Black blood can appear at the beginning or end of a person's period. The color is typically a sign of old blood or blood that has taken longer to leave the uterus and has had time to oxidize, first turning brown or dark red and then eventually becoming black.
Seeing black period blood can be alarming, but like brown blood, it's usually just old blood that's lingered in your body too long. This is most likely to happen during low flow days at the start or end of your period.
Black discharge can be an early sign of pregnancy. It may be caused by implantation bleeding or mild bleeding as a result of the fertilized egg attaching itself to the wall of the uterus. If you suspect you are pregnant, wait until the day of your missed period, or 1-2 days later before taking a home pregnancy test.
Black spotting and bleeding may also be a sign of a missed miscarriage, which is when the embryo stops developing but isn't expelled by the body for four weeks or more. Between 10 and 20 percent of pregnancies may end in miscarriage.
Bleeding during miscarriage can appear brown and resemble coffee grounds. Or it can be pink to bright red. It can alternate between light and heavy or even stop temporarily before starting up again. If you miscarry before you're eight weeks pregnant, it might look the same as a heavy period.
Miscarriage bleeding tends to be heavier than bleeding during a menstrual period and could last longer than your period normally does. You should let your health care provider know if you fill more than two pads per hour for two consecutive hours.
During pregnancy
Pink or brown discharge or spotting before a period may be an early sign of pregnancy. Not every pregnant person will experience this symptom, but some do.
Despite all of the claims out there, it isn't possible to have a period while you're pregnant. Rather, you might experience “spotting” during early pregnancy, which is usually light pink or dark brown in color.
You may see a range of colors depending on how long the blood has taken to exit the body: A fresher bleed will appear as a shade of light or dark red. Blood may look pink or orange if it's mixed with other vaginal discharge. Older blood may look brown due to oxidation.
Implantation bleeding is never enough to fill a pad or tampon like a menstrual period. Color: Menstrual bleeding is typically a bright to dark red, and will look like what you typically experience during your monthly period. Implantation bleeding is a much lighter hue, typically a very light pink or light rust color.
The uterine lining darkens the longer it takes to leave the body. Period blood clots are normal on the heaviest days of your period and can appear deep red or almost dark black as well.
By the 10th day from ovulation — usually the first day of your missed period — there is enough hCG in your urine for the store-bought pregnancy tests to detect it. Blood from your period will not impact whether or not there is hCG in your urine, so it won't impact your test results.
Pregnancy-specific symptoms
“The key difference between the two, however, is that with pregnancy, your period doesn't occur.” Nausea is also a symptom that can accompany pregnancy and is often not experienced with PMS. “The nausea in early pregnancy often resolves after the 12th week of gestation,“ Giles said.
Bleeding during miscarriage can appear brown and resemble coffee grounds. Or it can be pink to bright red. It can alternate between light and heavy or even stop temporarily before starting up again. If you miscarry before you're eight weeks pregnant, it might look the same as a heavy period.
You know how long and heavy your typical period is. During a miscarriage, bleeding gets heavier and lasts longer than a period. As your cervix starts to dilate, cramping may become more painful than typical period cramping.
This can vary from light spotting or brownish discharge to heavy bleeding and bright-red blood or clots. The bleeding may come and go over several days.
When blood is exposed to oxygen, it becomes oxidized and turns dark brown or blackish, similar to the color of coffee grounds. Black period blood and vaginal discharge isn't always a cause for concern. It commonly occurs at different times throughout a cycle, particularly toward the beginning of a period.
Often, a woman can have an extra heavy menstrual flow and not realize it's a miscarriage because she hadn't known she was pregnant. Some women who miscarry have cramping, spotting, heavier bleeding, abdominal pain, pelvic pain, weakness, or back pain.
The amount of the pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) may still be high enough to trigger a positive result on a pregnancy test for several weeks after a miscarriage.
Both may look like typical period clots, though it is not uncommon for them to be larger than normal. Actual pregnancy tissue may not be discernible until after the eighth week. Then, the tissue may look like pink, white, or gray tissue. A person may also be able to see a fluid-filled sac in the passed tissue.
What are the symptoms of early miscarriage? Bleeding – light bleeding early in pregnancy is fairly common, and does not mean you will have a miscarriage. Brown discharge: This may look like coffee grounds. This “discharge” is actually old blood that has been in the uterus for a while and is just coming out slowly.
While excessive stress isn't good for your overall health, there's no evidence that stress results in miscarriage. About 10% to 20% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage. But the actual number is likely higher because many miscarriages occur before the pregnancy is recognized.