Dark Red Period Blood: Could I Be Pregnant?

Precap
Dark Red Period Blood: Could I Be Pregnant? No, dark red period blood is not a sign of pregnancy. Implantation bleeding is a rare thing and often unnoticeable. Moreover, if it was a period then rule out the chances of it being IB. Taking a test is a reliable way to detect pregnancy. Other symptoms are either telltale or inexact signs for you while true for your friend.
Dark Red Period Blood: Could I be pregnant?
Dark Red Period Blood: Could I be pregnant?

The different vaginal discharges you while TTC can be so confusing and a whole new shade class you learn. Brown, dark red, orangish brown, pinkish and all colors of a period like discharges related to pregnancy have been dealt with in detail. Can dark red period blood be a sign you’re pregnant?

First of all, make sure that is it period or a discharge. Period blood is bright red and gets darker only when you change pads infrequently. At times your uterus whilst cleaning itself oozes out old brown blood.

While trying to figure out implantation bleeding symptoms the most recurring term is dark brown discharge. Whatever that is, it is not dark period blood. Trying to interpret what you came here to look for, by dark red period blood, seems like a flow. IB isn’t bleeding or heavy flow or any kind of flow to make it clear.

What does your period look like when you’re pregnant?

Whether you’re pregnant or not period is not going to change its color. Blood flowing through the cervix due to disintegrating uterine lining is period. It’s always going to be red lest you have an infection or it is not period.

At times you get watery brown clots in your period flow. That can be clumps of lining or old blood that coagulated.

Pregnancy and change in period color isn’t a strong sign to look for. Nor is the color of the period you get before you conceive dark red.

The only science-backed reason for getting dark red period near pregnancy is the iron you’ve been loading. TTC women eat healthily and are taking prenatal vitamins probably that makes the blood darker. Other than that there is no theory or phenomenon that says ‘lady dark red period! you pregnant’.

Dark Brown Bleeding on Due Period Date: Can I be pregnant?

If the dark brown bleeding is not heavy and doesn’t last longer than a day, you could be. Ideally, it should happen a little before your due period date but implantation can take longer. What you are actually experiencing is implantation bleeding.

Your egg fused with the sperm and now is s bunch of cells. As they descend and find a home in your uterus there is a small amount of bleeding. Attaching embryo (baby’s cells bunch) causes the lining to soften and bleed a bit.

Make sure that the flow isn’t heavy and that you don’t have excruciating pain like PMS. Implantation cramps and back pain are mild.

Here’s the catch about implantation bleeding. It is rare, only 1/3rd pregnant women have it. Any such sign such as leukorrhea, triphasic BBT, and brown spotting are not sure indicators of pregnancy. 

Taking a pregnancy test will be the best you can do after a week from a missed period.

In the next section we describe the different colors of period blood and what do they mean.

Period Blood Color Changes and What Do They Show?

We have tried to list out all possible period and pregnancy-related changes. If we missed out the one you want to read about, ask in our period forum.

1) Dark Red Period Blood

If you remember the last time you couldn’t change your pad or tampon the entire day you know it. Blood gets dark when it comes in contact with air. Fresh blood will be red but you’d see brown blood soaked in.

Your uterus cleans itself after the period ends so you have dark rusty brown spotting on the last day of the period. At times some blood may not come out and before the period starts you see brown mucus discharge.

Lochia or bleeding after giving birth also gets darker as days pass by. Implantation bleeding before you miss a period after conception is another brown discharge. Just in case you lost track these two are NOT PERIOD!

Dark red period hinting you will be pregnant? Maybe just the beetroot salad and pome you’ve been eating for past few weeks. More iron, more hemoglobin, gives blood a darker hue of red.

2) Bright Red Period

Nothing new, happens every month, right? Most of you will notice that the pain is more on the first day and flow heavier on second. The second day is when you feel the flow and it looks bright red.

Bright red period with clots after getting a positive test could be threatened miscarriage. If you’re having cramps that don’t die out soon and bright red bleeding consult your OB immediately. Threatened miscarriage can be saved in miracle cases.

Ovarian cysts torsion or pinching off can cause bright red period two weeks earlier. Getting a period after your period is over is a sign of serious condition. Polyps or fibroids can cause such random red bleeding between period.

Light red period blood could also be a nongynecological issue like anemia. Increase your intake of iron whether vegan sources like guavas and spinach or meat based.

3) Light Flow

A lighter period before due date not lasting long could be what you’re looking for. Getting pregnant requires your uterus to hold the lining. A period is nothing but the blood vessels and lining of the uterus for cushioning a possible baby.

Each month you have an ovum and you can get pregnant. You don’t conceive the egg and the cushion both flow out and make way for next.

Light brown mucus discharge at early pregnancy stage is because of implantation. Now the surging progesterone won’t let your uterine wall break.

Spotting during pregnancy can look like a light period. Some women don’t come to know they’re pregnant two months in. For them, all they’ll know is that this month their period was lighter.

4) Period blood with a bad odor

Vagina has a smell and blood flowing through will definitely create some odor locally.

A study in the Royal Society Journal showed that fertile women have a distinct smell. Ever noticed the hair flip you do when trying to get the attention of a man, that’s a way of releasing pheromones. Naturally, your vagina will also have a distinct smell.

Unless you’ve had a bad smelly vag even before or after a period there’s nothing to worry. Change your tampon or pad or wash off the menstrual cup. Don’t douche or spray any deodorant lest be itching like orangutans.

Your vagina becomes sensitive during these days and is constantly damp. Adding cosmetic products will only aggravate symptoms. Remove your vaginal hair once every month at least!

Once your period is over and your vagina still smells you could be having an infection. Gonorrhea, Syphilis and Chlamydia symptoms have vaginal odor, discharge, soreness etc.

5) Gray Period Blood

Which gray? Is it shifting to the black side or white? If the mucus looks grayish white it could be bacterial vaginosis. The last days of a period you see grayish discharge on the pad that’s near black color.

Black period blood in fewer amounts on the last day is nothing abnormal. That’s just uterus impurities. Don’t worry about it. Change your underwear and wash the area with warm water.

Some women reported seeing gray flow with clots when they had a miscarriage. Gray period while pregnant can be because of miscarriage. Let your doctor know if you see chunks or clots in the vaginal discharge during pregnancy.

6) Raspberry Pink Period

A pink period between two periods is ovulation spotting. Irregular periods can also be pinkish red. Light flow when not brown can be pink. It implies you have active bleeding but in very low amount. Implantation bleeding is at times pinkish. Not to worry about it.

Estrogen1 levels falling down also cause pink spotting. And that is not a good thing for your bones. Low estrogen can also affect your sexual life and cause osteoporosis. Getting a diagnosis and prescription is mandatory now.

Workout or diets can cause light spotting. Skipping your period using birth control pills can cause such erratic pink bleeding in between. Make sure you consult your doctor about any such lifestyle changes that affect your reproductive health.

7) Black Period Blood

Black period blood all the time is not normal unless it is just heavy bleeding. Some women who have heavy bleeding might see their pads get black. That’s actually brown which looks black. Having it as a norm is not a normal thing!

At times your uterus may have a stuck object like a tampon or contraceptive device which causes black bleeding. Inflammatory diseases can also be the reason for the black period.

Pregnant and black period can be a missed miscarriage or retained menses. At times your uterus doesn’t expel out a dead embryo or period blood. It gets oxidized (reacts with the component of air) and turns black.

8) Heavy Period flow with Clots

Bright red or grey whenever there are clots in your bleeding in pregnancy consult a doctor. Clots mean some tissue is coming off and breaking. It’d be best to ask your OB exactly what is happening inside you. Getting a transvaginal ultrasound will reassure you or highlight the problem.

Heavy menstrual bleeding or Menorrhagia2 is a serious health condition where the bleeding goes on for more than seven days. Drug therapy or surgical steps such as dilation curate the syndrome.

A heavy period can cause traumatic stress disorder and it is a very difficult time for the woman going through. If you’re reading this to help someone out make sure you understand the intensity of the condition.

9) Early or Later Period

Getting an early period not only cancels your plans but also points out hormonal irregularities. What does that mean for pregnancy? Early period one week before due date can be implantation bleeding.

Women go crazy when it comes to finding out if they are pregnant. Implantation bleeding hype is the result of it.

Late period in pregnancy doesn’t necessarily mean that your positive test was false. Some women do get their periods in pregnancy. For the first three months, it’s fine to keep getting your period in pregnancy.

10) Period While Pregnant

That brings us here to the last one, a period in pregnancy. You can have a light period in pregnancy if your progesterone levels are low. The wall of uterus sheds some blood and then holds back up. Some women who continue to have normal cyclical periods in pregnancy could also be ovulating.

Sex during pregnancy while ovulating can cause a second pregnancy. If you have periods check with your doctor about your ovulation. An ultrasound will reveal whether you’re ovulating too. Again a rare possibility!

You can read about early signs of pregnancy other than a change in period blood color because of conception.

Footnotes

  1. https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a682922.html
  2. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/blooddisorders/women/menorrhagia.html