain when you pee
Any of these could be symptoms of a vaginal infection.
Urgent advice: Urgent
Contact your midwife or doctor immediately if you have any vaginal bleeding while you're pregnant.
Is it normal to have vaginal discharge in pregnancy?
Yes. It is normal to have more vaginal discharge in pregnancy. This helps prevent any infections travelling up from the vagina to the womb.
Towards the end of pregnancy, the amount of discharge increases further. In the last week or so of pregnancy, it may contain streaks of sticky, jelly-like pink mucus.
This is called a "show", and happens when the mucus that's been present in your cervix during pregnancy comes away.
It's a sign that the body is starting to prepare for birth. You may have a few small "shows" in the days before you go into labour.
Read more about the signs that labour has begun.
Thrush in pregnancy
Thrush is an infection that can cause unusual vaginal discharge.
if you get thrush when you're pregnant, it can easily be treated - talk to your midwife or doctor.
Thrush can cause:
- increased vaginal discharge which is usually white (like cottage cheese), and does not usually smell
- itching and irritation around the vagina
Always talk to your doctor, pharmacist or midwife if you think you have thrush, as there are some thrush medicines you should not use while you're pregnant.
You can help prevent thrush by wearing loose cotton underwear. You may find it helps to avoid perfumed soap or perfumed bath products.
Find out more about vaginal discharge.
Page last reviewed: 31 March 2021
Next review due: 31 March 2024
Vaginal discharge during pregnancy | Pregnancy Birth and Baby
beginning of content3-minute read
Listen
All women, whether they’re pregnant or not, have some vaginal discharge starting a year or 2 before puberty and ending after the menopause.
How much discharge you have changes from time to time and it usually gets heavier just before your period.
Is it normal to have vaginal discharge in pregnancy?
Almost all women have more vaginal discharge in pregnancy. This is quite normal and happens for a few reasons. During pregnancy the cervix (neck of the womb) and vaginal walls get softer and discharge increases to help prevent any infections travelling up from the vagina to the womb. Increased levels of the hormones progesterone can also make you produce more fluid.
Increased discharge is a normal part of pregnancy, but it’s important to keep an eye on it and tell your doctor or midwife if it changes in any way.
How does vaginal discharge change during pregnancy?
Increased discharge can be a sign that you are pregnant — though many things can influence vaginal discharge so you can’t be sure this is the reason.
The amount of discharge may increase throughout the pregnancy. Towards the end, there may be so much you confuse it with urine.
Towards the end of pregnancy, the amount of discharge increases and can be confused with urine.
In the last week or so of pregnancy, your discharge may contain streaks of thick mucus and some blood. This is called a 'show' and happens when the mucus that has been present in your cervix during pregnancy comes away. It's a sign that the body is starting to prepare for birth, and you may have a few small 'shows' in the days before you go into labour.
When to see your midwife or doctor
You should tell your midwife or doctor if your vaginal discharge increases a lot in later pregnancy. If you have any vaginal bleeding in pregnancy, you should contact your midwife or doctor urgently, as it can sometimes be a sign of a more serious problem such as a miscarriage or a problem with the placenta.
Normal healthy discharge should:
- be clear and white
- not smell bad
Tell your midwife or doctor if:
- the discharge is coloured (greenish or brownish)
- there is blood in the discharge
- it smells strange
- you feel itchy or sore
If the discharge is coloured or smells strange, or if you feel itchy or sore, you may have a vaginal infection such as thrush, which your doctor can treat easily, or bacterial vaginosis.
Do not try to treat it yourself — always talk to your doctor, pharmacist or midwife if you think you have an infection.
You can help prevent thrush by wearing loose cotton underwear, and some women find it helps to avoid perfumed soap or perfumed bath products.
Sources:
Mater Mother’s Hospital (Pregnancy - information for women and families), NSW Health (Having a baby), Jean Hailes for Women’s Health (Hormonal health – clues made clear)Learn more here about the development and quality assurance of healthdirect content.
Last reviewed: November 2020
Back To Top
Related pages
- Common discomforts during pregnancy
- Vaginal thrush during pregnancy
This information is for your general information and use only and is not intended to be used as medical advice and should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any medical condition, nor should it be used for therapeutic purposes.
The information is not a substitute for independent professional advice and should not be used as an alternative to professional health care. If you have a particular medical problem, please consult a healthcare professional.
Except as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, this publication or any part of it may not be reproduced, altered, adapted, stored and/or distributed in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of Healthdirect Australia.
Support this browser is being discontinued for Pregnancy, Birth and Baby
Support for this browser is being discontinued for this site
- Internet Explorer 11 and lower
We currently support Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Firefox and Safari. For more information, please visit the links below:
- Chrome by Google
- Firefox by Mozilla
- Microsoft Edge
- Safari by Apple
You are welcome to continue browsing this site with this browser.
Some features, tools or interaction may not work correctly.
Pregnancy discharge | What are the discharge during pregnancy? | Blog
In the absence of menstruation, girls usually suspect that conception has occurred. However, during pregnancy, the female body may continue to secrete a secret of a different color and character. We recommend that you keep a close eye on everything that happens so as not to miss the development of adverse events. We will talk about how to recognize problem situations during pregnancy in the article.
What discharge can occur during conception
Many women note that immediately after the delay and in the later stages, the nature of the secretion changes. It can be:
- With or without scent.
- Depending on the color - transparent, white, cream, yellow, greenish, bloody.
- By consistency - thick, liquid, cheesy.
- As a symptom for assessing the state of health - threatening, safe.
During ovulation, the egg is released from the ovary, its membrane is deflated, a small amount of fluid is released - so it becomes ready for fertilization. At this time, the thick mucus that fills the cervical canal of the cervix becomes less viscous. This makes it easier for the spermatozoa to penetrate and move further into the tubes for fertilization. At this time, you may notice an abundance of clear mucous secretion.
After the fusion of the egg with the spermatozoon, movement into the uterus begins, which should end with implantation in the inner layer. During penetration, its slight detachment may occur - this causes damage to the blood vessels that abundantly penetrate the muscular layer of the uterus. You may see light brown discharge, which is common during pregnancy. The color is due to the fact that the blood has time to clot.
Sometimes the discharge is brightly colored and some women mistake it for a period that has started too early. But in this case, a short duration is characteristic, a different shade (dark or scarlet), a slight mark on the linen.
With some features of the structure of the female genital organs (for example, with a bicornuate uterus), after implantation of the embryo in one part, rejection of the endometrium may begin in the other, as usually occurs during menstruation. This rarely happens.
Characteristics of discharge in the event of a threatened miscarriage
Spontaneous abortion is the rejection of an embryo in the early stages after conception. If at the first signs of pregnancy, you notice spotting, there is a high probability that a miscarriage begins.
Also, miscarriage symptoms include:
- pulling or pressing on the lower abdomen, sacrum, lower back;
- the muscles of the uterus are tense.
The woman may feel cramps. This continues all the time or intermittently. From the vagina there are scarlet or brown discharge during pregnancy, which was previously confirmed. Sometimes the period may be still small, and the first signs did not have time to appear.
After 22 weeks, this phenomenon is called preterm labor. The child in this case is still weak, the organs are not sufficiently developed, and there is little chance of survival.
The following factors increase the risk of miscarriage:
- various diseases;
- progesterone deficiency;
- nervous and physical overexertion;
- pathologies in the genitals;
- fetal developmental defects.
To confirm the diagnosis, the doctor prescribes an ultrasound scan. If it shows that the fetal heart rate is disturbed, the tone of the uterus is increased, its size differs from normal for this period, hospitalization will be recommended to maintain pregnancy.
What discharge during pregnancy is considered normal
This secretion does not pose a threat to health:
- transparent;
- whitish;
- yellowish;
- odor free;
- mucous;
- without itching, burning, redness of the genitals.
Clear fluid on underwear is a symptom of ovulation. During pregnancy, the activity of ongoing processes in the body increases, so the amount of secretion secreted may increase. However, a violation of the norm is the leakage of amniotic fluid. You can determine the problem with the help of special diagnostic tests that the doctor will prescribe if he has suspicions.
White color, small amount, homogeneous structure should also not cause concern. The increased volume of fluid in this case is associated with increased hormonal activity.
One of the variants of the norm is mucous discharge, which smells of slight sourness. If there is no pain, discomfort, there is nothing to worry about.
Yellow discharge, there are signs of pregnancy, there is no unpleasant odor - you are all right. Some women had this color before conception, only they did not pay attention. Now there are more of them, therefore more noticeable.
Sometimes a woman observes that the laundry gets wet and there is a smell of urine.
This may indicate incontinence due to the constant pressure of the growing uterus. In this case, it is recommended to go to the toilet more often, change underpants twice a day.
What discharge during pregnancy is considered a sign of infection?
White discharge during pregnancy with a cheesy texture is a symptom of thrush (candidiasis). In pregnant women, it is diagnosed quite often - the reason is a change in hormonal levels. The disease is accompanied by itching, redness of the vulva, a strong sour smell. Sometimes external manifestations are not detected, then treatment is not carried out.
Infection is indicated by pain, pain, skin irritation, ulcers, smell of rot or fish, gray or green color, frothy discharge, increased nervousness, large inguinal lymph nodes. The reason may lie in sexually transmitted infections. This includes syphilis, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis, chlamydia and others. They are dangerous because they cause premature birth and fetal developmental defects.
What kind of discharge during pregnancy should I pay special attention to and should I consult a doctor?
The following indicates that pregnancy is at risk:
- Severe pain in the perineum, bleeding, difficulty defecation, convulsions - these may be injuries to the vaginal mucosa.
- Nausea, profuse vomiting, edema, headaches, cough, hypertension, bright red secretion are symptoms of hydatidiform mole (abnormal development of the embryo).
- A drop in blood pressure, pallor, weakness, sweating, pulling sensations, bleeding during pregnancy against the background of a lack of growth of hCG in the blood - this is how ectopic attachment manifests itself.
- Isolation of clots, sharp pain, vomiting, diarrhea may indicate a frozen fetus.
If you experience any of these symptoms, contact your doctor immediately.
It is also necessary to go to the clinic if you have been physically abused, had rough sex, had an accident, fell, hit.
The likelihood that the situation will be resolved successfully is much higher if you do not delay the visit, listen to the symptoms and take good care of your health.
Remember, despite the fact that pregnancy is a normal state of health of the female body, the diagnosis and treatment tactics are still different, due to the many restrictions on manipulations and medications during pregnancy. That is why diagnosis and treatment during pregnancy should take place only under the supervision of a physician. By ignoring the symptoms or self-medicating, a pregnant woman risks not only her health, but also the health of her child.
Doctors of the Leleka maternity hospital manage pregnancies of any complexity, including those aggravated by infections, pathologies, and the threat of miscarriage. Our own diagnostic laboratory allows us to accurately and in the shortest possible time to obtain the results of the tests. Thanks to constant medical supervision throughout the entire period, the chances of a successful birth are greatly increased.
Trust the life and health of your child to Leleka doctors, and we will make sure that you are satisfied.
why they appear in the early and late periods, in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimester, what to do at home
While carrying a child, any changes in a woman's body can be alarming and cause concern. Including mucous secretions that occur during different periods of pregnancy. Together with gynecologists, we will figure out which of them are considered the norm, and which indicate the development of serious pathologies.
Obstetrician-gynecologist, gynecologist-endocrinologist of the Institute of Reproductive Medicine REMEDI Nina Antipova tells what is discharge in women.
They consist of:
- secretion of the vaginal mucosa;
- mucus produced by the glands of the cervical canal, cervical mucus;
- a secret that is released from the uterine cavity (during menstruation - blood, on the days of the beginning and end of menstruation - mucous secretions that are produced by cells of the endometrium, the mucous membrane of the uterus).
- Discharge from the genital tract is an individual story, so the norm here is ambiguous. As such, the concept of mucous discharge during pregnancy does not exist, emphasizes Nina Antipova.
Mucous discharge during pregnancy
Mucous discharge during pregnancy can vary in color, texture, smell, amount and feel. The norm is considered to be discharges that meet the following characteristics.
For example, abundant mucous discharge may be amniotic fluid. To understand whether this is true or not, you should consult a doctor and pass the necessary analysis. 
It is important to visit the gynecologist on time, monitor any changes and observe intimate hygiene. 
The degree of danger depends on the period at which they appeared, says Elena Kollerova. - If, for example, at 25 weeks or earlier, a woman has found abundant mucous discharge, this may indicate a threat of miscarriage. If you do not take action and do not consult a doctor, the consequences can be unpredictable. For both mom and baby. If such discharge appeared at 38-40 weeks of pregnancy, you should also immediately consult a doctor. Mucous discharge in late pregnancy can signal the release of the mucous plug from the cervix, and this may be a harbinger of childbirth. 
The appearance of scarlet, brown, yellow-beige spotting during gestation is a reason to contact an obstetrician-gynecologist for an examination on the chair and ultrasound. Sometimes bleeding from the genital tract occurs during the normal course of pregnancy and does not require treatment and hospitalization. However, in some cases, they can be a wake-up call that requires emergency medical attention. 
- Having noticed mucous secretions, in no case should you self-medicate: insert candles, take any drugs, and even more so use folk remedies. Instead, you should immediately consult a doctor to find out the cause of the discharge. This should be done immediately if heavy discharge occurs in late pregnancy. 
But only a doctor can determine whether they are harmless,” explains Elena Kollerova. - In the later stages, you should especially vigilantly monitor their number. This will help prevent miscarriage or premature birth. The best prevention is an attentive attitude to changes in the body and a timely visit to the doctor at all stages of pregnancy. 
