ailbhe: (hospital)
[personal profile] ailbhe
I'm sure there's an appropriate community for this, but I'm not in it. Someone in my due date community asked about postnatal bleeding and the first postpartum period.

When I had my first baby, I bled afterwards. This was ok; the books said I would. No-one seemed worried.

When I had my second baby, by cesarean section, I also bled afterwards. Everyone was asking, pretty much constantly: "Is your bleeding heavy?" "Are you bleeding ok or is it too heavy?"

Well, I asked, what's heavy?

"How many pads do you get through?"

Incontinence pads or sanitary towels? Because with my first baby, I measured it in inco pads, several a day. This baby, I don't need an inco pad.

"Are the pads soaked?"

I'm not sure. They're more comfortable when I change for a fresh one, but last time, I left them in place until they were unable to absorb more fluid. Which is your definition of "soaked"?

...

And that's why I started asking people to look at the damn pad themselves. "Is your bleeding heavy?" I don't know. Here, look at this, is that heavy?

Turns out that this time I'm normal. Hah.

(no subject)

Date: 2006-09-16 09:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] riarambles.livejournal.com
At the hospital where I work, we define "heavy" as soaking (so that it won't hold more) a maxi pad in an hour or less, fwiw.

(no subject)

Date: 2006-09-19 09:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] riarambles.livejournal.com
I think the general idea is if you're bleeding that much, call, and they'll ask you more questions.

The other general guideline they give people is that the bleeding should not diminish and then get much heavier again. It should be less and less over time, and a noticeable increase in bleeding is a reason to call the doctor.

If you take those two things together, it works logically. For me, at least. :)

(no subject)

Date: 2006-09-17 09:46 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] flybabydizzy.livejournal.com
Glad I didn't ask!
(deleted comment)

(no subject)

Date: 2006-09-17 03:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sashajwolf.livejournal.com
I know what you mean. If I had understood properly what was meant by "heavy", I would probably have had my endometriosis diagnosed a decade or so earlier than I actually did.

(no subject)

Date: 2006-09-19 09:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] perceval.livejournal.com
Yup, sounds normal to me!

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