How long does it take for the uterus to contract after giving birth?

After delivery, every organ of the pregnant woman's body, except the mammary gland, will gradually recover. The time it takes to recover to a normal non-pregnant state is called the confinement period. The same is true for the uterus, which usually takes about 6 weeks.

During the repair process, the changes of the uterus are relatively large. The involution of the uterus is mainly manifested in the contraction of the uterine muscle tissue and the reconstruction of the uterine wall. The size of the uterus can drop from about 1000 grams at the end of delivery to about 500 grams one week after delivery, and to about 300 grams two weeks after delivery, until the end of the confinement period, down to about 50 grams. When the uterus repairs, it will contract and uterine contractions will cause pain, especially in the early stage of the confinement period. It usually occurs 1-2 days after giving birth and will naturally disappear after 2-3 days. This is more common in pregnant women who have had children before, and often occurs while breastfeeding. Because breastfeeding stimulates the nipples and causes the uterus to contract, this contraction of the uterus is beneficial to the recovery of the uterus.

During the recovery period, if the uterine contraction is not good, it may be combined with pelvic inflammatory disease, endometritis and other inflammations and infections, which can easily cause gynecological diseases such as metritis and bleeding. You should go to the hospital's gynecology department for treatment in time.

The main reason for uterine contraction is that after a woman gives birth, the uterus needs to contract and slowly return to its previous state. The pain is caused by the contraction of the uterus, which causes local irritation to the abdomen.

Under normal circumstances, uterine contractions last for about a week. Within a week, the uterus will continue to shrink, and pregnant women can feel the pain that comes with contractions. After a week of contractions, the volume of the uterus will significantly shrink. Therefore, after a week, the pain of contractions will also ease, and the pain will become less and less obvious, and eventually there will be almost no pain. Although you don't feel any pain, the volume of your uterus continues to shrink until it returns to its normal size before delivery. It takes about two weeks of recovery after delivery for the uterus to return to its pre-delivery size, but the normal uterine contraction pain will probably last about a week.