Contents:
- Medical Video: How to manage bleeding after birth (no care within 4 hours)
- Do I need to do something to deal with this bleeding?
- When should I contact a doctor or midwife?
Medical Video: How to manage bleeding after birth (no care within 4 hours)
Every mother who gives birth will definitely experience bleeding after childbirth (lokia), either giving birth normally or caesarean. This bleeding is actually the body's natural mechanism to cleanse the uterus from the blood and placenta as long as it forms during pregnancy. Blood can come out in the form of clots and normal flow, similar to blood that comes out during menstruation.
Bleeding will change color and become lighter as the uterus recovers and returns to size before you become pregnant. First, the locia flow will be very large and bright red, and there can be clots. Gradually, it will turn pink and then brown, and finally whitish yellow.
Postpartum bleeding or lockia can continue for 2-6 weeks, or for 6 weeks after you give birth. The flow will gradually decrease. Lokia red is usually heavier than normal menstruation for the first few days. This condition will gradually decrease in a few days.
Do I need to do something to deal with this bleeding?
There's not much to do, you just need to use special pads for mothers who have just given birth. Prepare 2-3 packs of 12 fillings and do not use tampons because they can cause infection in the uterus.
You might change your pads more often, maybe every 1-2 hours. Tomorrow maybe you only need to replace it every 3-4 hours. Remember to always wash your hands every time you finish changing pads.
Because you have stitches during labor, you must keep this area clean. To avoid infection, take a shower at least once a day and routinely change your pads.
Many pregnant women add salt to their bath so that their stitches heal quickly, but you don't have to do it if it's troublesome. Just use clean water, because your wound will heal by itself later.
When should I contact a doctor or midwife?
Call your doctor if you experience symptoms of the following infections:
- Your puerperium smells bad
- You have hot fever and / or chills
- Postpartum remains thick and bright red after the first week
- Your stomach hurts at the bottom left or right
Sometimes, heavier bleeding can occur 24 hours to 6 weeks after delivery. This is known as secondary postnatal bleeding. Generally, less than 1 in 100 women will develop it. The cause is due to infection or as thick as the placenta is left in your uterus.
Immediately go to hospital if:
- Bleeding suddenly gets heavy, and you have replaced more than one dressing in 1 hour
- Re-bleeding is bright red 4 days or more after labor and does not stop while sleeping
- You remove blood clots (larger than change)
- You feel dizzy
- Your heart rate starts to become irregular
If you get good treatment when you experience secondary postnatal bleeding, you will recover well. You can take antibiotics or undergo surgery to remove the placenta. Indeed this recovery of bleeding will take time, so you must be patient. Good care and adequate rest will speed up your recovery.
READ ALSO:
- Excess and lack of normal childbirth vs. Caesarean section
- Caring for seams and bruises after giving birth
- Detect iron deficiency after giving birth
