Is Light Bleeding For A Mother Of A Newly-born A Concern?

Hello, Thank you for your question. Vaginal bleeding after delivery called Postpartum hemorrhage. Postpartum hemorrhage is a condition in which a woman loses a very large amount of blood after childbirth. This can happen after a woman gives birth through the vagina or surgery to get the baby out. Most of the time, postpartum hemorrhage happens because the uterus does not contract well after birth. Others causes of postpartum hemorrhage are tears of the vagina, cervix, or uterus, small pieces of the placenta or membranes that stay stuck to the uterus after the baby is born. The placenta is the organ that forms between the mother and her baby. It brings the baby nutrients and oxygen and carries away wast. For the normal postpartum period of the basal portion of the decidua remains after the placenta separates called Lochia. Normal shedding of blood and decidua is referred to as lochia rubra (red/red brown) and lasts for the first few days following delivery. Vaginal dicharge then becomes increasingly watery, called lochia serosa(pinkish brown), which lasts for two to three weeks. Ultimately, the discharge turns yellowish white, the lochia alba. Microscopically, lochia consists of serous exudate, erythrocytes, leukocytes, decidua, epithelial cells, and bacteria. The total volume of postpartum lochia secretion is 200 to 500 ml, which is discharged over a mean duration of one month. Up to 15 percent of women continue to pass lochia for 6 to 8 weeks, the time of the standard postpartum visit. women with bleeding diatheses maybe prone to longer duration of passing lochia. If the woman losses a lot of blood, she might feel week and lightheaded. In this case you should go to see your doctor as soon as possible. If you are sexual active with no contraceptive use and not full time breast feeding your chance of get pregnancy is high. You should check with your doctor or do pregnancy test to make sure that you are not pregnant. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further. Best regards, Dr. Heang Chan Raksmey, General and Family physician.