Talk to me about lochia

[TheLegendOfBeans]

Hello there

I had a CS almost three weeks ago and my bleeding has gone from being pinky and light to a bit heavier and brighter red.

I thought it had stopped Day 7 Post partum so I told the midwife it’d gone and she seemed relieved... so can anyone tell me

1. How long did your lochia last post CS?
2. Can what looks like fresh blood be indicative things aren’t healing as they should be inside?
3. How heavy was yours in comparison to your normal period?

I know this is a matter for a professional but I’m just canvassing for replies x

I'm wondering the same thing... I am 2 weeks postpartum today and I am still bleeding but the blood is now dark and stringy and there is a really strong nasty smell (sorry tmi) I am going to go to the doctors tomorrow every time I think iv finished bleeding it comes back and it isn't like one of my normal periods x

I’m lucky in that it’s not smelly... dede deffo get that checked out as funky smells = infection.

It’s just I’ve had a sudden couple of “wooshes” where the blood has just whizzed out. So far two cushion covers have been liberally scrubbed and bleached.

I bled for 8 weeks, it was like a super heavy period, with one massive clot. It slowed down to like a normal period at about 5 weeks. But i think I was one of the unlucky ones for bleeding for so long.

Yes, about 8 weeks here too. It’s one of the magical parts of motherhood

I’d get checked if there’s a weird smell though.

I didn't have a c-section so can't comment specifically on bleeding post section. I remember the midwife saying to me as long as you aren't passing clots larger than a 50p and not filling a maternity pad in an hour or less they don't tend to worry. It started and stopped for me and I had the gushing thing (that's why the midwife told me about when to seek help, big clots really pouring). The smell thing is quite normal, the midwife said to me "yes it smells like a butchers" it's gross but her description was pretty accurate. I bled for about 3 weeks both times.

About 8 weeks post c section both times and could be a bit stop start. Then two weeks off then a period. I was unsuprisngly a bit anaemic after all that!
And I was told the same as Halfdrank above

I bled for about 4 weeks, it got lighter as the weeks went on. The last week was like the last day of a period, very light and brownish colour. I was so glad when it stopped and I could put the nappy-like maternity towels away!!

Mine was about 6 weeks, with both DC, felt like forever!

Had a section twice and both times by week three it had gone really.

Have you any pain, OP?

I do have a bit but midwife is satisfied that it’s healing normally. It seems less gushy than before, I honestly think it was my uterus going back down that squashed all the blood out - sorry to those eating and reading

Mine actually lasted longer after C-section than it did after my subsequent VBAC - at least six weeks.

I had EMCS and my bleeding lasted around 10 weeks. At some points it was really heavy and I had some fresh blood at times. I did get an infection around week 8 but was told the fresh blood didn’t mean it wasn’t healing right

Lochia goes through three stages starting off as fresh red blood, and becoming brownish and then pinky. Some women also get a white / creamy discharge and that's normal also. Lochia can change from pinkish back to red and small gushes can be normal, particularly if breastfeeding as this will cause the uterus to contract.

There isn't any set time for bleeding to have stopped by as all women are different. If there is an offensive smell you should see the GP as this could indicate infection. If passing clots bigger than a 50p speak to you midwife and if bleeding becomes heavy, soaking through pads etc, seek immediate help.

Don't forget you will also get your period again, unless exclusively breastfeeding, and so this may cause a change in postnatal blood loss.

If you are concerned at all speak to your midwife.

I'm two weeks PP and for the past three days have been having panty liner amounts of extremely pale brown (one liner per day, one per night)

My post birth bleed calmed down from bright red and heavy to period volume in about 4 days, went pink for a few days then back to bright red with a few clots if I'd been too active the day before.

I've been told to stay prepared though as for up to 8 weeks the heavy bleed can come back.