First few days after birth...

[Marvellous_mum]

That's very true. I suppose a shock in the 3rd trimester is at least better than one at 24 weeks though. Do you lose a lot of blood in 'normal' labour? It's taken me a week to get my iron levels back up and not need to nap twice a day, I can't imagine trying to recover while having a baby to focus on too!

Honestly there isn't a proper answer for that. I lost what The nhs class as over the threshold with both previous, but nothing serious. Iron tablets and a night in hospital. Labour is different for everyone. Don't panic lovely. Just take it in your stride x

 

[IVW]

I have been having a little look at maternity pads and up to now, think I’m just going to take my always pads. I have the night time thicker ones anyway and can always send hubby for stock if needed. I just think i’ll Be more comfy and tbh, in my time I’ve had some pretty horrific periods so I’m expecting that but if it’s that bad I think there would be something the matter

Might be worth just getting some maternity pads to see you through the worst of it (first few days) as even when i said to my sister about one, she laughed and said no two in one go Its going to be a lot of blood by the sounds of it, nothing compared to a heavy period and the last thing you want to be doing is changing pads every half hour or whatever it would be.

Obviously we are all different and will lose a different amount of blood, but for the sake of a few quid, i would go for the maternity pads.x

 

[IVW]

Just goggled maternity nappies and they dont look half as bad as you initially think - as i was expecting an adult size nappy they are discreet. I reckon i will go with the pads and if i need the nappies, i wont hesitate to get them. I would rather be comfortable and not have to change continually.x

 

[WinterWolf]

That's very true. I suppose a shock in the 3rd trimester is at least better than one at 24 weeks though. Do you lose a lot of blood in 'normal' labour? It's taken me a week to get my iron levels back up and not need to nap twice a day, I can't imagine trying to recover while having a baby to focus on too!

It’s normal to lose up to 500mls. You can lose a lot more, it’s just not considered normal then. My waters were full of blood so I ended up losing a lot (didn’t know that could happen so that was a big shock for me!). If your delivery team know you’re prone to having low iron they’ll make sure your levels are normal before you go home x

 

[WinterWolf]

Might be worth just getting some maternity pads to see you through the worst of it (first few days) as even when i said to my sister about one, she laughed and said no two in one go Its going to be a lot of blood by the sounds of it, nothing compared to a heavy period and the last thing you want to be doing is changing pads every half hour or whatever it would be.

Obviously we are all different and will lose a different amount of blood, but for the sake of a few quid, i would go for the maternity pads.x

My bleeding was only comparable to a heavy period. Not that bad. I expected a lot more based on what people said. It’s really unpredictable, you might get loads but you might not. And yes the nappies aren’t bad, they’re basically underpants with pad material all over. No one can tell you’re wearing them. They’re a lot more comfortable than maternity pads!

 

[IVW]

My bleeding was only comparable to a heavy period. Not that bad. I expected a lot more based on what people said. It’s really unpredictable, you might get loads but you might not. And yes the nappies aren’t bad, they’re basically underpants with pad material all over. No one can tell you’re wearing them. They’re a lot more comfortable than maternity pads!

This is the thing, you really dont know whats going to happen. My sister certainly wasn't expecting the birth she had and the amount of blood she lost. She said it was like a murder scene when she looked down after her baby girl was out, but she did have forceps, so i suppose you would expect more blood compared to not having them.x

 

[WinterWolf]

@IVW Most of the blood comes from the wound from your placenta coming away, so your delivery type probably wouldn’t have much impact on your bleeding after day 1. x

 

[Donna88]

@IVW Most of the blood comes from the wound from your placenta coming away, so your delivery type probably wouldn’t have much impact on your bleeding after day 1. x

I was just going to say this; my delivery was really quick and easy. I did need two stitches but it really wasn't that bad. My bleeding was heavy for two or three weeks and then it settled into spotting. I'm now almost 5 weeks and I don't bleed daily but do have the odd heavy spotting after feeding sometimes


I'd say the same for aches after as well. I was only in active labour for about 40 minutes. The pains I had in the weeks after birth I found worse than my labour and I was surprised by them as didn't remember them when having my son. I wonder if that's because I had a pretty horrific birth with him though so I was on pain killers for at least the first week

 

[Unicorn]

The maternity knickers are really easy as well because you can just remove them and throw them away so don't need to worry about washing loads of dirty knickers! I really wouldn't recommend just relying on maternity pads because if you have stitches they stick to them! Ouch! Xx

 

[MoominGirl]

That's very true. I suppose a shock in the 3rd trimester is at least better than one at 24 weeks though. Do you lose a lot of blood in 'normal' labour? It's taken me a week to get my iron levels back up and not need to nap twice a day, I can't imagine trying to recover while having a baby to focus on too!

As WinterWolf said, up to 500ml is considered normal. I had a postpartum haemorrhage and lost 1000ml during labour. I had no risk factors at all in pregnancy. I was very lucky that my levels pre labour were really good so I avoided transfusion and iron tablets but was kept in overnight. My body did cope well with it all things considered though I did feel like I'd been hit by a bus!! I'm not sure how much of that feeling was due to a very long labour and just sheer exhaustion!!

 

[Linnett3]

I lost around 900ml of blood on my second labour but have since been told that was due to his size (9.10lb). The labour was fine & I pushed him out in one push, no assistance or tearing but I think where it was so quick that’s where the bleed came from after. I don’t remember much if it myself. My husband said it was terrifying as the buzzer was pressed and about 10 people suddenly appeared in the room but it was & still is a blur to me. I passed out a little while later & I remember waking up to the Midwife’s wiping the blood off me with wipes. I just kept apologising lol. I can’t remember most of it but all was fine. I was put on a couple of drips & stayed the night. They did give me tablets for blood loss when I left & I do remember bleeding on & off for a good few months afterwards. I was put on tablets to stop the bleeding eventually & had to go for a scan to check everything had deff been removed & all looked fine but for some reason I just bled a lot. As someone else said above there’s not much you can do if it happens, you just deal with it. I’m doing it a third time so can’t be that bad lol.

 

[Abi88]

I suppose once the baby is here and healthy it takes away a lot of that fear. It wouldn't be great if it stopped me looking after him at first but the hospital aren't going to send us home if we aren't in a fit state. And it seems like mums get superpowers those first few days anyway and power through! Just hard to imagine when we haven't done it yet!

 

[IVW]

I suppose once the baby is here and healthy it takes away a lot of that fear. It wouldn't be great if it stopped me looking after him at first but the hospital aren't going to send us home if we aren't in a fit state. And it seems like mums get superpowers those first few days anyway and power through! Just hard to imagine when we haven't done it yet!

Shock of our lives coming up

 

[WinterWolf]

I suppose once the baby is here and healthy it takes away a lot of that fear. It wouldn't be great if it stopped me looking after him at first but the hospital aren't going to send us home if we aren't in a fit state. And it seems like mums get superpowers those first few days anyway and power through! Just hard to imagine when we haven't done it yet!

No amount of birth trauma will stop you loving your baby, don’t worry about that. Hah, no superpowers here, I felt utterly useless and fragile that first week. You need someone to help you, a lot! Don’t know how I would’ve coped without hubby.

Just remember the two weeks aren’t real life and it gets better quickly x