Bleeding after birth - how long is normal?

[Aug122020]

Hi everyone,

I gave birth to my little boy on 31st July, normal vaginal delivery and I didn’t have any interventions and luckily just a 1st degree tear that didn’t require any stitches! (I had a horrible pregnancy so deffo got lucky with my birth 😂)

I’m 10 days PP now and my bleeding has gotten a bit heavier over the last two days. No clots but there is definitely more of it and it is still bright red. It isn’t worryingly heavy but I just assumed it would slowly tail off and turn brown rather than get heavier and stay red so I don’t know if I should be concerned.

Is this normal? I don’t want to ring my GP unless it’s totally necessary as I know how busy they have been recently.

How long can I expect to be bleeding for roughly? I know it’s probably so different for everyone. I’m not breastfeeding sadly as baby was having a hard time latching, I’m not sure if this makes a difference x

I forget exactly but Im sure it was longer than 10 days, more like 3 weeks. Do you feel well? No harm in speaking to midwife/hv for advice on what’s typical if you are concerned. I’m just remembering actually, I have a feeling I seemed to be slowing, and it would get worse, and it being suggested maybe I was doing too much. Good excuse to get waited on anyway .

Congratulations on your baby and glad birth was good!

I was 4-5 weeks. It started getting so I could use normal pads (not maternity) at about a week-10 days pp.

If you have concerns, speak to the midwife or hv.

Everyone is different...

My first was 10 years ago so I struggle to remember exactly how long, but I remember it being weeks! It was heavy and felt like it went on forever.

My second however was a lot better, I think it was around 2 weeks. I do remember thinking it had finished after a week and was amazed, only to wake up the next day heavily bleeding again for another week

Congrats by the way!

Yes was over a month for me but generally light. I remember it got heavier one day after pushing the pram up a steep hill and have heard others say it gets worse if you over-do things so maybe have a few rest days and see if it slows a little?

Think I was about 5-6 weeks. But check with midwife/HV if it’s got heavier

Mine lasted 4 weeks. It tailed off a few times and then would come back bright red for a few days. I had a retained placenta so I was told to extra vigilant with bleeding so I did get checked by a midwife twice when this happened. She wasn’t too concerned as there were no clots. It’s probably worth checking with your HV if it will put your mind at rest.

Easily 6 weeks both times.

As PPs have said, 4-5 weeks for me too. I had varying degrees of how heavy I was depending on how much I had done during that day.

My baby is 3 weeks old and I'm still bleeding, it's lighter and I'm just wearing normal pads now.

I bled for eight weeks and only stopped when GP prescribed something. I was fine apart from that. However it is unusual. I would think three or four weeks is average so you are well within limits.

I bled for about 3 weeks and had big clots too. 10 days is completely normal. Don't worry

Mine was 7 weeks but was very light by the end. Felt like forever, especially with a sore episiotomy to keep clean! Do mention it to your GP or health visitor if you are concerned - that's what they're there for and it may well just take a quick telephone appointment to put your mind at rest.

Congratulations, and that's brilliant you had a straightforward birth.

It can be around the six week mark. You may well find that if you have been more active, in the early weeks it will set off a little more bleeding.
As long as you're not passing big clots or bleeding very heavily, it should be ok.
If, however, you are bleeding excessively, or feel unwell (particularly if you have a temperature), you should seek help.
Your uterus is healing! Just remember that the massive placenta you saw has left a raw area that needs to heal and get back to normal.

8 weeks with both mine.

6 weeks.

If it gets heavier at any point take it easy, probably means you’re doing a bit too much

With my first it finishes surprisingly quickly, but I was able to rest a lot, I was worried something was wrong as it was all done after about 10 days.

My second it lasted about 3-4 weeks, but what worried me was it would appear to be finishing, then suddenly go back to being bright red - which meant I was doing too much. So rest as much as you can, you basically have a wound the size of a dinner plate

6 weeks for me; heavier when I went for a walk or was more active, more clots and so on. It had stopped just in time for my 6 week check.

Up to 6 weeks is considered ‘normal’ although I think I was closer to 7 weeks.

When your placenta comes away there is a kind of scan left behind at the placental site. That tends to come away at about 8-10 days. Women quite often notice their bleeding gets heavier again for a day or two. As long as you’re not passing lots of clots or bleeding through a pad in under an hour, and it does settle after a couple of days, you don’t need to worry.

My bleeding seemed to stop but has started up again. Midwife said I must have been doing too much, like other posters have mentioned.

Sorry if this sounds silly but why does doing too much make it start up again? Is there a big internal wound that opens back up or something?

There is a big internal wound - the place the placenta was attached to. That's in addition to shedding from the uterus lining itself.