After giving birth to a young mother, there are many questions: is everything ok with the baby? How correctly to put the baby to the breast? What to do with the umbilical wound? How many go and when the discharge after giving birth ceases?
When does the discharge end after giving birth?
Often, after giving birth, a woman does not pay any attention to herself - she gets everything to a newborn. Meanwhile, the postpartum period is fraught with a lot of dangers to the baby girl. Immediately after the latter goes away, the woman has very strong bloody discharge - lochia. From the wound at the place of attachment to the uterus of the placenta oozes blood, the epithelium that lined the uterus during pregnancy, begins to be rejected - all this, mixed with mucus from the cervical canal, poured from the genital tract.
When are the discharge after childbirth? Normally, the duration of discharge after childbirth should not exceed 6-8 weeks.
In the first two hours after delivery, while the woman is still in the pedigree or on a gurney in the corridor, doctors observe the nature of the discharge. This period is especially dangerous for the development of hypotonic bleeding, when the uterus ceases to contract. To avoid complications to the woman on the lower abdomen, put an ice pack and intravenously inject drugs that improve uterine contraction. If blood loss does not exceed half a liter and their intensity gradually decreases, then everything is in order, the puerperium is transferred to the postnatal ward.
Within 2-3 days after delivery, women have a bright red color and a pungent smell. Bleeding is strong enough - a gasket or an underlay diaper has to be changed every 1-2 hours. In addition to blood from the genital tract, small clots can be released. This is normal - the uterus is gradually cleared of all unnecessary and shrinks in size.
In the following days, the lochia gradually darken, turn brown, and then yellowish (due to the large number of leukocytes). After a month, the allocation after the delivery is more like slime, and some women may stop altogether. On average, after 1-2 months the uterus returns to pre-pregnancy size. After 5 months after delivery, the discharge may already be of a menstrual character, since the monthly cycle is usually restored by this time.
By the way, the duration of discharge after childbirth depends on many factors:
- intensity of uterine contractions;
- the course of pregnancy and childbirth;
- Breastfeeding on demand (in this case, the uterus is reduced faster);
- individual characteristics of the body (ability to recover quickly);
- the method of delivery (after caesarean section of the release go longer).
Urgently to the doctor!
When discharging from the hospital, women are usually warned about the need to monitor their health and consult any doctor for any suspicious symptoms. Within 40 days after childbirth, you can go to the hospital where you gave birth.
Urgent medical care is needed if:
- the discharge did not cease after 2 months after delivery;
- the discharge has almost disappeared and suddenly resumed with renewed vigor;
- the discharge became purulent, with a sharp unpleasant odor (inflammatory process is developing) or white, curdled, accompanied by itching (exacerbation of thrush);
- a high fever, a chill, a pain in the lower abdomen;
- discharge after childbirth lasts a minimum of 3-4 weeks, and if they suddenly disappear before this time, then most likely the wound contents accumulate in the uterine cavity (a lychiometer develops). And this threatens the development of infection.