How long will it take for your period to come after giving birth? After childbirth, the first periods are very heavy and long

The cycle is not established immediately and creates many questions for women who have recently left the maternity ward.

Wise Mother Nature protected a woman from the double burden of simultaneous breastfeeding and repeated pregnancy, making sure that those hormones that are responsible for lactation simultaneously suppress ovulation.

The first appear only when the level of prolactin, the lactation hormone, begins to decrease with a decrease in volume and cessation of breastfeeding. Early introduction of complementary foods, supplementary formula feeding, additional water and juice, infrequent breastfeeding (less than once every 3 hours) and the absence of night feeding (a break of more than 6 hours) lead to an acceleration of the appearance of menstruation.

And even after the first bleeding occurs, the cycle may remain irregular for quite a long time. It will be fully restored when you restore your health and the delicate hormonal system for regulating the sexual sphere starts working like a clock again.

The second discharge often comes with a large deviation in timing, but after 2-3 months everything returns to normal.

Postpartum discharge, lochia, is similar to menstrual discharge, but it is not them; immediately after childbirth, a woman bleeds from the place where the placenta was previously attached, and this discharge has nothing to do with the normal process. The uterine cavity after the separation of the placenta has a real wound, and until it heals completely, there will be increasingly diminishing discharge, first bloody, then brown, then just yellowish, and this can last up to 8 weeks. Then, if you are breastfeeding, your period may not bother you until 6 - 12 months, and this is completely normal.

Lactation is a constant loss of nutrients, iron, calcium, and restoration of the cycle means the likelihood of a second pregnancy. Of course, the mother’s body is unlikely to be able to provide for two babies at once without harming itself.

Long delays are normal. There is no need to rush things and look for a way to do it, the time will come, and they will begin on their own as soon as the mother’s body has fully recovered and breastfeeding has stopped.

When do periods start after childbirth?

If in the time of our great-grandmothers a baby up to a year or longer knew nothing but mother's milk, today, even if the baby is breastfed on demand, complementary foods are introduced from 6 months, which means that less and less breast milk is needed. Lactation fades away, and everything returns to its rightful place.

If the mother does not breastfeed, the ability to conceive can be restored within one and a half to two months. There is a common belief that during breastfeeding it is impossible to conceive a baby until the ovulation process resumes, but in reality it is not so important when your period comes, because ovulation can occur despite the fact that you are still breastfeeding. At the same time, at least another two weeks will pass before you find out that you are fertile again, and during this period conception is possible. This is how most children of the same age are born.

Think in advance about a more reliable method of preventing unwanted conception; during lactation you can use mini-pills, an intrauterine device and all barrier contraceptives.

How much a particular woman recovers is even influenced by how often the baby is put to the breast, whether he receives breastfeeding at night, whether he is supplemented with food, and whether he receives complementary foods in addition to breastfeeding.

The average period for most women is 6 months after the birth of the baby, provided they are breastfed.

If there is no lactation, it all depends on the general state of health and how the birth proceeded, on average this is a period between one and a half and three months after the birth of the child. As soon as the lochia is over, two weeks pass and you can resume the normal process of ovulation again.

A difficult, complicated pregnancy and childbirth, a weakened body, the presence of complications in the postpartum period affects this clean period, lengthening it, even if there is no breastfeeding, you may need 2-3 months more time.

The nature of menstruation after childbirth

In many cases, the resumption of the menstrual cycle after the birth of the child occurs with a change in it. How the discharge occurs depends primarily on the method of contraception.

If you choose an intrauterine device for prevention, be prepared for the discharge to become more abundant. In such cases, the color can be very bright in the first days, and even discharge with clots is possible.

If mini-pills are chosen, in the future there may be very scanty discharge, and even spotting, this is due to the fact that gestagens, hormones contained in birth control pills, change hormonal levels and the endometrium grows by the end of the cycle less than normal.

If there is no contraception and the woman is completely healthy, in most cases the nature of the fluid changes for the better. If you had premenstrual syndrome before becoming a mother and everything was painful, it may go away. Previously painful critical days can become completely imperceptible.

How long does your period last after childbirth?

The ovulation process does not return to normal immediately, however, it should not be delayed too much. If spotting persists for more than 7-10 days or is profuse, this is a reason to be alarmed and consult a gynecologist. How many days the first usual bleeding lasts is not so important, the second may turn out to be completely different, gradually everything will return to normal.

They should not be too abundant, if you need more than 1 pad for 2 hours, this is no longer the norm, you need a doctor. If the bleeding is not very heavy and subsides to the point of spotting, do not worry, even if it lasts a week or a little more, this is normal for the first time.

Irregular menstrual cycle after childbirth, how to cope?

The regularity of sexual processes is not restored immediately; it is completely normal if it takes several months.

If you have already had one menstruation, a delay next time if you have reliable contraception is not a reason to worry, but if you are protected by such unreliable methods as interrupted intercourse or were hoping for breastfeeding, it is worth doing a test; its possibility should not be discounted.

A failure after childbirth that lasts more than three months is not the norm and requires examination by a gynecologist; perhaps there is a reason that requires treatment. As a rule, such reasons are always quite serious, from a malfunction in the hormonal system to diseases of the uterus and appendages, do not look for a way to restore everything yourself, self-medication can aggravate the problems.

By starting to take OK on the advice of a friend, you risk missing such a serious pathology as an inflammatory process in the genital organs or a tumor, and this is dangerous both for your health and for the possibility of having more children in the future. Remember that a new pregnancy may also be the reason for the delay.

Getting started and recovering can be quite an unpleasant and difficult process. There are some symptoms and signs that indicate that everything is not as smooth as we would like.

It should be noted that how the pregnancy ended, whether it was childbirth, abortion, miscarriage, caesarean section, also has an impact on the process under discussion.

Menstruation after cesarean section

A caesarean section is an operation, an intervention on the uterus, accompanied by an incision in its wall. If after a normal birth the uterus only has damage to the endometrium, as a result of a cesarean section the entire wall of the uterus is injured to its full depth.

After a caesarean section in cases where a woman is breastfeeding, the results are the same as if there had been no operation, however, if they occur early, the surgery may cause them to proceed differently than normal.

Recovery from a cesarean section occurs in the same time frame as if you gave birth on your own.

Since the intervention does not allow early installation of an intrauterine device, and a repeat pregnancy in the first two years from a cesarean section is extremely undesirable, one has to take the choice of a contraceptive method very seriously. You cannot rely on PPA and breastfeeding as a method of preventing conception; your obstetrician-gynecologist will tell you how to protect yourself.

Heavy discharge after cesarean section, too scanty, irregular - require consultation with a doctor, since all these problems can also be associated with hormonal disorders and intrauterine infection.

Menstruation while breastfeeding

Breastfeeding and menstrual periods are a completely possible combination. If you breastfeed your baby, this does not guarantee that you will recover late.

It is important to remember that a high level of prolactin is responsible for lactation only in the first month after birth, then it also remains somewhat elevated, but already from 3-4 weeks after the birth of the child, the mammary gland begins to work autonomously. Milk is produced as much as the baby sucks; if his needs become less, then the amount of breast milk decreases.

Due to a decrease in prolactin levels, early menstruation after childbirth with breastfeeding is not uncommon, as is repeated pregnancy in those women who relied on lactation as a method of contraception.

If you start bleeding while breastfeeding, this does not prevent you from continuing to breastfeed your baby. There is an opinion that if menstruation has arrived, the child may refuse to breastfeed. There is part of the truth in this, but it is not due to a change in the taste of milk, as many people think, but because the mother’s smell changes, and the child is very sensitive to this.

If you and your baby give up breastfeeding gradually, as is recommended, reducing the number of feedings and gradually replacing them with complementary foods, everything can begin even during breastfeeding.

An abrupt termination of lactation with the use of drugs that suppress it, sudden weaning before the child is even 6 months old, means that the body is not yet ready to resume the cycle. On average, normalization of the processes should be expected in a month and a half; at least one obstetric month will pass before they are restored; the egg must first mature, and only then will ovulation and normalization of the cycle be possible.

Remember:

Breastfeeding is not a method of contraception; pregnancy is quite possible

Cases when menstruation began during breastfeeding are not uncommon, and this is not a reason to stop breastfeeding.

If the cycle has already recovered and you are not really taking protection, a delay in breastfeeding should first of all concern you about the risk of a possible re-pregnancy.

Menstruation after abortion

Abortion is the interruption of fetal development, prematurely and violently. When the first leaks come and how long they last after the artificial interruption of the baby’s life depends on the duration of the intervention. After a medical abortion, as a rule, everything is restored within one cycle; delays are rare.

After a mini-abortion for up to 7 weeks, everything comes within a month and a half after the procedure, and they also recover after a regular abortion.

If an artificial birth took place at a late stage, the critical days may not recover for up to three months, as after a normal birth after which there was no breastfeeding.

Complications are possible after any intervention. Bleeding or normal discharge? If something confuses you or seems wrong, consult a gynecologist.

Periods after miscarriage

A miscarriage at any stage is difficult for the mother to bear. This is not only stress due to the loss of a child, but also possible hormonal imbalances. After a miscarriage in the early stages, the body recovers quickly, but normally it always takes at least 1 month; after late miscarriages, recovery can take 2-3 months, it all depends on the specific obstetric situation and the cause of the incident.

Restoration of menstruation after pregnancy, deviations from the norm

Heavy discharge

These are the ones where you need more than 1 pad for 2 hours. They should be regarded as bleeding and consult a doctor. Strong discharge should also alarm you if the blood is scarlet and with a lot of clots.

In general, the duration should be up to 10 days - this is normal, but they may be more abundant than before birth. As a rule, in the future they become the same as before the birth of the child or even less abundant. Brown discharge may last for several days, but if the total duration of bleeding exceeds ten days, be sure to consult a gynecologist.

Long, prolonged menstruation is not the norm; the cause may be either a hormonal imbalance or the presence of a tumor in the uterine cavity or inflammation.

If you have doubts, do not understand what is happening to you, this is a sufficient reason to set aside some time for yourself and consult a doctor.

Violation of regularity

The cycle is not restored immediately. Irregular bleeding after the first time is normal for no more than three months; if the cycle is not established, the cause may be hormonal imbalances.

Discharge in the absence of breastfeeding can recover after 40 days, and as soon as postpartum discharge stops, you will be ready to conceive again. Having a period a month after giving birth is impossible, if your discharge has already stopped and then resumed again, complications of the postpartum period should be ruled out and consult a gynecologist.

Sometimes there are frequent leaks, literally twice a month. If your bleeding resumes every two weeks, this is also not normal. The most common cause is hyperplasia (overgrowth) of the endometrium due to hormonal disorders and this requires examination by a doctor.

Normally, even with breastfeeding, the process is restored within 6 months after the birth of the child; they rarely come later than this period. If you have not had a period for a year or more, or have not had one for more than two months after you have finished breastfeeding, you should consult a gynecologist.

Menstruation after childbirth is an important hormonal process that indicates a woman’s health. Critical days begin immediately after breastfeeding ends.

Renewed menstrual periods are the most important sign of complete rehabilitation of the female body after childbirth. It is worth noting that what worries most women who have recently become mothers is not the fact of the arrival of menstrual days, but the possibility of unexpectedly becoming pregnant again.

After all, most likely, if you have a small child, such a hasty pregnancy is not desirable, which means you need to be “on alert.” Doctors' advice and full knowledge of the characteristics of your body will help you understand this issue.

How and when do you get your first period after childbirth?

Most women's doctors and the generally accepted rule say that a full return of menstruation should be expected almost immediately after breastfeeding ends. Nature decided for us that while a woman is breastfeeding, she should not have children, and if she stops breastfeeding, her child is old enough. And this is really true: ideally, a child should be breastfed until two or three years of age. Having reached this age, he can be considered independent and adult.
Modern living conditions dictate their conditions. Store shelves are full of bottle-feeding products, mothers need to return to work, the first complementary feeding begins at 4 months... and women simply do not want to give breast milk to their children. Most often, feeding ends at one year or even earlier - at 6 months

Breastfeeding and the onset of menstruation are two of the most important hormonal processes in the female body, and interfering with their course is fraught with some unpleasant consequences: disruption of physiological and psychological health.

How long do periods last after childbirth?

It is important to know that the first two or three months, monthly bleeding may not be regular. Only after a while the cycle is completely restored. It is not uncommon for menstruation to appear during active breastfeeding. Such an event does not always mean deviations or problems, but it is necessary to see a gynecologist. Only he can exclude the presence of the disease.

breastfeeding and periods after childbirth

After a woman has successfully given birth, she may feel some changes in her body:

characteristic pain during menstruation that occurs in the lower abdomen becomes softer or disappears altogether
menstrual bleeding becomes heavier or smaller in size
periods last longer or, on the contrary, end faster

If you have finished breastfeeding, but your period has not come after two or three months, you should consult a doctor. Such a phenomenon may well symbolize the presence of a tumor or another pregnancy.

After childbirth, menstruation restores its “stationary regime” within three months. Until this time has passed, you can observe their instability and non-cyclical nature: sometimes big, sometimes small. Doctors emphasize that if the critical days are too long (from seven to ten days), then this is a reason to worry and seek advice.

How to distinguish periods after childbirth from bleeding?

Throughout pregnancy, the fetus was tightly attached by the placenta to the wall of the uterus. The fetus was fed through blood vessels. During childbirth, the fetus is torn from the uterus, leaving behind bleeding wounds. This is why a woman experiences heavy bleeding during the first month after delivery. The uterus is actively trying to return to normal and regularly cleanses itself, throwing out remaining blood, placenta and clots.

Bloody discharge appears immediately after the birth of the baby and accompanies the woman for 10 to 20 days. If the active bleeding does not stop, you should immediately consult a doctor.

There is a definition for such bleeding. They are called lochia. It is not difficult to distinguish lochia from menstruation, although in the first days they are similar to each other. The first days of lochia are characterized by profuse scarlet and red discharge mixed with mucus, placenta and ruptured blood vessels. As it heals, the blood will darken and acquire a brown tint, and by the end it may become completely beige or transparent.

menstruation and bleeding after childbirth

Menstruation is distinguished by a more brown color at the beginning and at the end of the discharge. The duration of the discharge can also tell you about its nature: menstruation lasts a week, and lochia lasts from four to eight weeks.

The nature of these bleedings is varied, because lochia is a consequence of childbirth, and menstruation is a purely hormonal process. Every young mother must monitor the nature of the discharge
If the expected menstruation has impurities of yellowish or greenish mucus, this is a “worrying bell”, indicating a purulent process in the body
The fact is that it is not uncommon for foreign tissue to remain in the uterine cavity. On their own, they were unable to leave the body in time and an inflammatory process, as well as tissue damage, is quite possible.

The nature of your periods may change after childbirth and even for the better. The fact is that most women have an abnormal curvature of the uterus. This is why it becomes difficult to get pregnant, and during menstruation you can sometimes experience severe and unbearable aching pain.

Childbirth brings the uterus into its normal and acceptable physiological shape. That is why pain during menstruation disappears and they become easily tolerable.

After the first few months, periods usually take on their usual shape and last as long as they lasted before pregnancy. Deviations can only be noticed in cases where a woman takes hormonal contraceptives. The nature of the discharge in this case becomes much smaller and lasts no longer than five days.

In another case, the installation of a device in the uterine cavity, a popular contraceptive, characterizes menstruation as abundant bright red discharge with impurities and dark-colored clots.

Breastfeeding is a hormonal process that regulates the onset of the menstrual cycle in the female body. The ideal is the appearance of the first menstrual flow after one to two months of finishing breastfeeding. It often happens that women who do not have a very abundant flow of milk observe the appearance of menstruation immediately after the period of lochia.

In any case, you need to carefully monitor your health and how you feel during discharge. Note that if the pad lasts you no more than two hours, this is a reason to panic, since in such cases it is possible that it is not lochia or menstruation, but internal bleeding.

Pay attention to how long it takes for your period to come after you finish breastfeeding. A period of two to three months is considered normal.

After giving birth, heavy periods, what to do?

Each female body is purely individual and it is difficult to judge in general about female predisposition. However, there is one rule: there should be no periods during breastfeeding. If they come, it means something is wrong with the hormonal background of your body, and if they don’t come at all, you should consult a doctor.

postpartum discharge

When observing heavy periods, first of all, see how big they are and how long they last. The pads should last for more than two hours; if this pattern is not present, you need to consult a doctor. Monitor the nature of the discharge: what color it is, whether there are impurities or mucus.

The presence of mucus, pieces of foreign tissue and yellowish-greenish impurities indicates that there is inflammation and purulent infection in your body. It requires immediate medical intervention and disposal.

If you notice heavy periods after giving birth, don't be alarmed. The fact is that restoring the menstrual cycle is a long process that requires patience and time. Lochia is a bloody discharge that can last not a day or two - but for two whole months! Therefore, it is not uncommon for women to confuse menstruation with lochia.

The reason for heavy periods is the active cleansing of the uterus from burst blood vessels, blood clots and capillaries, and placental remnants. The uterus tries to get rid of everything that should not be in it. Moreover, if the birth was too traumatic, it is possible that the uterine wall is severely damaged and will take longer to heal than usual.

In other cases, if you observe your periods for more than five days and all this time they are heavy, accompanied by fever, pain, and mucus, you may have internal bleeding and then you should urgently consult a doctor.

Most often it happens that the birth of a child brings only positive changes to women. The uterus stretches and assumes its normal physiological position. This is why most women experience less pain during menstruation.

The causes of painful periods after the birth of a child can be:

hormonal disorders in the female body
traumatic birth
C-section
presence of oncology
inflammatory diseases
insufficient cleansing of the uterus after childbirth

In each individual case, when a woman feels unwell after childbirth, including during menstruation, she should promptly seek help from a doctor.

Why are there no periods after childbirth?

Menstruation is the same hormonal process as breastfeeding and childbirth itself. In cases where a young mother is still feeding her baby, an important hormone called “prolactin” is present in her body. As long as it is present in normal and acceptable quantities, critical days should not come. If lactation decreases and the amount of milk in the breast decreases, the production of this hormone also declines. In this development of events, one should expect the imminent arrival of menstruation.

The female body is completely individual in each case and the onset of the first discharge can be predicted with 100% accuracy. They will come a year and even three months after the birth itself. All we can say for sure is that menstruation and breastfeeding are closely dependent on each other. If you do not feed the newborn at all, you can expect your first period after just one month.

Menstruation after childbirth: reviews

Tatiana:“My period started two months after giving birth. Of course, I was surprised, because I fed my daughter milk. But I found an explanation for this in the hormonal process, because there was essentially not that much milk, which means that it was impossible to count on adequate nutrition. In my case: little milk - quick periods!”

Angelica:“After half a year of active breastfeeding, my period came. I don't know why. She fed me a lot and had milk. Maybe stress? And not regular meals? My periods appeared not heavy and without any pain at all.”

Sofia:“You can say that I got the perfect picture, because my period started only a month after I stopped breastfeeding. I think most women experience the same changes in their bodies.”

Video: Periods after childbirth

Questions about when the first menstruation occurs after childbirth, what it is and what degree of intensity it can be, concern not only first-time mothers. Each birth takes place in its own way, causing hormonal changes in the body, which contribute to the appearance of critical days. In order to find out when to expect your first menstruation after childbirth, you should start by understanding why they were absent throughout the previous period.

Why do you not have periods during pregnancy and after childbirth?

This is facilitated by nature itself, which “conceived” critical days as a way to get rid of the fertilized egg, if it is not fertilized, and the endometrium, to which it should be attached during pregnancy. When this happens, the endometrium begins to thicken, and the need for menstrual periods disappears. Only in extremely rare cases are menstruation during pregnancy considered normal; most often they indicate anomalies. As for when menstruation occurs after childbirth, their absence is due to the production of the hormone prolactin. It is responsible for the formation of lactation and suppresses the onset of ovulation. It turns out that nature itself stands guard over breastfeeding, directing all the body’s forces to milk production, and not to planning the next pregnancy. But this hormone is effective only in cases where the baby is put to the breast at least every three hours. No less important for maintaining prolactin are night and early morning feedings. Here the interval may be a little longer, but if the mother prefers to bottle-feed the baby at night, trying to maintain her sleep, then her period will not take long to arrive. If the baby is fed exclusively with mother's milk, then the likelihood that the cycle after childbirth during breastfeeding will be restored no earlier than with the start of the introduction of complementary foods at 6 months, or even later, is quite high.

Differences between the first menstruation and postpartum discharge

Often women confuse the first menstruation with natural secretions called lochia. These discharges are of a different nature, although in appearance they are similar to menstruation, representing the same blood. Every woman has lochia after childbirth, regardless of whether she gave birth herself or whether the child was born by caesarean section. The type of feeding is also not important, since postpartum discharge is a way for the uterus to rid itself of particles of the placenta and epithelium that come out of the uterus during its contraction. The duration of lochia varies from 4 to 8 weeks, this is the time allocated for the restoration of the body and preparation of the uterus for possible subsequent pregnancies. So, when thinking about how long after childbirth menstruation occurs, you should know that they cannot occur before the end of lochia. It is quite difficult to confuse the latter with menstruation: lochia does not stop from the first day after birth, gradually changing in the degree of intensity and shade of discharge, disappearing. Menstruation presupposes at least a minimum interval between its beginning and the end of postpartum discharge.

Factors influencing the restoration of the menstrual cycle and the characteristics of menstruation after childbirth

Progress of pregnancy.
Course of labor (presence or absence of complications).
The age of the woman in labor and her state of health.
Lifestyle, state of the nervous system.
Sleep patterns, presence or absence of proper nutrition and rest.
Chronic diseases.

In this regard, the first periods after childbirth, which you can find out below, depend not only on breastfeeding, although the latter can be considered a fundamental factor.

As for the appearance, abundance or pain of menstruation after childbirth, everything is individual. The cycle may change slightly, becoming shorter or longer, as well as change in intensity. It is impossible to predict in which direction this will happen and whether it will happen at all. In addition, the first menstruation after childbirth is not indicative; a clear cycle can be established after another one or two cycles. However, if the discharge is too heavy or does not stop for a week or more, you should not delay a visit to the doctor, since such bleeding indicates health problems.

Approximate dates

It should be remembered that the restoration of the menstrual cycle is largely associated with hormonal levels. If the imbalance was present before childbirth, then there is a high probability that it will be restored later after menstruation, but this is only possible with full lactation. Although it does not guarantee the absence of menstruation. There are cases when menstruation began a week after the end of lochia. So if, a month after giving birth, menstruation began, and the lochia had already ended by this point, then, in principle, this is a type of norm. All that remains is to regret that it was not possible to stretch out the time when you don’t have to remember about the pads.

Can the absence of menstruation be considered a reason to save on contraception?

It is quite natural for women to consider menstruation a sign of puberty and the body’s readiness for pregnancy and childbirth. A kind of confirmation of this is the absence of menstruation during pregnancy. This gives rise to a fairly common misconception that if you don’t have your period, then you don’t need to use protection during sex, since pregnancy won’t occur. In theory, this should be the case: the amniotic egg does not mature, so conception should not occur. But in practice, everything looks a little different, and when menstruation occurs after childbirth, it does not have any effect on the possibility of a subsequent pregnancy. The explanation for this is quite simple: ovulation can occur even before the start of menstruation, that is, a woman becomes pregnant until the moment when, theoretically, an unfertilized egg would leave the uterus along with the blood. The absence of menstruation is taken for granted, because there is a baby in your arms, so the understanding that there will soon be a new addition to the family comes too late, sometimes simultaneously with the first movements of the fetus. So if you don’t want to have children of the same age, you shouldn’t skimp on contraception in the absence of menstruation.

What to pay attention to

Regardless of how long after giving birth you get your period, the following circumstances should be the reason for a visit to the doctor:

the discharge is too abundant, which may be a sign of endometriosis;
they feel much more painful than they were before pregnancy.

If heavy bleeding began during the process of lochia and after several weeks from the moment of birth, there is no need to figure out whether it is menstruation or a continuation of postpartum discharge. In this case, you need to go to the doctor urgently, since such a condition may indicate the presence of pieces of placenta or epithelium in the uterus. One of the signs of this problem is the characteristic and rather pungent odor of the discharge.

It is also recommended to visit a gynecologist after the first menstruation after childbirth. The doctor will be able to assess the condition of the uterus and ovaries and monitor whether the body is recovering as it should be. If the first menstruation after childbirth depends largely on the state of health, it also becomes the last, or the woman has stopped breastfeeding and the cycle is not restored, then only a doctor can deal with hormonal problems. And there is no doubt that they exist, since one of the indicators of women’s health is a well-functioning menstrual cycle, in which there should be no downtime or radical changes.

Many women are afraid of menstruation appearing after giving birth 2 months later; they consider this phenomenon abnormal and, in a panic, try to find their cause. In most cases, there is no cause for alarm, but it is worth figuring out when the appearance of menstruation is natural, and under what circumstances it is better to immediately consult a doctor.

The female body begins to recover and return to the prenatal period after the placenta is removed. The uterus immediately begins to contract with varying intensity; this process depends on many circumstances. But after 2 months it reaches its normal size and weight and returns to its usual place. During this period, the ovaries are ready to perform their functions, the hormonal background of the woman’s body stabilizes. This process is not affected in any way by the method of delivery; it can even begin according to an individual schedule.

The occurrence of menstruation 2 months after delivery refers to the normal recovery process under certain conditions:

Poor factors for the early appearance of menstruation include the likelihood of becoming pregnant. Therefore, a woman should avoid unprotected sexual intercourse and use available contraceptives.

Started your period while breastfeeding

Young mothers worry when they have periods after childbirth during lactation; they believe that this will reduce the amount of milk they produce. And there is some truth in this. The fact is that in a woman’s body, with the arrival of menstruation, the level of prolactin decreases. If a mother does not put her baby to the breast correctly, skips night feedings and drinks water from a bottle, then the likelihood of menstruation increases. Therefore, menstruation can begin 2 months after birth.

When breastfeeding, periods can mean serious health problems for a woman. Some chronic diseases, decreased immunity and hormonal disorders affect the process of prolactin production.

If your period appears during lactation without any unusual painful symptoms, you should not panic. Extra stress will not benefit a nursing mother. Doctors do not consider this situation as a pathological deviation; the woman should calm down and continue to feed the child. And on a free day, calmly go for a consultation with a gynecologist in order to dispel all doubts.

Can I get my period a month after giving birth?

Immediately after childbirth, women begin to experience heavy bleeding, the medical name is lochia. Bloody discharge is profuse during the first 5 days, then insignificant for 3–4 weeks. Mothers notice the appearance of pain in the lower back and abdomen while feeding the baby. With its sucking actions, it stimulates the uterus, which begins to more actively get rid of bloody mucus.

If postpartum bleeding has not stopped 40 days after birth, and pain prevents you from living and caring for your newborn normally, then the woman should think about going to the doctor. Copious discharge with a pungent odor and elevated body temperature may be symptoms of an inflammatory process in the uterus. This condition of a young mother requires immediate treatment.

There are cases when the uterus contracts and clears out in the first 2-3 weeks after birth. Therefore, by the first month of her baby’s life, a woman begins to have full periods after childbirth. At the same time, their cycle is also quickly established. This phenomenon, although rare, is not something abnormal. More often, menstruation appears at this time in women who have easily withstood the trials of the pregnant period.

How many months after giving birth do you get your period?

Restoration of the uterus after childbirth occurs on an individual basis; the time of the onset of menstruation depends on external and internal factors. The physiological characteristics of a woman’s body are based on the level of prolactin, and it, in turn, depends on the presence of breastfeeding.

In nursing mothers

The absence of a menstrual cycle during lactation is a normal and natural phenomenon. When the baby actively and regularly suckles the breast, the hormone prolactin dominates in the female body, and it suppresses the work of the ovaries. There is no possibility of egg maturation, and menstruation does not occur. Restoring the female body can take quite a long time: from six months to 2 years. At the same time, it is important to visit a gynecologist every 2–3 months to exclude pathological changes in the female genital organs and select individual contraception.

If you express milk

Many mothers are confident that menstruation after childbirth means the end of breastfeeding. Some of them complain that the baby refuses to take the breast due to the spoiled taste of the milk. But menstruation does not affect the quality of milk in any way; it also contains all the beneficial substances necessary for the baby. Women are looking for a way to prolong natural feeding and use the method of expressing milk. On the one hand, there are cases when menstruation does not affect the amount of breast milk in any way, but on the other hand, it disappears completely.
Of course, you can try to express milk and thereby provide the baby with food, but the mechanisms of stimulation of the nipples are completely different, and prolactin is unlikely to be produced with the same intensity. Expressing milk in combination with regular breastfeeding can delay the onset of your period by a couple of months.

If you're not breastfeeding

Artificial feeding from the very birth of a child affects a woman’s body. In it, the level of prolactin rapidly drops immediately, due to this, eggs begin to be produced and the appearance of menstruation can be expected immediately after the end of the removal of lochia from the uterus. When the mother does not breastfeed, the first menstruation most often begins 2 months after delivery. By this time, the uterine mucosa has already been restored and returns to its normal state.

The situation when there is no breastfeeding and menstruation does not come is dangerous. There is a possibility of inflammatory processes in the female organs, endometriosis and even cancer.

If heavy bleeding begins, what should you do?

After childbirth, stabilization of the menstrual cycle may take more than one month. A woman may be bothered by heavy discharge that lasts up to 7 days. This is considered normal if their color, smell and consistency have not changed, and the pads last for 4-5 hours.

When menstruation continues for more than 10 days after childbirth, its intensity increases, and unnatural clots are noticeable in the discharge, then we can talk about the beginning of heavy bleeding. In this case, you should promptly visit a doctor for timely assistance. He will conduct examinations of the pelvic organs using an ultrasound machine to identify postpartum complications, inflammation of the uterus or other problems that provoked heavy bleeding. After identifying the causes, the woman may be hospitalized and even prescribed uterine curettage if heavy bleeding is caused by the remnants of the placenta.

In case of heavy bleeding, especially if it began immediately after lochia discharge or 2 months after childbirth, it is important to replenish the lack of iron in the body. After all, iron deficiency affects the general health of a woman. Fatigue, drowsiness, rapid heartbeat appear, and the young mother also experiences psychological difficulties - irritability, sudden mood swings. To help the body during heavy bleeding, it is not enough to simply introduce iron-rich foods into the diet. Medical iron supplements are required, but it is better to use specimens intended for oral administration. They should also contain other minerals that help the hematopoietic system function normally.

A woman needs to carefully monitor her health and respond quickly if her period after childbirth causes concern. It is worth checking with a gynecologist once again rather than taking a long time to treat the consequences of delaying timely help. After all, the well-being and mood of the baby depend on the health of the young mother.

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When do the first periods come after childbirth and what should they be like? How long after childbirth does the cycle return? Is very heavy menstruation normal or abnormal?

You carried your baby for 9 months and completely forgot about such a phenomenon as menstruation. However, after childbirth, the appearance of menstrual periods becomes a pressing topic for most young mothers. We will talk about restoring the cycle after the birth of a child, the main features of the first menstruation, the time of their onset and common deviations in today’s article.

Restoring menstruation after childbirth

The onset of menstruation is directly related to the activity of hormones. During gestation, the hormonal levels change dramatically, and the expectant mother spends the entire pregnancy without menstruation. After childbirth, the body begins to recover and gradually switch to the previous regime: hormonal levels return to normal, and bleeding again appears in the life of a woman who has already given birth.

No doctor can give a specific date for the onset of menstruation after childbirth. This phenomenon is strictly individual. Most often, critical days occur after the baby stops breastfeeding.
Also, normalization of the menstrual cycle depends on the following factors:

Regular eating;
Daily routine, rest time;
State of mind, presence of depression;
The presence of chronic diseases and/or their complications.

The appearance of menstruation after the birth of a child

As already mentioned, the restoration of menstruation occurs differently for each woman. But we can still name the average indicators when menstruation begins, which differ from each other due to the presence of various factors.

If the mother does not breastfeed her child, then menstruation should appear after 1.5-3 months.
If a non-breastfeeding mother has complications of chronic diseases, a weakened state, depression, etc., critical days may come after 4-6 months.
If the mother feeds the baby every 3 hours, and the night break does not exceed 6 hours, then menstruation can be expected after six months to a year.

To fully restore the cycle, at least 2-3 menstruation must pass. When complementary foods are introduced into the baby's diet, as well as if the baby is switched to mixed feeding, menstruation may begin even earlier.

Important: do not confuse menstruation with characteristic postpartum discharge. They last approximately 7-10 days as dark blood clots or fresh blood. The described discharge will be replaced by yellowish discharge; gynecologists and obstetricians call them lochia. Their number will decrease over time, and after 1.5 months the uterus should become toned after the birth.

Personally, my first period came 8 months after Maxim was born, at which time we were already actively introducing complementary foods. The first ones were very plentiful, as if in all the previous months, but practically painless! This made me very happy, because before pregnancy I suffered terribly during my menstrual periods. The next ones arrived literally after 2 weeks, only after 3-4 cycles everything more or less returned to normal.

Features of the onset of the first menstruation

As a rule, the first periods of a new mother are scanty and spotty. Some people, on the contrary, experience very heavy discharge, perhaps even 2 times in one month. Their complete recovery can be expected only after 2-3 cycles, not earlier.

In most cases, the first menstruation is less painful, the feeling of discomfort in the lower abdomen disappears. This condition is justified by a slight change in the location of the abdominal organs, which helps straighten the bend of the uterus and improve the outflow of blood.

It is also possible to change the nature of bleeding. This phenomenon directly depends on the chosen method of contraception. When using an intrauterine device, menstruation may become bright and heavy, and sometimes there may be discharge with dark burgundy blood clots. When using birth control pills, you can expect scant spotting. This phenomenon is associated with the presence of gestagen hormones in the tablets, which change the hormonal balance, which is why the endometrium grows less than normal before the end of the cycle. If a woman does not use contraceptives, or her partner uses condoms, then the nature of the discharge changes for the better. Premenstrual syndrome, pain and other unpleasant sensations that a woman experienced during menstruation before pregnancy may disappear.

Remember that conception is possible even in the absence of menstruation and while breastfeeding continues. The egg will be ready for fertilization 2 weeks before the arrival of the critical days, so during this period of time the woman has every chance of becoming pregnant again. The onset of menstruation after the birth of the baby cannot be called a sign of the body’s readiness for the next pregnancy. It will take at least 2 years for complete recovery; only after this period do doctors advise planning the next conception.

Possible deviations

After the onset of menstruation, a new mother should carefully monitor the nature of the fluid secreted, as well as the duration and course of the menstrual cycle.

The following phenomena are considered abnormal:

Too much menstruation after childbirth. If you change your pad frequently (more than once every 2 hours), this can be considered bleeding. In addition, you should be alerted by the dark color and unpleasant smell of the discharge, as well as severe pain.
Irregular periods. If after 3 months the cycle has not returned to normal, then you should visit a gynecologist. Perhaps your body has undergone serious hormonal imbalances, which are considered a deviation.
Lack of menstruation. If you switched your baby to artificial feeding and suppressed lactation, but critical days did not come for 2-3 months, then this indicates the possible presence of diseases of the genitourinary system. The most common postpartum ailments include the appearance of tumors, inflammation of the ovaries, pathologies after childbirth, imbalance of hormone levels and endometriosis. Do not allow the disease to progress, and do not delay your visit to the gynecologist.

Proper genital hygiene helps to avoid many fungal, infectious and bacterial diseases. After childbirth, do not use “intimate” gels, but regular baby soap. Wash your genitals at least three times a day.

The appearance of menstruation and complete restoration of the menstrual cycle after childbirth takes quite a long time. Monitor your physical condition and health; if there are any deviations, immediately go to the doctor and complete the full course of prescribed treatment.