black vaginal discharge

[ivegottaq]

I've just recently started birth control and I'm expecting my period in about a week. Lately I've been getting a clear black discharge with no blood and theres quite a bit, enough to wear pads. But I dont know what this substance is and its scaring me.. any ideas?

[zoob]

Hi i have  had a baby 8 weeks ago i have had my first period this week but it is a blackish colour and black blobs keep coming out is this normal or could it be cancer?

[marriedlove]

You should definitely ask your ob/gyn about this if it concerns you.  That said, sometimes a blackish discharge is actually blood mixed with other normal components of the menstrual flow, like mucous and cells shed from the uterine lining.  It looks black because it doesn't have oxygen in it anymore, and the oxygen is what makes blood look red.  I know that when started taking the pill, the difference in the appearance of the menstrual flow was really striking--seldom the bright red I was used to, and much scanter and darker.  

So, it *could* be a normal adjustment to your flow from the new birth control pills, which makes the flow slower and lighter, often, so that it *won't* be the reddish/pinkish you might be used to.  Still, definitely worth asking your doctor about so that you know for sure.

marriedlove