Q: Good evening Dr., it’s been 10 months that I gave birth. I haven’t seen my period. Is it normal?

A: Hello and Congratulations on your new baby! Return of menses following delivery is varied between individuals. Some women would see theirs a few weeks after, some others after a few months or even a year, while in others there is no return of menses before another pregnancy begins.

Different women also report different changes with their menstrual periods after childbirth. Some report longer periods. Others report shorter periods; some others report less pain and others observe absolutely no change at all 😀

However, the pattern of your menstrual cycle prior to your previous pregnancy (if it was regular or irregular) also plays a role. The duration of your labor and the presence of complications like bleeding after delivery could all play a part in the return of your period. Exclusive breastfeeding and presence of underlying infection also could delay the return of menses. Don’t stress out about this for now…. except if you are really looking forward to another pregnancy soon. If this is the case I would advise you see your doctor for a proper evaluation. Otherwise enjoy your period of no bleeds 😀

And please, remember to discuss contraception/family planning options with your doctor during your 6 weeks appointment if you’ve had a baby. I’ve had quite a number of people writing in to ask if breast feeding protects against pregnancy and if it was possible for them to get pregnant even before their periods return or if it was safe to breastfeed a baby while pregnant (The answers by the way, are yes to getting pregnant while breastfeeding, yes to possibility of getting pregnant before periods return and yes to breastfeeding while pregnant); this means that there are probably a couple of people getting pregnant earlier than they had planned. Let’s take the right decisions.

How is your week going?

Have a good night, y’all 😀