Chadwick's sign

Chadwick's sign is a bluish discoloration of the cervix, vagina, and labia resulting from increased blood flow. It can be observed as early as 6 to 8 weeks after conception,^[1] and its presence is an early sign of pregnancy.

These color changes were discovered in approximately 1836 by French doctor Étienne Joseph Jacquemin (1796-1872),^[2] and are named after James Read Chadwick, who drew attention to it in a paper read before the American Gynecological Society in 1886 and published in the following year, wherein he credited Jacquemin for their discovery.^[2][3]

See also

• Linea nigra
• Goodell's sign
• Hegar's sign
• Ladin's sign

References

1. ↑ Note: In some it can be seen earlier. pregnancytoday.com
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Gleichert, James E. (1971). "Étienne Joseph Jacquemin, Discoverer of 'Chadwick's Sign'". Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 26 (1): 75–80. doi:10.1093/jhmas/XXVI.1.75. PMID 4925842. 
3. ↑ Chadwick, James Reed (1887). "The value of the bluish discoloration of the vaginal entrance as a sign of pregnancy". Transactions of the American Gynecological Society (11): 399–418.