Although all women who have already experienced the joy of motherhood warn that this will happen, most young girls do not even suspect what a mucous plug looks like before the delivery, and how long it takes. In this article we will tell you about this.
How does the mucus stop in pregnant women?
In order to understand how the plug goes off during pregnancy, it is necessary, first of all, to understand what it consists of and what function it performs. It is a lump of mucus that accumulates in the cervix at the very beginning of the waiting period of the baby. Further, during the entire pregnancy, a high level of estrogens and gestagens maintains the secretion of the cervical glands, so that the plug is constantly updated.
The developed mucus thickens and reliably clogs the cervix, thereby sealing it and blocking the path of any infection from the vagina. Thus, the cork is necessary in order to protect the future baby from the negative impact of harmful factors from the outside.
It's not every woman who can notice how the cork starts to fade during pregnancy. In the event that this occurs at the time of going to the toilet or taking a shower, the future mother can only have a slight feeling of discomfort. In this case there will be no visible traces from the mucous plug. A similar situation occurs when the plug flows simultaneously with the water.
If the future mother is in the underwear, at some point she can see on it a clot of mucus. Usually it has a white-yellowish color and a uniform consistency, but sometimes it can be seen small streaks of blood of a pink hue. Meanwhile, mucus can go out in stages. Under such circumstances on panties it will be possible to see its increased allocation.
In the event that the expectant mother will notice how the plug goes off during pregnancy, she should check whether she has prepared everything for the delivery to the hospital. However, this does not mean that you have to immediately go to the hospital. If the term of childbirth has not yet come up, before the appearance of the baby, it usually takes about 2 weeks. If a woman becomes a mother not for the first time, the cork can depart simultaneously with the water, and then the birth of the crumbs can remain a few hours.