Kol hakavod on your increased observance!

Unfortunately, mid-cycle bleeding or staining is common during perimenopause. Please start by reviewing our page on Stains to make sure you are not considering yourself niddah at any time in your cycle when you are not halachically required to do so.

At this point, if the discharge is light brown you should try to perform a new hefsek taharah and begin counting seven clean days again.

Discharge on bedikot that is yellow or light brown (the color of coffee with milk) without a reddish hue, is not a niddah color and can be disregarded. Colors that are reddish, or darker brown, do need to be evaluated by a halachic authority.

Many rabbis and yoatzot halacha have an anonymous system in which questions or bedikah cloths are dropped off in a mailbox with any relevant details of the situation and a number/email to reach you with an answer. You or your husband can inquire with the rabbi (or his wife, if that makes you more comfortable) about how to go about dropping off cloths anonymously.

We hope you can find a way to get questionable colors evaluated so that you need not be unnecessarily strict and delay immersion.

If you are having trouble getting through the seven clean days, we recommend that you perform only one bedikah per day throughout the seven clean days. If you notice that you are staining one day, you should skip the bedikah that day. It is important that you make sure to perform a bedikah on days 1, 7 and at least one intermediate day. You also may find it helpful to change your underwear frequently so that stains do not accumulate to the size of a gris (the size of a US dime). If this is not sufficient, you may wear disposable pantiliners during the clean days, and disregard any stains found on them.

Once you are able to immerse, you should take care to avoid becoming niddah from any further staining by wearing colored underwear and waiting at least a few seconds (ideally 15 seconds) after urinating before wiping. If you are spotting, we do recommend that you abstain from intercourse until the spotting subsides. This is a recommendation, and not a halachic requirement.

You may want to refer your physician to the section of our website designed for medical professionals, Jewish Women’s Health, written to assist health care professionals in providing optimal care to patients who observe hilchot niddah. While this staining is common at this stage in life, it may be helpful for your physician to understand the implications it has on your marital life.

Please feel free to get back to us with any further questions. If you would like to speak directly with a yoetzet halacha, you can call our telephone hotline, or click here for a list of community yoatzot.

This response was updated on 8 February, 2024.