Implantation Bleeding - Understanding The Signs Of Pregnancy

Implantation bleeding is pinkish, brown, light bleeding from the vagina that happens in women 10 to 14 days after they conceive a baby.  

• It happens when the fertilized egg (embryo) travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it implants into the uterine lining. This process can cause slight irritation or disruption to the uterine lining, leading to minor bleeding or spotting.
• It usually lasts for 2 or 3 days.
• It is also possible that there can be no spotting during implantation as well. 

After conception, signs of implantation bleeding can be observed as a vaginal discharge that is:

• Lighter flow of bleeding, not enough to soak a pad or tampon.
• Pinkish or rustic brown colored discharge.
• Stops within a duration of a few hours to two days.
• There are also no or very little associated implantation cramps with the discharge and does not require any medical attention.
• Some women may not experience implantation bleeding at all. 

Menstrual bleeding is a cycle happening every month in the body of women of childbearing age, where the endometrium is shed if the egg produced during the ovulation is not fertilized by the sperm. Whereas implantation bleeding is not a cycle happening every month, it happens only if the egg and sperm fuse to form an embryo which attaches to the uterine lining to develop fully.

To differentiate between menstrual bleeding and implantation bleeding, the following points about implantation bleeding are crucial:

• When compared to usual menstrual bleeding, it is not enough to soak a pad or tampon.
• Pinkish or rustic brown colored discharge compared to the red-colored menstrual blood.
• It stops within a duration of a few hours to two days compared to the 3-7 days of menstruation.
• There are also no or very little associated abdominal cramps with the discharge unlike cramping in menstruation. 

Yes! If your vaginal discharge is pink or brown, which is light and short duration, it is most likely to be implantation bleeding. It is also not a  phenomenon that happens every month. Whereas menstrual blood is a bright red or dark red color discharge when fertilization doesn’t happen. If suspecting pregnancy, you can confirm it with a pregnacy test. 

Although implantation bleeding is an early sign of pregnancy, only about 25% of pregnant people will have it. Having no implantation bleeding doesn’t mean that you have not conceived. In some, the bleeding may be very little and is not even noticed.  

Vaginal bleeding can also happen due to uterine abnormalities, hormonal fluctuations, infections, inflammations etc. Therefore it is important to identify the type of bleeding based on the color, duration, and intensity of the discharge and confirm if it is implantation bleeding or period. Due to all these unpredictabilities, implantation bleeding cannot be considered always as a sign of pregnancy.