Exact Answer: 4-6 Weeks
Bleeding after giving birth is normal for most females and the process is quite similar to the menstrual period. After giving birth to a child the process of bleeding could last for about a few weeks. However, this can vary from person to person because some people can experience different things.
Summary
A female’s body goes through several changes during their pregnancy period. And there are a lot of changes that do not change until and unless you give birth to your young one. Soon after delivery of your child, your body will take up to few days or even weeks to recover. This means your body could show some symptoms which take time to heal or recover.
How Long Do You Bleed After Giving Birth?
| After giving birth | 4-6 weeks the symptoms could last |
| After giving birth | Your body could show some symptoms and you should take a rest for a few days or even weeks. |
The blood that you see after delivering a child is called lochia. Lochia is basically the discharge of blood mostly that is almost similar to the menstrual period and the process could last for at least a few weeks. The process of lochia contains blood, pieces of the lining of the uterine, mucus, and a few amount of white blood cells.
Similar to periods this bleeding is caused by shedding and the restoration of the uterine lining. Soon after delivery, the first bleeding is mostly blood and as days go by you will notice that there would be more amount of mucus than blood.
There is nothing to be scared of because this process is normal and common for people. Well, it is best you stay under the guidance of a doctor and keep yourself checked once or twice a week after you have given birth to your young one.
Few days after your baby is born (usually 2-3 days) the blood you see will be mostly dark in color and it may smell like the blood that you discharge during your menstrual period. During the process, there might be the clotting of blood ranging from the size of a grape or the size of a prune.
Why Does It Take That Long To Recover After Giving Birth?
A few weeks should be given for your body to recover completely after giving birth to a child. Well, soon after you give birth you will start bleeding which is almost similar to the process of the menstrual period.
However, as time goes by the blood which was dark in color should turn into a different color like pinkish or brownish in color. The blood clots which have occurred should start to disappear or vanish completely after a few days of time.
After the first week, the color of your discharge will start to become yellowish or somewhat white in color, and in more than three to six weeks time the whole process of bleeding should stop. Bleeding can happen even after C-section delivery but you will likely have less lochia.
Here, in the lochia process you can see some blood for a few weeks but not like a normal vaginal delivery. The color of the blood would start to change from dark red to yellow or somewhat brownish in color just as you would see after a vaginal delivery.
However, there are some precautions or some steps that you can take to just be careful while you are experiencing lochia. At first, when you are in the hospital you will be wearing a hospital pad and during this time the nurse should provide you with extra-absorbent pads when you are discharged.
Soon after the dark color turns yellow or brownish then that means the process is changing to the recovery stage. It is then you can start to wear the normal menstrual pads.
Conclusion
You have to be very cautious during this time because a small infection could lead to a very big issue. However, you don’t want an infection to happen in the first place. Therefore, you should keep changing your pads to prevent that.
Do not use tampons until and unless your doctor advises you to do so. Once you experience that the bleeding has come back to normal then you can switch to a panty liner. However, make sure you visit the doctor once or twice a week during this period.
References
- https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1471-0528.1986.tb08063.x
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002937810002553
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