Bleeding, and when it is too much
Know the threshold before you need it.
Bleeding should gradually lessen over the weeks after birth. Call immediately for:
- Soaking through a full-size pad in an hour or less
- Clots larger than a golf ball
- Bleeding that increases again after having decreased
- Dizziness, fainting, or a racing heart
Late hemorrhage, after the first 24 hours, is one of the more common reasons for readmission, and the US hemorrhage rate has been rising, not falling.
Where this comes from:
229. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Postpartum hemorrhage. ACOG Practice Bulletin No. 183. Obstet Gynecol. 2017;130(4):e168-e186.
230. Corbetta-Rastelli CM, Friedman AM, Sobhani NC, Arditi B, Goffman D, Wen T. Postpartum hemorrhage trends and outcomes in the United States, 2000-2019. Obstet Gynecol. 2023;141(1):152-161.
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This page is educational. It supports the conversation with your own clinicians. It is not consent to any treatment, and it cannot assess you. If you are worried about a symptom now, see urgent warning signs.