The discomfort that the women go through pregnancy and labour is only known to her only. And it does not stop there. The post labour bleeding is common, but many times it is accompanied with much more. Lochia, Pronunciation (lo'ke-a) is one thing that many women experience and yet they are unaware of its presence. Lochia is a condition where discharges from the vagina of mucus, blood, and tissue debris, happens following childbirth.

Many women get extremely frightened by the bleeding that occur post delivery. This may be because having just been through labour and delivery, so much blood loss feels like something is going terribly wrong. It is important to remember that this vaginal discharge is very, very normal and happens to every woman who has just had a baby. It is something like a heavy period for the first few days and although for some women it may go on for weeks, it is still considered fairly normal to go on for about six weeks.

Following the birth of the baby and the placenta, the muscles of the uterus constrict the blood vessels in the uterus so that the blood circulating inside it is reduced. At this point, the vagina, the uterus and the pelvic floor all return to their pre-pregnant state. The lining of the uterus is shed in the form of Lochia and a new Endometruim grows from the base layer starting from day 10 after the birth and taking roughly six weeks to be completed.

This postpartum bleeding or Lochia occurs after every birth irrespective of whether it is a vaginal delivery or a C-section and in different women the heaviness and duration varies. For the first four days it starts of as a bright red color which is the heaviest loss of blood as well. And after about 10 days postpartum, you may be left with a much reduced flow of white discharge which could then peter off or go on like that for a few weeks. During this time, you may feel weaker because of all the blood loss and the exhaustion your body faces after labour and birth. You may also have the postnatal blues which are exaggerated by the fact that you are not feeling very strong physically.

For the first few days you may feel that you need to use very thick sanitary pads to manage the heavy flow which is okay, in fact you may want to wear these until the flow reduces quite a bit. Tampons are not recommended during this period as they just increase the risk of infection. Many of us wonder if sexual intercourse is allowed during this time. This is something you can discuss individually with your doctor since each birth is unique and has had different effects on your body but my guess is that neither you nor your partner will want to have sex during the time that the flow is heavy anyway.

If the bleeding has not stopped after six weeks or there is still a heavy flow after the first few days, then you should get to your gynecologist or obstetrician as it is important to rule out problems.