Is it normal to have less lochia after a normal birth?

After a normal birth, there will definitely be a lot of excrement discharged from your body. Don't be afraid at this time. After a normal birth, some amniotic fluid, blood stasis, vaginal secretions and other things will be continuously discharged from the body. Just like during menstruation, it is a detoxification process. After these wastes are discharged from the body, the body will become more and more relaxed. This is a good phenomenon. Do not prohibit excretion.

What is postpartum lochia?

"Is it normal to have less lochia after childbirth?" To answer this question, we must first understand what lochia after childbirth is. I believe everyone is familiar with postpartum lochia. The word "lochia", as the name suggests, refers to bad things. After giving birth to the baby, as the uterine decidua falls off, tissues containing blood and necrotic decidua are discharged through the vagina as postpartum lochia. Normal postpartum lochia has a bloody smell and the color changes over time.

Classification of postpartum lochia

As mentioned above, the color of postpartum lochia will change with the change of time. Then, according to the change of the color of postpartum lochia, postpartum lochia can be divided into three types:

The first is bloody lochia. This is the secretion discharged by the mother within the first to fourth days after giving birth. The amount is the largest. At this time, the lochia contains blood, decidual tissue and mucus. It is bright red in color, similar to menstruation. The amount is sometimes slightly more than menstruation, and may be accompanied by blood clots. The second is serous lochia. It is discharged from the body about four to six days after delivery. During this period, the lochia contains a small amount of blood and mucus and a large amount of vaginal secretions, accompanied by bacteria, and the color turns light red. Then it turns into white lochia. Lochia alba is the white or yellowish lochia that is discharged one week after delivery. The lochia at this time contains rich white blood cells, decidual cells and bacteria, which is similar to leucorrhea, but the amount is larger than normal leucorrhea.

Is it normal to have less lochia after childbirth?

Every mother will produce lochia after giving birth, but the amount discharged varies from person to person due to different physical conditions. The average total amount is approximately between 500 and 1,000 milliliters. At the same time, due to different physical conditions, different mothers have different durations of lochia discharge. Generally, mothers will be able to discharge all the lochia within about three weeks. However, if lochia is still not completely discharged two months after delivery, this is considered as lochia retention. Lochia retention must be treated actively. Delayed treatment may lead to pelvic adhesions, and in severe cases, it may induce infertility.

Regarding the topic of whether it is normal to have less lochia after childbirth, some mothers mistakenly believe that only bloody lochia is considered lochia. In fact, the secretion that becomes lighter in color afterwards is also lochia after childbirth. At the same time, the amount of lochia varies depending on the individual's physical constitution, so some mothers think that less lochia after childbirth is not necessarily true. Don't jump to conclusions about whether less lochia after childbirth is normal or abnormal!