Postpartum Bleeding Checker

Lochia is the vaginal bleeding and discharge everyone has after giving birth, whether the birth was vaginal or cesarean. It's heaviest in the first few days — bright to dark red, often like a heavy period, sometimes with small clots after you've been lying down (this stage is called lochia rubra). Over the next week or so it fades to pink or brown and gets lighter (lochia serosa), and then to a pale yellow, white, or brownish discharge that tapers off (lochia alba). Many people stop by around six weeks, though some bleed lightly a little longer. One quirk worth knowing: a brief return of redder bleeding around days 7 to 14 is common as the scab over the spot where the placenta was attached comes away — that's usually fine as long as it stays light. The overall direction is the reassuring part: heavy-then-tapering, and redder-then-paler.

Get emergency care — call your provider and, if it's severe or you can't reach them quickly, call 911 or go to the nearest ER — if you're soaking through a maxi pad in an hour or less (or two pads in an hour), passing a blood clot bigger than a golf ball, have a sudden gush of bright-red bleeding after it had already slowed or stopped, feel faint or dizzy or notice a racing or pounding heart, or have a bad-smelling discharge together with a fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher. Heavy bleeding, big clots, a gush, and feeling faint can be signs of postpartum hemorrhage; a foul smell with fever can be a sign of a uterine infection. Both are treatable, but they're time-critical — this is a don't-wait-and-see situation, and don't drive yourself if you feel lightheaded.

Yes — and this is the part people are most likely to miss. Postpartum hemorrhage that starts more than 24 hours after delivery, up to about 12 weeks out, is called secondary (or late) postpartum hemorrhage. It can be caused by things like a small piece of placenta left behind or a uterine infection, and it can appear after your bleeding had already settled down. So a sudden gush of bright red, soaking a pad an hour, or passing large clots weeks after birth is not something to wait out — it needs the same urgent attention as bleeding right after delivery. Trust the change in pattern: bleeding that had faded and then turns heavy or bright red again is a reason to be seen.

A foul or unpleasant smell to your vaginal discharge, especially together with a fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher, chills, or new pelvic pain and tenderness, can be a sign of a uterine infection (endometritis) — which is one of the things that can also drive heavier bleeding weeks after birth. Normal lochia has a musty or period-like smell, not a strongly bad one. Because infection after childbirth can become serious, a bad smell with a fever is an urgent reason to be seen — contact your OB or midwife right away, and go to the ER if you can't reach them or you also feel very unwell. Infection is treatable, usually with antibiotics, and catching it early matters.

It can be genuinely hard to tell, which is why this is your provider's call rather than a tool's. In broad strokes: lochia is continuous from the birth and follows the heavy-then-tapering, red-to-pale pattern, while a returning period is a fresh bleed that starts after lochia has finished — often around six weeks or later if you're not breastfeeding, and frequently later if you are. But timing overlaps and everyone's different. The safety point matters more than the label: whatever you call it, soaking a maxi pad in an hour, passing a golf-ball clot, a sudden gush of bright red, or feeling faint is a warning sign that needs care now — a returning period does not do those things.

Yes. This tool runs entirely in your browser: how long ago you gave birth and what your bleeding looks like are read on your own device and are never sent to a server, saved, or shared — close the tab and they're gone. We treat pregnancy and postpartum data as sensitive by design, so there's nothing to delete and no account involved. What you get back is general educational information based on published ACOG, CDC, AWHONN, and MedlinePlus guidance; it isn't medical advice, a diagnosis, or a substitute for your provider — and it can't measure how much you're actually bleeding. If your body is telling you something is wrong, act on that, not on this.