After nine months of pregnancy and giving birth to our baby, it is time to be a mother and, with it, a new stage that we popularly known as quarantine although it also has the name of puerperium. Quarantine is a stage that begins just after childbirth and consists precisely of a period where the woman recovers physiologically from this moment where she brings her baby into the world. This period lasts approximately 6 weeks until the woman's body returns to its natural state, ending once menstruation reappears.
It is precisely the amenorrhea and the reappearance of menstruation after childbirth one of the issues that most concern women who have been mothers recently: “when will I have menstruation again?” or “how long does the period last after quarantine?” are some of the questions that are raised. If you want to solve these doubts, keep reading this article from where we explain some things about your first menstrual period after having passed the postpartum stage.
What is quarantine and postpartum bleeding
It is normal for some women after giving birth to have vaginal bleeding, also known as postpartum bleeding, which can be mistaken for menstruation. However, if the menstrual period is a physiological process where the woman expels through her vagina the egg that has not been fertilized, postpartum bleeding is a process where we eliminate the remains of the placenta that have remained after having given birth.
But how do I distinguish the rule of postpartum bleeding that occurs in quarantine? Mainly because of the duration of each one. While postpartum bleeding that occurs during quarantine lasts approximately 6 to 8 weeks after the newborn is conceived, menstruation usually lasts between 3 and 7 days depending on each woman.
In addition to time, they are also differentiated by the color of the bleeding: the period is usually a dark red color (although sometimes it can become orange or brown, depending on each woman). However, the bleeding that occurs in quarantine has at first, a very bright red tone and during the last days it becomes more muted until it acquires a pinkish tone.
You may also be interested in this other article about Can I have sex in quarantine?
When I will have my first period after I have given birth
It is also common for first-time mothers who have just given birth to wonder when their first period will arrive after childbirth. However, this is not an exact science, as this process will be determined by various factors, especially by breastfeeding.
The production of breast milk is determined by a hormone that we know as prolactin, which is also related to others such as estrogen and progesterone, substances that are responsible, among other things, for regulating our menstrual period. However, while before childbirth the amounts of prolactin are inhibited by an excess of sex hormones, after having conceived the exact opposite happens: that the levels of progesterone and estrogen decrease, while those of prolactin rise. This means that by having inhibited levels of sex hormones, menstruation will usually be delayed until after breastfeeding.
Therefore, if the new mother decides to feed her baby only with her breast milk, the period can appear from 6 months to even 2 years after having had the birth. However, if, on the other hand, the infant decided to feed the newborn with formula, menstruation could occur from a month and a half after giving birth, since by not stimulating the production of prolactin, the hormonal levels of estrogen and progesterone would return to normal.
How long it takes for the period to come after breastfeeding
Once we already know when our first period could go down after the quarantine period, it is also normal that we have certain doubts about how long it can last or if it will have (or not) the same characteristics as a normal menstruation, that is, as before having been pregnant.
Although each woman is a world, generally the first rules after having had the newborn are not usually the same as those we had before, since, due to the hormonal changes that occur both in pregnancy and later in childbirth and quarantine, it will take a few months to re-regularize. In this way, it is normal for you to have delays in your period after childbirth.
What the first period after childbirth looks like
If you are wondering what it is like and how long the period lasts after quarantine, here are the characteristics that the first menstruations usually have after childbirth:
- Irregular cycles: that is, it does not occur with a similar interval during all months. If the regular cycles usually last between 28 and 30 days, the irregular ones usually last sometimes 35 days while other months 21 days.
- The duration of the period after quarantine is usually between 2 days and a week, while in a regular cycle it is usually 3 to 6 days. That is, the first period after childbirth is very long.
- The first period after childbirth is very heavy, so don't panic if your vaginal bleeding is different from before pregnancy.
- Suffer from premenstrual symptoms such as headaches, light sensitivity, breast tenderness and digestive problems such as constipation or diarrhea.
Now that you know how long your period lasts after quarantine, you may also be interested in this other article on How to Resume Sex After Childbirth.
