Bleeding After Birth
Is bleeding after birth normal?
Yes, it is perfectly normal for every woman to lose blood after delivering a baby. You have to keep in mind that throughout your pregnancy your body has increased its blood supply significantly and losing some blood during the birth of your child is usually nothing to worry about.
Bleeding After Childbirth
After you have given birth, it is now time for the placenta to come out. Once the placenta has detached itself from your uterus, this will naturally open up the surrounding blood vessels and cause bleeding. However, once the placenta has come out, the uterus will start to contract and close off these blood vessels, which eventually stops the bleeding.
In a small amount of cases, some women may have an excessive amount of blood loss and this is known as postpartum hemorrhaging. A doctor or nurse will then try to massage the uterus to help stop the bleeding while the new mother is also administered oxytocin. If the placenta has not been delivered yet, the doctor will then try to manually remove it.
If this process has not stopped the bleeding and other medications have failed to stop the hemorrhaging, an operation known as dilation and curettage may be performed. This will allow the doctor to remove tissue from the uterus which should then stop the bleeding.
Lochia Discharge
Lochia is a bloody vaginal discharge that all new mothers will experience for several days after giving birth. This is bright red, heavy bleeding much like what is experienced during a menstrual period, but probably more significant than you have ever had before. Each day the lochia discharge should become less and less heavy and by the fourth or fifth day it should become more watery in substance and have a pinkish tint to it. Eventually a week or more after giving birth, the discharge will turn yellowish or white.
During this time you will want to avoid using tampons as they can cause an infection in your uterus. You will want to use the heavy-duty pads that were given to you at the hospital instead. Also, the sensation of a full bladder is difficult to discern shortly after giving birth, so be sure to try and urinate routinely, even when you do not feel the urge to do so.
When Is It Time To Worry?
Some of the symptoms below could be a sign that something is wrong:
- you are feeling faint
- the bleeding is still quite heavy after a few days and remains bright red
- you have a fever
- you notice large blood clots
If you do in fact notice any of these symptoms, it could mean that you are experiencing a postpartum hemorrhage and you should go to the emergency room immediately.
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