​Menstruation starts 50 days after giving birth

Pregnant women will not have menstruation for a period of time after giving birth. The length of this period generally depends on the physical condition of the woman herself. But under normal circumstances, women usually start menstruating around six to eight weeks after giving birth, which is a relatively normal period of time. If a woman's menstruation comes too early or too late, it may be due to incomplete recovery of the body. So, what should I do if I get my period 50 days after giving birth?

From a medical point of view, based on the tissue morphology of the endometrium, the ovaries may be able to ovulate as early as 33-42 days after delivery. In addition, the presence of a corpus luteum after ovulation can also be observed 6 weeks after delivery. Therefore, if the mother does not breastfeed, menstruation usually comes within 6 to 8 weeks after delivery. Research data show that 40% of non-breastfeeding mothers resume ovulation 6 weeks after delivery; by 8-12 weeks after delivery, only about 35% of mothers have not resumed ovulation and menstruation. About 25% of breastfeeding mothers will resume ovulation and menstruation 12 weeks after delivery, and most breastfeeding mothers usually take until 18 weeks to fully resume ovulation function. However, it is sometimes difficult to clinically determine the exact time of the first menstrual period after delivery, and a small number of women will begin to have intermittent bleeding of small to moderate amounts immediately after delivery.

Breastfeeding mother's menstruation

For new mothers who breastfeed their babies, ovulation and menstruation will resume later, and some may not have their period until a year later. For most people, their first menstrual period is heavier than usual, but their second period becomes normal, so no treatment is needed.

When menstruation comes, the amount of milk a breastfeeding mother produces generally decreases, and the quality of the protein and fat in the breast milk also changes slightly, with the protein content being higher and the fat content being lower. This milk sometimes causes indigestion symptoms in babies, but this is a temporary phenomenon and will return to normal after the menstrual period. Therefore, mothers do not need to stop breastfeeding whether during or after menstruation.

【Tips】

1. How long does it take to get your period after giving birth? Postpartum lochia is not menstruation

Normally, after giving birth, a woman will have a bloody discharge from her birth canal, similar to menstruation. This bleeding from the placenta implantation site, mixed with secretions such as the decidua, tissue fragments, and mucus remaining in the uterus, is called lochia.

Under normal circumstances, in the first 4 to 5 days, the lochia is abundant and red in color; one week after delivery, the amount of lochia gradually decreases and turns brown; after the 10th day, the color becomes lighter, slowly turning from yellow to white, and there is no special smell. Lochia usually disappears 4-6 weeks after delivery. But sometimes a small amount of brown lochia will continue until the first menstrual period after delivery.

Lochia generally does not exceed the amount of menstruation. If the bleeding lasts for more than two weeks, exceeds the menstrual volume or contains blood clots, or the vaginal discharge appears as rotten meat-like tissue or has a foul odor, you should seek medical attention immediately.

2. Common postpartum menstrual abnormalities include continuous vaginal bleeding and amenorrhea:

First case:

Since the first menstruation after childbirth is usually an anovulatory cycle or caused by dysfunctional corpus luteum induction, and the ovaries are still not very sensitive to the stimulation of gonadal hormones at this time, it is common to have various abnormal phenomena such as continuous dripping of lochia after delivery, occasional irregular and repeated small amounts of bleeding, or bleeding similar to menstruation during the confinement period.

If you are sure that you have not taken any food or medication that may inhibit uterine contractions, and that the examination before discharge from the hospital after delivery did not reveal any conditions that may cause postpartum bleeding, you can ask your doctor during the postpartum follow-up visit. If you experience frequent or heavy bleeding during and after the confinement period, it is recommended that you seek medical attention immediately and receive diagnosis and treatment from an obstetrician and gynecologist.

Second case:

Postpartum amenorrhea is mainly seen in Han's syndrome caused by long-term breastfeeding, postpartum hemorrhage and infection; in addition, excessive prolactin in the body can also inhibit ovulation and cause amenorrhea.

Before delivery, although the concentration of prolactin in the pregnant woman's body is high, it cannot exert its effect due to the influence of estrogen. After the placenta is delivered, the effects of prolactin are enhanced due to the sudden drop in estrogen levels in the body. Generally speaking, prolactin levels will not return to pre-pregnancy levels until two weeks after delivery. However, in the body of a breastfeeding mother, prolactin not only remains at a higher level than before pregnancy, but also increases in response to the baby's sucking. The low estrogen level of lactational amenorrhea can even last for 180 days. Therefore, as long as breastfeeding occurs, the new mother's menstruation should not come too early. Of course, there are huge differences between different people. In addition, some mothers suffer from endometrial atrophic amenorrhea due to prolonged breastfeeding.

Another major cause of amenorrhea occurs in women with postpartum hemorrhage with shock, severe postpartum infection, or disseminated intravascular coagulation. These symptoms can lead to amenorrhea, the so-called Han syndrome. This disease can also affect the secretory function of the thyroid gland, causing symptoms such as weight loss, indigestion, chills, fatigue, atrophy of sexual organs, low basal metabolism and hair loss, which require diagnosis and treatment by a doctor.

3. Contraception is also necessary even if you do not have menstruation

New mothers in the postpartum period can get pregnant even if they do not have their period. Because whether or not a woman can get pregnant depends on whether or not she ovulates. The resumption of ovulation is not necessarily synchronized with the resumption of menstruation, especially in the first few cycles after the resumption of menstruation, which are often menstrual cycles without ovulation. However, many people begin to ovulate before the resumption of menstruation, especially women who are not breastfeeding, whose ovulation often resumes earlier. Therefore, if a mother has sexual intercourse during breastfeeding, she may become pregnant at any time because ovulation has resumed. According to statistics, half of women who conceive during breastfeeding conceive before the return of their menstruation. Therefore, as soon as you start having sexual intercourse after childbirth, you should take contraceptive measures.

After a full month, the mother may resume ovulation, so how long does it take to have menstruation after giving birth? Contraceptive measures should be taken from the first sexual intercourse after delivery. Appropriate contraceptive methods during breastfeeding may be condoms and progestogen-only contraceptive injections. The method of use of the progestin-only contraceptive injection is to inject one injection on the 5th day of menstruation, and once every 3 months thereafter. Since the estrogen in contraceptives can reduce milk secretion and quality, and can also enter the breast milk and have adverse effects on newborns, new mothers who are breastfeeding should not use short-acting oral contraceptives.