Lochia during pregnancy
is a combination of blood, mucus and
tissue from a healing uterus. This
post delivery discharge is normal
and it lasts anyway from 2 to 6 weeks.
Bleeding varies from woman to woman.
Avoid tampons as you are prone to
infection; use sanitary napkins only
(either the thin absorbent ones or
the old style thick pads) However
long it lasts, there are 3 stages
to it:
• Bright red copious discharge
lasting for 3-4 days
• Gradual slowdown in flow and
the color changes to pinkish-brown
• From day 10 it starts to lighten
in color considerably and becomes
yellowish white or colorle
If you breastfeed, oxytocin will cause
lochia to taper off to zilch much
faster; this is because uterine contractions
caused by the hormone shrinks the
uterus back to normal size thereby
reducing the blood loss
Your doctor needs to be informed:
• If lochia starts to smell
foul (it should have fresh blood like
smell), it means you have an infection
and you may be given antibiotics to
treat it
• If flow becomes bright red
again, it means you are over-exerting
and need to take it easy
• If the bleeding is very heavy
or with clots or tissue, it means
not all of your placenta or membranes
was expelled. You will be given medicines
to help flush them out of your system
and occasionally a D&C to remove
the remnants
• If there is no bleeding since
delivery
