Almost every girl is pregnant. The birth of a baby is a difficult natural process, which is often accompanied by various complications. Therefore, women often ask themselves: how much blood discharge after childbirth? To understand when to see a doctor, you need to know which lochia are considered normal and which are not.
Lochia
This is blood discharge after childbirth, which is evidence of the correct course of body cleansing. They are considered a healthy process after the birth of a child who tells the young mother that discharge from the uterus, consisting of blood, mucus and decaying dead tissue, comes out. This recovery of the body is experienced by all newly made mothers. This is required to clean the birth canal after passing through them a child. The color and quantity of secreted lochia can vary depending on the characteristics of the woman’s body, but there are basic criteria by which the norm and pathology can be determined, and you should also know how many days after delivery blood discharge can go.
Normal discharge
After the artificial and natural process of the appearance of the child, normal secretions are considered to be those that at first are abundant in nature and contain blood clots and mucus.
Why is there a blood discharge after childbirth? This is because in the beginning, after the resolution of pregnancy, the vessels located on the walls of the uterus are in a torn state, which leads to heavy bleeding. The organ of the female reproductive system with the help of intensive contractions is cleaned of dead cells and particles of the placenta, clots are taken from here.
Wary
At a time when a young mother goes lochia, she should be under the supervision of a doctor. This will save her from complications. It is worth paying attention to the fact that a small amount of blood discharge after childbirth, and even more so their absence, suggests that the woman’s body is not recovering properly and can not do without medication. When such therapy does not bring the proper result, you have to clean the uterus. That is why it is especially important to know how many days after birth there is a blood discharge.
Periods of recovery of the uterus in women
The natural process of normalizing work in the body of a young mother:
- Immediately after giving birth, the girl develops bloody discharge that lasts seven days, they are plentiful.
- After a week, clots and mucus are mixed with the secret in the woman.
- On the twentieth day, the volume of secreted blood becomes much smaller and it becomes lighter.
- After 4 weeks, blood secretions become scarce and have the appearance of “daubs”, as in the last days of menstruation.
How long does a blood discharge last after childbirth?
After natural delivery, the duration of the lochia should not exceed nine weeks. After cesarean, longer bleeding is allowed. It is worth remembering that it all depends on individual characteristics, so you should not give in to panic if you have long profuse blood discharge after childbirth. It is better to consult a doctor and consult about all exciting issues.
Breastfeeding causes the production of the hormone oxytocin, which provokes the contraction of the uterus, which is why lochia go less than thirty days.
Description of Loch
By the nature of the secretions and their shade, one can judge the correct course of the restoration of the uterus, as well as how much after the birth the blood secretions will go. They should have the following shade:
- the bright red color of the discharge, which smells of meat, is considered the norm in the first days after the birth of a baby;
- light pink or brown color indicates that red blood cells are replaced by white blood cells - such a secret on the fifth day after birth is considered completely normal, it is accompanied by a musty smell;
- light lochia (yellow or white) appear on the thirtieth day, they have no smell and are soon replaced by mucus, after which they cease.
Usually postpartum discharge is accompanied by a pulling cramping pain in the lower abdomen.
You should not begin sexual activity before the suckers do not completely end, as this can cause complications.
Reasons to see a doctor
The recovery process after childbirth is not always good. Reasons for contacting a specialist:
- lack of discharge (usually this indicates a spasm of the uterine pharynx due to large particles of the placenta that blocked the cervix);
- the duration of copious scarlet discharge, the appearance of temperature, chills and a high pulse (these signs can speak of endometritis - the inflammatory process of the uterine mucosa);
- brown discharge on the third day after childbirth, terrible headaches, sleep disturbance, palpitations, fever (if, in addition to these signs, the gynecologist notices an increase in the size of the uterus, this indicates complications of the endometritis);
- the disappearance of secretions and an increase in temperature to thirty-nine degrees with a general satisfactory condition (all these are symptoms of metroendometritis);
- discharge accompanied by an unpleasant odor (a sure sign of infection).
Only a specialist can correctly establish the condition, therefore it is so important to be observed by a doctor for the first few months after the birth of the baby.
Highlight color that should alert
We have already talked about how many days after childbirth there is a normal blood discharge. In case of complications, a preliminary diagnosis can be determined by the color of the suckers. The following shades indicate violations:
- yellow, which appeared before the sixth week, which is accompanied by an unpleasant odor, itching or burning, indicates the infection has begun (in this situation, it is advisable to consult a doctor as soon as possible and begin treatment, otherwise irreparable damage to the reproductive system may be caused);
- green, often they appear two weeks after the birth of the baby, they can be a symptom of a bacterial infection in the vagina (if you do not start taking medications on time, endometritis may begin);
- saturated browns may indicate the presence of pathology in the body, since this indicates clotting, such discharge is especially dangerous in the first days after birth (the reasons may be uterine fibroids, endometriosis, hormonal imbalance);
- white color often becomes a symptom of thrush, which should also be accompanied by itching and irritation in the perineum (usually after childbirth, thrush appears due to a decrease in immunity);
- pink lochia in the second week after birth can be due to erosion or injuries of the genital organ (after artificial delivery, such discharge indicates a possible divergence of sutures);
- black or too dark lochia speak only of hormonal changes in the body and do not require urgent medical attention.
If the blood discharge is strange or short-term, long-term, has an unpleasant odor, you should consult a doctor as soon as possible in order to avoid the development of complications.
Bleeding
During the first hours after the baby is born, too abundant lochia speaks of the onset of bleeding. Usually, the cause of it is weak contractions of the uterus, which cannot begin the stage of recovery after childbirth.
Usually in such cases, doctors prescribe a young mother a dropper with the hormone oxytocin, which helps to begin contractions. They are dripped at the same time as the unpleasant procedure for emptying the bladder of a girl by introducing a catheter.
Also, a rupture of the cervix could be the cause of bleeding. This happens when the doctor skips it or puts on it the wrong seam, which is easily damaged.
It should be borne in mind that bleeding is very dangerous not only for health, but also for the life of a young mother, so measures must be taken immediately!
Factors affecting the appearance of unnatural suckers
How many days after birth do you get blood discharge? Their duration depends on the causes, which in most cases lead to consequences in the form of complications:
- improper nutrition, unhealthy fatty foods with a small amount of protein in the diet (it is very important to follow a diet after giving birth to a baby);
- abuse of bad habits during pregnancy (this includes cigarettes and alcohol);
- anemia;
- overweight;
- immunodeficiency;
- polyhydramnios during pregnancy;
- wearing a spiral for a long time to an “interesting” position;
- abortions
- surgical procedures before pregnancy;
- respiratory tract diseases.
Prevention
How many days after birth there is a blood discharge, depends on the individual characteristics of the young mother. Despite the fact that lochia is quite unpleasant, they are very important, because it is thanks to them that the body is cleaned after the difficult process of the birth of the baby, and is also restored. The fate of the woman’s reproductive system depends on how seamlessly this period passes.
rules
When blood discharge ends after childbirth, the question is controversial, but to prevent complications, you must adhere to the following rules:
- You should often go to the toilet, at the slightest urge, especially on the first day after birth. An empty bladder plays a huge role in preventing the development of complications, since it does not interfere with the normal contraction of the uterus. It is advisable to visit the ladies room at least once every three hours.
- You need to choose natural feeding for the baby. Since the process releases the hormone oxytocin into the bloodstream, which affects the woman’s brain, due to which the uterus contracts much faster, the remaining placenta leaves more actively and the lochia ends faster.
- It takes more to lie on your stomach. This helps to prevent stagnation of blood with placental residues inside the uterus, since after birth the main reproductive organ moves to the posterior abdominal wall, and this arrangement prevents the secretion from leaving.
- Four times a day during the first two weeks to apply ice to the abdominal cavity so that it helps to reduce muscle and normalize the state of blood vessels. But it is important to ensure that the compress is not on the stomach for more than five minutes, otherwise hypothermia can occur.
- How long does a woman after a birth have twins or a large baby? Doctors prescribe a young mother a dropper with the hormone oxytocin, which will help return the stretched uterus to normal in thirty days.
- It is necessary to carefully monitor the hygiene of the genitals all the time while there is blood discharge after childbirth. This will help prevent infection. After each visit to the ladies' room, you should wash yourself using special means for intimate hygiene, which contain a minimum amount of dyes and fragrances.
- In no case should you take a hot bath until the lochia is over. After all, it is known that heat facilitates the spread of bacteria. Also in the water, genital inflammation can begin.
- Experts advise changing sanitary towels after giving birth as often as possible! The first three weeks they can not be saved and it is worth updating them every two hours. A pad filled with secretions is a favorable environment for the spread of pathogenic bacteria. It is important to know about the complete ban on the use of tampons in the postpartum period, because they can provoke endometriosis in a young mother.
- You need to dress warmly, because hypothermia, especially in winter, can cause serious complications.
- Doctors forbid women who give birth to lift weights, this can break seams and cause bleeding. Usually, experts tell girls not to pick up things whose weight exceeds the weight of five books.
Strict adherence to the rules will affect how much blood discharge lasts after childbirth in a woman.