Dark red lochia 16 days after cesarean section

Women who have given birth should know that after giving birth, excess secretions in the body will be discharged from the body in the form of lochia. Moreover, the discharge time of lochia is relatively long. What is very important is that the shape and color of lochia discharged in each time period are different. Lochia is mainly composed of placental decidua and excess uterine secretions. Is it normal for lochia to be dark red 16 days after a caesarean section?

Generally speaking, lochia is red at first, then turns to light red after about ten days, turns to brown and yellow after two weeks, and gradually turns to white after about 4 to 6 weeks. These color changes of lochia are normal. If there is too much red lochia or white lochia and it lasts too long, or red lochia appears during the white lochia stage or the lochia has an odor, these are all signs that the mother has not completely stopped lochia. Postpartum lochia that does not stop is very harmful to women's physical health. It can not only cause local and systemic infections, but also sepsis in severe cases. It can also easily induce late postpartum hemorrhage or even massive hemorrhagic shock, endangering the life of the mother. Therefore, female friends should pay special attention to it.

1. Residual tissue: This may be due to reasons such as advanced pregnancy, uterine malformation, uterine fibroids, etc., or it may be due to the unskilled operation operator who fails to completely remove the pregnancy tissue, resulting in some tissue remaining in the uterine cavity. At this time, in addition to the unclean lochia, the amount of bleeding varies, with blood clots and accompanied by intermittent abdominal pain.

2. Uterine cavity infection: It may be caused by taking a bath in a tub after abortion, using unclean sanitary napkins, or having sexual intercourse shortly after abortion. It may also be caused by the operator's failure to disinfect the operation properly. At this time, the lochia has a foul odor, there is tenderness in the abdomen and accompanied by fever, and a blood test shows an increase in the total white blood cell count.

3. Weak uterine contractions: This may be due to failure to rest well after abortion or poor health or prolonged operation time, which consumes Qi and blood, leading to weak uterine contractions and continuous lochia.

How long does it take for postpartum lochia to be clean?

Generally speaking, the discharge of lochia is very beneficial to the recovery of a woman's uterus after giving birth. However, the time of lochia discharge varies according to each person's physical condition. Under normal circumstances, the lochia will be discharged within about three weeks after a woman gives birth. Of course, this time is not particularly fixed. Some women will only discharge it within two weeks, while some women will take longer than three weeks.

Moreover, there will be differences in the time it takes for lochia to be discharged between women who give birth naturally and those who give birth by cesarean section. Generally speaking, it will take longer for women who give birth by cesarean section to discharge lochia. This is because after a cesarean section, the contraction force of a woman's uterus is not as good as that of a natural birth. However, if a woman has been experiencing lochia discharge for more than seven weeks, it is best to go to the hospital for a check-up to find out what is causing the lochia discharge to take so long.

1. Keep the vulva clean

During the period of lochia discharge after giving birth, women must keep their vulva clean and change their underwear regularly. Not only must they do this, but they must also use a special cleanser to clean their vulva after urinating or defecating. 1. Avoid vulvar infection.

2. Posture is also critical

If the pregnant mother wants to discharge the lochia in a short time, it is best to keep the position opposite to the perineum wound when lying in bed after giving birth. To put it simply, if the episiotomy wound is on the left side, the mother should lie on her right side. This will help the lochia discharge as quickly as possible without touching the wound, which is beneficial to improving blood circulation in the wound and accelerating wound healing.