How long do you bleed after giving birth?

katiedirkse

I'm 3 weeks post birth. How long should I expect to bleed? Though my flow is light to medium it is still occasionally bright red. Is this normal?

Chichigo

Up to six weeks is normal. It's also common for bleeding to slow down, then get stronger as you resume more activities. As long as you aren't filling a pad every 2 hours or passes large clots, you're probably doing OK. If either of those happen, or you want reassurance that everything is normal, call your doctor or the hospital.

SmrBrd2012

Agree with PP. I bled for 5.5 weeks.

AccidentlyEvil

I asked my doc about this. She said 6 weeks is considered normal, especially if formula-feeding. It often stops much sooner if breastfeeding, often by the end of week two. 

jesselayne8

4wks for Csection and EBF.

Latina211508

6 weeks is average. Breastfeeding has nothing to do with how much you bleed after delivery. Even though I've heard you bleed less or don't get your pp period for a while if you breastfeed. But that did not pertain to me at all. I breastfed all 3 of my children. I bled for 6 weeks after my first delivery, 4 weeks after my second and about 2 weeks if that after my third delivery.

Bigboobsmcgee

Latina211508 said:

6 weeks is average. Breastfeeding has nothing to do with how much you bleed after delivery. Even though I've heard you bleed less or don't get your pp period for a while if you breastfeed. But that did not pertain to me at all. I breastfed all 3 of my children. I bled for 6 weeks after my first delivery, 4 weeks after my second and about 2 weeks if that after my third delivery.

That's not true at all.

Latina211508

@Bigboobsmcgee breastfeeding had nothing to do with how much I bled after each of my deliveries. Obviously every single woman and pregnancy is different. I exclusively breastfed each of my children. Women assume or are told they will bleed less or not get their periods for a while if they EBF which is not always true. If it wasn't true at all then I wouldn't be a perfect example of that.

Bigboobsmcgee

Latina211508 said:

@Bigboobsmcgee breastfeeding had nothing to do with how much I bled after each of my deliveries. Obviously every single woman and pregnancy is different. I exclusively breastfed each of my children. Women assume or are told they will bleed less or not get their periods for a while if they EBF which is not always true. If it wasn't true at all then I wouldn't be a perfect example of that.

Good for you. But saying that breastfeeding has nothing to do with how much you bleed is a blanket statement that isn't true. You could have said "breastfeeding had nothing to do with how much I bled after delivery". Just pointing that out.

delujm0

I delivered vaginally and EBF and bled for about 3.5 weeks, maybe 4...it just slowed down and eventually stopped.  I have read that it is very normal for it to stop around 4 weeks and then come back, but that did not happen to me, even when I started exercising after being cleared by my doctor (at 5 weeks).

 

Science time: when you breastfeed, it causes your uterus to contract.  This is why for many EBF women, they stop bleeding sooner, and their uterus goes back to its pre-pregnancy size and position sooner, than women that do not breastfeed. 

heatherbybee

2.5 weeks for me which I was pleasantly surprised by. I EBF. FTM, vaginal delivery, 36 yrs old.

NurseRieger

I'm 4 weeks PP, EBF and mine just stopped a few days ago. Breast or formula feeding the amount is what it is however breastfeeding mom's uterus contracts down faster because of oxytocin release so the bleeding may be faster at 1st then stop sooner. It's also what causes cramps after birth. There are other factors and every pregnancy will be different. It's normal for bleeding to slow get lighter in color and then get bright red after activity but that should go away again. Bleeding should still gradually slow and if it becomes heavy again or u start passing clots again call the doctor.

Bickey11

Mine stops for days at a time and starts again. It's annoying. I finally take off the pad and it starts again. Inevitably always when I'm in the middle of pumping or feeding. Baby is 3.5 weeks old. With my first 2 I remember it stopping about a week before my 6 week appt.

roo1oo

I bled heavy for 1 week, light for another 2 weeks, then spotted off and on until almost 12 weeks PP. EPed for most of that time and it was about the time I stopped pumping that I stopped bleeding. Maybe there's a correlation? Maybe not.