after a c section...do you still bleed a lot? still need maternity pads?

[cheapandchic]

just wondering if I bled so much because I gave vaginal birth?

Yes, you will need maternity pads and will bleed a lot.

Agree. Definitely yes to both questions unfortunately!

Yes, you will need lots of pads , I doubled mine up. You will need plenty.

Yes. Loads

I always assumed that the blood lining the uterus still has to come out after birth regardless of how the baby got out...

Yes. The bleeding is due to the wound the placenta leaves on the uterine wall - however the baby gets out, that wound still needs to heal.

I had a emcs 6 days ago and am hardly bleeding at all. Midwife said that as time moves on and you move around more, bleeding may get heavier but I haven't seen that yet...I'm guessing its still early days though.

I have been wondering this. I had a EMCS last time and my bleed wasn't very heavy - a light period after 2 weeks. I had hdeard that wehen you have a CS, sometimes they can remove the blood clots and whatever gunk that can take out before they sew you up (not syaing that they would always do this though).

My friend had an EMCS with her first baby and an ELCS with her second. Her lochia was much much heavier the second time round. I therefore don't know whether the amount of lochia has anything to do with how you deliver.

I have bought millions of pads this time round, and DH knows which brands to buy and which shops stock the ones I prefer if he needs to get more.

Bled like a pig with both my c sections

I bled no heavier than a period for all of mine. They suck out a lot.

I bled a lot less for my ELCS than I did for my first vaginal delivery. Probably for about half as long.

Although it was more stop/start as I did more resting after ELCS so things would rush when I got up. Sorry if TMI.

Am 12 days post-ELCS and bleeding lightly rather old-looking blood, like the end of a period. No vaginal birth to compare it with, though.

I've only had an unplanned cs, but bled loads at first and it took weeks to tail off.

dc2 due in less than 2 weeks so all this glamour awaits

I had 5 weeks of bleeding following a C-section as did my friend.

I have had 2 EMCS's. First one, only bleed for about 10 days. This time round I am still bleeding at almost 4 weeks on.

Get lots of pads in just in case.

Normal pads would have done for me - just like a normal period! Maybe just get 1 pack and see how you go?

For nearly 10 weeks after my EMCS. Went through a lot of maternity pads.

IME after a section they will always remove as many clots as they can from the uterus and clean the vagina too. So initially the bleeding may be a bit lighter but as time goes on it will be as heavy as with a vaginal delivery.

I barely bled for three days after mine, didn't even get through one pack of maternity pads as they lie you on those mats after the op and stick a surgical maternity pad between your legs. My theory is that they give everything a thorough clean while they're in there so there's only the placenta site left slightly bleeding.

It really surprised me how much I did bleed after my caesarean. A really heavy period for 2-3 days but down to a mild bleed after that which stopped before the week was out. I definitely needed pads and the other thing that I found really helpful were 'big pants'. Just buying large belly warmers is great for the few weeks afterwards but in the first couple of days disposable pants were brilliant too, cos I wasn't really in a position to move very easily so leaks happened a couple of times.

'Caesarean Birth: A positive approach to preparation and recovery' by Leigh East www.csections.org dispells myths and prepares you for all aspects of caesarean birth. Well worth a read before you go through birth again.