Postpartum bleeding: How much blood loss after D&C?
I delivered my beautiful baby boy and then, due to excessive bleeding, I had to have a D&CC shortly thereafter. How long I can expect to bleed following this procedure?
Question:Peg Plumbo CNM
Peg Plumbo has been a certified nurse-midwife (CNM) since 1976. She has assisted at over 1,000 births and currently teaches in the... Read more
A D&C could theoretically shorten the duration of your bleeding, because most of the products of the delivery are now gone. On the other hand, the placental implantation site will take approximately two to three weeks to heal. This is the same for all women. If you had an infection, it may take longer for uterine involution to take place.
I would say that most of the red bleeding should be gone by now and the flow you could expect would be similar to the trailing days of a period.
When you are up and around and active, the bleeding may turn red again, but it should be pink and scant for the first five to six weeks postpartum. There is a wide variation on this -- some women stop bleeding by 3 weeks, some continue for 12 weeks.
Most providers tell women that if they are flowing heavily (a pad an hour), or if you are passing clots larger than silver dollar size, have a fever and/or weakness or dizziness during the first week or two after giving birth, this is not normal and to call their office immediately.
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