Light pink: light blood mixed with discharge

As with dark pink blood, light pink-coloured blood may also be very normal and is most likely just period blood mixed with vaginal secretions/ discharge. “Period blood can also appear light pink at the start of the cycle or normal on your withdrawal bleeds if you’re taking the contraceptive pill,” Welsh says.

However, in some cases light pink menstrual blood could also be a sign of a poor diet with insufficient nutrients. A diet that lacks vital nutrients can also lead to amenorrhea, which is when your periods stop altogether. Welsh adds that light pink period blood could also be a sign of underlying low red blood cell count (anaemia), which research in the American Journal Of Obstetrics and Gynecology has found could be caused by heavy menstrual bleeding

Brown: blood that took longer to leave the uterus

“It is very common to notice brown-coloured period blood at the very start or end of your cycle, as this is the ‘older’ blood that has taken longer to leave the uterus,” Welsh explains. “When blood comes into contact with air, it goes through a process called oxidation, and the iron element in haemoglobin (in red blood cells) becomes iron oxide (the same compound as rust), which has a darker brown colour.”

Brown period blood could also be down to low progesterone levels, as this is one of the hormones that helps regulate your cycle. Without enough progesterone, your body might not fully shed the uterine lining that’s built up in your uterus that month, so that blood lining doesn’t shed until the next cycle when progesterone levels are up again.

If you think you might have low progesterone levels, your doctor can do a simple blood test to check this and prescribe you topical or oral medication to help.

What the colour of your period blood means, according to a gynaecologist