tailsnportholes:

veritascara:

fievelthefruitcakemouse:

sabrinamarceline:

love-pro-choice:

evashandor:

sora2522:

gallicinvasion:

gallicinvasion:

Another woman utterly failed by our society’s devaluation of women’s reproductive health. We can’t wait around for male doctors to decide what we need to know. This is why we need to take control and educate ourselves about our own bodies.

and here’s some comments i saw under the post. why is this a pattern?? why is this a recurring theme?? why is this information not common knowledge? what the fuck are doctors doing??

This is news to me so let’s share it so people will know!

I was most definitely told about this in school. Fucking hell, 4-6 weeks of bleeding? My periods were/are bad enough, why the hell don’t we get told this?

I didn’t know it could last so long, wtf? Is the bleeding inevitable after birth? 

one of 2383940819480 reasons paid maternity leave is important 

WE TREAT CHILDBIRTH LIKE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY BUT THEN UTTERLY FAIL POST PARTUM INDIVIDUALS ON HOW TO TAKE CARE OF THEIR BODIES AND WHAT TO EXPECT AFTERWORDS I WILL BURN EVERYTHING I AM SO ANGRY

Oh my goodness, as an OB nurse, it is just terrifying to me that people don’t even know this happens ahead of time. Okay, a few really important points you need to know, and the things I tell all the lovely ladies I take care of:

1. Yes, you will bleed. A lot. It will kind of feel like your body is making up for the whole nine months of missed periods in one go. Sorry. 
   
2. The bleeding is completely normal and part of your uterus healing inside. Basically, where the placenta pulls away, it leaves an open wound. This wound has to heal. And the uterus, because it is awesome, has the ability to regenerate itself instead of scarring, like your skin or other organs have to do when they heal. 
3. The pads are essential because of this healing process. Tampons and anything else inside the vagina (I’m looking at you, impatient partners) are a big no-no, because they expose that open wound to bacteria and increase the risk for infection. And believe you me, you don’t want endometritis. You cannot wear anything but pads for the first six weeks postpartum.
4. That being said. It isn’t heavy bleeding forever. The first two days are the heaviest. The hospital will give you these giant white pads to wear that are practically adult diapers and these gloriously sexy mesh underwear to put them in. After the first two days you will be able to move down to normal pads. Make sure to stock up on lots of the regular size and overnight ones for when you go home.
   
5. After the first couple days, the bleeding tapers off a lot, and after a few days it’s generally just a brownish discharge that keeps going, and going, and going. It quits somewhere between four and six weeks. For me it lasted over a month both times (one c-section, one vaginal delivery). 
6. You can have too much bleeding. If your bleeding gets heavier again to where you are soaking through a pad in less than an hour or passing clots bigger than the size of a golf ball, CALL YOUR MIDWIFE OR DOCTOR. Postpartum hemorrhage is no joke and rarely can happen days after delivery. It may be nothing, but better to be on the safe side.
7. You will bleed nearly the same whether you have a vaginal or cesarean delivery. If you have a c-section without laboring first, the bleeding may be slightly lighter. If you had a long labor, you may have more bleeding, because the uterus gets tired. 
8. Cramping is normal. The uterus continues contracting after delivery in order to shrink back to its original size. It’s the worst the first couple days. The more babies you’ve had the worse it tends to be because the uterus has to work harder to shrink down. Ibuprofen will be your best friend. Take it as often as you are allowed and need the first couple weeks. And it’s a great medication to use postpartum because it doesn’t pass in the breast milk.
9. Cramping does increase during breastfeeding. This is because of your body’s hormonal feedback. Baby sucking = oxytocin release from the posterior pituitary. Oxytocin release causes the milk to let down for the baby, but it also is the hormone responsible for contractions. Remember that this is helping your uterus to shrink faster and is therefore a good, healing process (even if it doesn’t feel that way).

I hope this helps! 

Look more things I didn’t know about sexual health. Thanks Texas education.