Hi there guys, it's Alice here back again for another spin of the big wheel of birth.
I'm a doula, childbirth educator and I love talking about whatever topic it lands on.
If you would like our free course that organizes all of these topics.
It is an easy to use resource and it is called birth a to z and the link is below in the
description.
Okay guys, let's see what we are going to get today.
I've been waiting for this one.
Bloody Show.
I think of any topic that we cover in childbirth class the one that gets the most grimaces
on peoples faces and questions also from our students is bloody show.
What is bloody show?
How do I know if I've had bloody show?
Do I need to have bloody show to know that I am in labor?
Let's dive into this topic.
Number 1 What is bloody show anyway?
Okay, so let's talk a little anatomy here.
We have got our uterus at the bottom of the uterus is our cervix that is the opening or
the entrance/exit of our uterus.
And the cervix is nice and tight and closed and long and thick when you are pregnant.
To keep baby safe inside.
But as we are in labor, contractions happen and our cervix dilates and effaces.
So it thins and it opens.
Well on the other side of the cervix there is something that is pretty cool though maybe
kind of gross and that is what we call the mucous plug.
So I did talk about Mucous Plug already and I'll put a link here to it.
Mucus Plug is exactly what it sounds like a thick blob of mucous that is found at the
other side of the cervix and what that mucous is for really what a lot of mucus is for is
to trap bacteria and not let the bacteria spread into the amniotic sac and the baby.
It plugs up the cervix.
So what happens though is sometimes when our cervix dilates/opens or effaces/thins.
sometimes the capillaries right on the cervix will break.
These tiny little blood vessels will break and little drops of blood will come out.
Now this is not like a period, this is like little tiny drops of blood.
And what can happen is that as the cervix opens the big mucous plug right here and the
capillaries break the mucous is here the mucous plug comes out and because those capillaries
dropped little blood particles that mucus will be bloody and it is called bloody show.
So the bloody show and the mucous plug are kind of the same thing though there are some
differences here.
Now often when we have just mucous plug where there is no color to it of maybe just like
mucous, sometimes that means that there was a slower opening and those capillaries really
didn't break so maybe there was less of an opening.
And sometimes when you see bloody show when we have a red or a pink tinged mucus it tell
us as birth professionals or your care provider, it tells us a little more about what is going
on.
That is often associated with more change in your cervix.
So just the mucous plug, no blood tinged usually is a less change in your cervix and a bloody
show is usually a more, when you have more change in your cervix.
You will get a bloody show.
Sometimes when you talk to your midwife or your doctor about what if I see bloody show
or you call them and say that you are in labor and you say yeah I have some mucous that is
bloody they will often think that okay things are progressing faster than if you didn't
have it.
However, not everyone has bloody show, not everyone sees their mucous plug.
So it is not like a definite sign point that you are going to get to in labor.
It is kind of a, one of those signs that sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't.
But it still is certainly not usually concerning, though if you see bloody show mucous bloody
tinged mucous you can certainly call your care providers and check.
Always call if you have any kind of questions about what you are seeing.
Definitely call with any kind of bleeding.
So bloody show is not bleeding.
Bleeding is like the start of a period or anything like that.
Where you are seeing actual blood, this is a mucusy with blood tinged.
As childbirth educators we get to talk about so many fun topics, I love talking about mucus
and blood it's fun.
Good stuff!
What are your questions about bloody show?
Did you have bloody show?
Did you see it?
Were you excited about it?
Were you nervous?
What part of your labor was it in?
I would love to hear your bloody show stories.
So don't be shy, put them in the comments below.
If you found this video helpful, give us a like and subscribe and hit the notification
bell if you want notifications of our next video.
Thank you for hanging out and talking with me about this exciting topic.
Talk to you next time guys.
Bye.