As a woman nears the end of her pregnancy and her body prepares to go into labor, the mucus plug is the first thing to flush from the body. Dr. Amy VanBlaricom, Ob Hospitalist Group's medical director of operations, offers her insight to Parents.com.
"In the last days to weeks of pregnancy, the mucus plug is lost as the cervix starts to soften, shorten, and even dilate in the process of preparing the cervix for labor. These preparations of the cervix essentially push out the plug of mucus that has accumulated there." Read the full article here.