What is postpartum bleeding?

[mother2b]

would hav asked on my other thread but it seems to have turned into a bit of a debate about [http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=49&threadid=342504&stamp=070621151106 racism]

racism

its the bleeding you have after you have given birth

how long do you bleed for 'postpartum'?

Different for each person - generally a few weeks.

I bled for about 6 weeks but only heavily for around 2/3. You'll need a lot of maternity pads.

it varies from perswon to erson but is usually about 6 weeks. Heavier just after the birth (did youever wonder what the maternity pads were for in your labour bag?) and tailing off after a while

i thought not having periods kind od compensated for the big amount of pain im going to go through in dec, and was thinking of it as an upside, but if we just have a giant one at the end thats rubbish

no body warned me of this

6 weeks!!!

basically, it is coming from the site the placenta was...bleeding starts as bright red loss, then becomes lighter and then almost like a beigey/ white discharge over time

can have clots in it

if it suddenly becomes heavier, or smells offensive or really big clots present, pain or fever, can be a sign of infection

you get it regardless of c.s or vaginal delivery

lasts a few weeks, 6 weeks or so, some women have it less, others more

also known as lochia

postpartum is quite American terminology

You have discovered a secret known only to mums! Good luck with the baby (nobody told me either).

no one told me either!

Me neither! Only found out when I asked one of my friends who had already had a baby why you needed maternity pads!!

When you've finished with the six weeks of lochia / postpartum bleeding, do you start having normal periods again? I was sort of assuming that if I breast feed, I'll get away with another 6 months or so of no periods while things settle down? is this just wishful thinking???

bella, it's not a sure thing but I've still not had a period and have been bf for 7 months. Some people do find they return sooner though.

Depends. Some people do, some don't. I didn't, but it turned out I fell pg within about four months of ds arriving so not sure how long it would have taken otherwise.

is there anything else anyone wants to ask ?

i guess a lot of Midwives presume you just know all these things.....

anyhoo......your periods might not return for several months if you are exclusively breastfeeding, but they can return sooner rather than later...

i didn't bf ds1 - i bled after the birth for 2 weeks, periods had returned at 6 weeks.

with ds2 i bled for 6 weeks and then got my periods back at 7 weeks! he was fully bf

No one told me either and I thought I'd only need a couple of packs of mat pads... dh had to run out and get more on day 6 or so and came back with a pack of Tena Lady . Mind you, the ol pelvic floor muscles mean that it wasn't entirely inappropriate. It's all so glamorous.

Sanitary pads make me feel itchy and uncomfortable and give me thrush. Is there anything more natural you can use rather than the ordinary maternity pads?

[cry emotion] Anything else anyone wants to break to me

Anyone told you about the pooing and weeing yourself whilst giving birth? That always gets people going

Doesn't happen to everyone though and the midwives are souls of discretion n (and you won't care anyway because you'll be too busy having a baby at the time to be embarrassed)

i also only got 2 packs but sent dp rushing to sainsbo within a couple of days! I don't know of anything more "natural" tbh.

MoM racks brains to think of other things that she didn't know before she gave birth

oooooh the pooing thing.....

would my DP about the poo/wee or would they just whip it away?

i suppose that make sense if you're in labour for hours and hours

i would still be so embarressed though

is that more likely to happen if you have an epidural?

midwife will discreetly dispose of any poo .....wee will be soaked into the inco pad you;ll be on, in the throes of it, you won;t care !