When To Expect Regular Periods After Birth

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Pregnancy and childbirth is like a huge turmoil for the body. Your entire hormonal system is out of track and you just don't know what to expect any more. However, one thing you definitely expect is to get regular periods after giving birth. This is because having regular periods after birth is like return to normalcy.

However, you may be surprised by your postnatal bleeding cycles. Many women are confused and stressed out as they do not return to having regular periods after giving birth. The best advice is to take it slow and let your body take the natural course. Here are some facts you need to know about having regular periods after giving birth.

Postnatal Bleeding

After childbirth, you will bleed for about a month or 45 days. This is strictly speaking postnatal bleeding and not your periods. This bleeding is the clearing out of the placenta cells on the uterine walls. Your ovaries have still not started releasing eggs so don't confuse postnatal bleeding with your menstrual cycle.

Nursing Baby

How quickly you get regular periods after birth depends on whether you are nursing your baby or not. If you are breastfeeding your baby day in and day out, then your periods will not come back for at least a year after delivery.

Formula Fed Babies

If your baby is not totally dependent on breast milk, then your periods might return sooner. Most moms start formula feeding when the baby is 6-months-old while they continue to breastfeed the baby side by side. In this case, your regular periods after birth may start 8 to 10 months after your baby is born.

Pregnancy Without Periods

Did you think that you cannot conceive when you are breastfeeding and thus don't have menstrual cycles? You are terribly wrong. Your ovary will release a fertile egg before you have your first regular period after birth. And you really cannot predict when that will be. So you can have an unplanned pregnancy even before you have your first period after childbirth. So be double sure that you use contraception from the first time that you resume sexual relations with your partner.

So you can expect your first regular period after birth in about 6 to 12 months. For some women, it takes more than 1 and a half years to get back to a smooth cycle of menstrual bleeding again.