What Does Implantation Bleeding Look Like Early Pregnancy?

Question: What does implantation bleeding look like in early pregnancy?

During the reproductive years of women, there are important body changes a woman should learn. This is because, if you are expecting a child, you may need to be very observant to know the earliest signs of pregnancy.

While it may take some women weeks after missing their period to recognize pregnancy signs, some other women may quickly feel pregnancy symptoms before their expected period.

The truth is, if you are trying to conceive, it’s important you learn your menstrual cycle, know if it’s regular or not and know how implantation bleeding looks like on a pad or toilet paper.

This quickly gives you a clue if you become pregnant, and allows you to quickly start preparing for pregnancy, avoiding medications that will harm your baby and inform your doctor or health midwife about your pregnancy. If you are on regular prescription medicines, always talk with your doctor before stopping them.

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What is implantation bleeding?

Implantation bleeding (also commonly called implantation spotting) is vaginal bleeding in early pregnancy that occurs when a woman becomes pregnant. It is usually very light spotting, not a heavy flow. Cleveland Clinic

It occurs after a woman’s ovum is fertilized at the ampullary end of the fallopian tube by the male sperm. The fertilized egg, now called the embryo, takes about six days (may be as long as 12 days) to be transferred into the uterus and attach itself to the womb lining. Mayo Clinic

At the uterus, your body hormones (estrogen and progesterone) have already aided the maturation of the endometrium in preparation for the embryo.

As your baby finally gets attached to the endometrial layer of the uterus, some women may have mild vaginal bleeding or spotting.

This bleeding is referred to as implantation bleeding. Research is still limited, and not all light bleeding in early pregnancy is proven to come from implantation, but many doctors and major health sites still use this simple term. Clue+1

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What Does Implantation Bleeding Look Like in early pregnancy ?

First of all, if you’ve not had unprotected sexual intercourse, especially during your ovulation period, vaginal spotting may not be due to pregnancy.

There are many reasons a woman will have vaginal spotting before period begins, so be sure you read this guide to see other causes of bleeding.

Uterine fibroid, endometriosis, sexual intercourse, cervical polyps in the lower genital tract and bleeding disorders will cause a woman to bleed between her period. Infection, contraception side-effects and early miscarriage can also cause bleeding in early pregnancy or just before a missed period. ACOG+1

Some women may experience spotting a week after their period and it may not be due to pregnancy. In some women, this kind of spotting occurs as endometrial cells, that have failed to come out during your last menses, are now expelled by your body.

Nevertheless, if you’ve had intercourse and you are expecting a baby, implantation bleeding is one possible reason for light bleeding before next menstruation, but it is not the only cause.

About 1 in 4 women that will get pregnant will experience implantation spotting, that may also occur with belly cramps. Cleveland Clinic+1

If you are unsure how to detect implantation bleeding, here are easy ways to know.

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1. The color of blood on your pad or panties?

The color of blood on your panties or tissue paper can give you a clue if you are having implantation bleeding.

Is spotting bright red or dark in color?

Usually, after your baby digs into your endometrium and causes light bleeding, it takes some time for blood to flow through your cervix and to your vaginal area.

This time taken is enough to change the color of your spotting as blood becomes deoxygenated.

Lack of oxygen causes women to have implantation bleeding color that is dark or black. In other women, this black blood will mix with your clear discharge forming a black discharge or brown colored discharge when you wipe.

However, most descriptions of implantation bleeding mention pink or light brown spotting rather than bright red blood. Dark brown discharge can also happen simply from old menstrual blood, so color alone cannot confirm pregnancy. Cleveland Clinic+1

If you are expecting, a black discharge or brown spotting before your period could be due to implantation bleeding, but it can also be caused by normal pre-period changes or other minor problems.

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2. Blood clots on panties?

During your normal menstrual period, some women may notice blood clots in day 1 or 2 of menstrual bleeding.

This occurs because of heavy bleeding during early menstruation, and as your period ends, it’s become lighter.

If you see blood clots in your panties, it’s likely not implantation bleeding. Implantation bleeding is usually mild and will not form blood clots. Heavy bleeding with clots, severe pain, dizziness or shoulder-tip pain needs urgent medical attention to rule out miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy. NHS Hull Trust+1

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3. What’s the flow like?

During your period, you usually get a regular flow of blood which may last about 5 – 7 days. This is normal during a menstrual period.

If you have implantation bleeding, you will not have a consistent flow of blood, rather, dark spotting will come out and disappear for a while. Bleeding is usually on and off and not period-like. It is generally not enough to soak a pad or tampon. Cleveland Clinic+1

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4. When did you notice your bleeding?

The timing of vaginal spotting is important to know if it’s implantation bleeding or not.

Between your menstrual cycle, implantation bleeding occurs about 6-12 days after you’ve ovulated. This is usually around the time your next menses should start, or just before, which is why many women confuse it with a very light period. nhs.uk+1

If you have light brown or pink blood on vaginal pad a few days before, or around the time, your period should begin, it may be implantation bleeding. But any bleeding in early pregnancy should still be mentioned to your doctor or midwife.

Bonus Tip: You may be pregnant without knowing. Watch this 1-Minute-Video to Discover 16 Most common Pregnancy Signs.

(You can also read Mayo Clinic’s overview of early pregnancy symptoms here:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/getting-pregnant/in-depth/symptoms-of-pregnancy/art-20043853.) Mayo Clinic

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What other early signs of pregnancy will I experience?

While implantation bleeding is quite common (occurring in about 25 percent of pregnancies), if you are expecting and don’t experience spotting before your period, it does not mean something’s wrong. Many healthy pregnancies have no implantation bleeding at all. Cleveland Clinic+1

Here are other symptoms (apart from implantation bleeding) that you may experience very early in pregnancy

1. Breast pain

After getting pregnant, your body begins to change quickly, and breast pain and swelling will follow. Pregnancy hormones become elevated right from early pregnancy and cause your breast to feel tender when touched. Mayo Clinic

2. Vaginal discharge

Usually, a dry vaginal area or thick white discharge is common before menstrual period starts. This is because of hormone changes that occur during the latter parts of your menstrual cycle.

If you are feeling wet before next period with excessive clear watery vaginal discharge, it can be an early sign of pregnancy, but it can also happen for other reasons like normal hormonal fluctuation or infection. So you should not rely on discharge alone to confirm pregnancy.

3. Mild abdominal pain

Some women that will have implantation bleeding will also experience mild cramps in the middle and lower part of the abdomen.

Commonly called implantation cramps, it feels lighter than your period-cramps and only lasts for a few days. However, strong one-sided pain, pain with shoulder-tip pain, or pain with heavy bleeding are not typical and need urgent review to rule out ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage. NHS Hull Trust+1

Other pregnancy symptoms that may occur are feeling weak and tired, constipation, frequent urination, food aversion, headaches, and early morning nausea (which can actually happen at any time of the day). Mayo Clinic+1

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How soon can I take a pregnancy test after implantation bleeding?

If you are now sure it’s implantation bleeding, you may be tempted to confirm pregnancy as fast as possible.

If you take a pregnancy test hastily, you may get frustrated when it displays a single line, meaning a negative test result.

After implantation, your body normally will start secreting HCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin). If you test positive, it means this hormone was detected. MedlinePlus+1 MedlinePlus also has a simple explanation of how pregnancy tests work: https://medlineplus.gov/lab-tests/pregnancy-test/. MedlinePlus

This hormone will rise daily during your pregnancy (first trimester) and may take some time to be detected with conventional test strips.

This means if you check quickly and it’s negative, don’t feel sad yet (especially when you feel other pregnancy symptoms). Most home urine tests are most accurate from the first day of a missed period, and many are 97–99% accurate if you wait about one week after the missed period. MedlinePlus+1

If you still get a negative test and your period has not come after one week, repeat the test or see your doctor or midwife for a blood test and further advice.

(For more background, you can read patient guides on early pregnancy bleeding from ACOG and the NHS:
https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/bleeding-during-pregnancy and
https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/common-symptoms/vaginal-bleeding/.) ACOG+1