How long after can I use a tampon?

[hellolittleone]

Hey everyone

How long did you wait to use tampons again after birth?
I've googled and it says not to for 6 weeks. But it also says not to have sex for 6 weeks too. I had a caesarean delivery and started having sex 12 days after 😶 I know most people will say I shouldn't have, I felt totally normal and feeling really well I'm now 16 days pp. Im still bleeding on and off very lightly some days only when I wipe anything will come out (sorry tmi). I'm just fed up of wearing pads. I can't wear normal underwear because of having to have a pad on, I will continue if I have to but would love to feel normal and use a tampon.

Did anyone else use one earlier than 6 weeks?

Thanks

You shouldn't use tampons until your first period after birth. If you are still having lochia then you still have an open wound in your uterus (where the placenta was attached) and tampons would be an infection risk

Yeah as the above poster said you shouldn't use them until your bleeding stops and then if you choose to use them for your first period that's fine but not for post birth bleeding as there's a risk of infection plus who'd want to shove one up there for a few weeks after 😂😂 xx

Thanks both! I'm definitely going to wait then 😄

If you google photos of baby’s next to their placenta you will get an idea of the size of the open wound which needs to heal.

The midwife showed me our placenta when my baby was born recently. It was huge, the amount of bleeding makes a whole lot more sense now, lol.

@Mysa74 I never got to see either of mine. DD1 was an EMCS and with DD2 I retained my placenta and it was removed under general anaesthetic.

I had a section and my lochia was so minimal by 17 days post delivery I switched to tampons. I loathe pads and have never used them apart from this one time. My child is nearly 17 years old and no issues so far!!

I didn't see my other 2 @Thatwentbadly but always imagined something the size and shape of a raw chicken breast. In real life it more than filled one of these cardboard hospital bowls and was a purply red colour. The midwife checked it over and it was about the length of her hand wide and 2 or 3 hand widths long, shiny with the cord on one side and meaty on the other... Sorry if TMI, I found it nearly as fascinating as DD,