Lochia after childbirth: what is it?

Lochia after birth is normal. How long should they last? Why do they appear? What should alert? The answers to these questions will be found in this article.

What is the lochia after childbirth?

From the wound surface of the uterus during healing, lochia are allocated. They consist of mucus, blood and fetal remains.

How many lochia lasts after childbirth?

The first 3-4 days of excretion consist mainly offrom the blood. Then, when the hemostasis is fully established, they become more pale and brownish. At about the end of the first week of isolation, the bacteria and residues of the decidual material are mainly contained and become serous. The color of the discharge changes to yellowish. Approximately to the 10th day, after the delivery, the lochia should become completely white, without blood impurities.

Sometimes in the first or second week the volume of secretionsincreases. This is due to the fact that during this period the scab formed at the place of attachment of the placenta is rejected. The amount of secretions gradually decreases. From the third week they become slimy and scanty. During this period, in most women, the endometrium has fully recovered. Approximately to the fifth-sixth week, excretions stop.

Lochia after childbirth: duration and normative indices

Specific, as if puff smell -an indication that lochia are formed and are excreted normally. If the first weeks of excretion have stopped, this should alert you. Such a symptom may be a sign that the uterus has a sharp bend or its neck is clogged with a blood clot.

Accumulation of lochia can lead to constant aching or cramping pain in the lower abdomen. In some cases, the body temperature may rise slightly, the patient may feel chills.

If the lochia after delivery is too abundant or later4 days allocation is too bright or long, this should alert you. Also, the cause for treatment to a gynecologist should be a cloudy, purulent, foamy or abundant mucous lochia. This can signal that after the birth in the womb there were fragments of a child's place, or about the presence of inflammation or infection.

Such symptoms under no circumstancescan not be ignored. It is important to seek medical help as soon as possible. Otherwise, complications may arise, including. severe loss of blood, development of anemia and other severe conditions.

If you are breastfeeding, lochia may bemore abundant. This is normal. This phenomenon is associated with the fact that during the feeding the uterus contracts reflexively due to irritation of the nipples. As a rule, in lactating women, excretions stop faster. To lochia separated normally, it is important to timely empty the intestine and bladder.

Approximately on the twentieth day after childbirth occursepithelization of the uterus surface, except the placental area. Mucous is restored by the end of the sixth week. The placental area is covered with epithelium to the eighth.