In every woman’s life, pregnancy comes with a great joy and also brings lots of misconceptions, confusions, conflicting theories and what not all! To relieve yourself from all this, you must read different books on pregnancy, refer informative websites on the related topics and feel free to ask questions. The topic of menstruation after pregnancy can also create many questions in your mind. Many of you are eager to know when you would be getting your first period after pregnancy, when you would be able to conceive again, and many more of such questions. This article should help you in guiding you about menstruation after pregnancy.

How Does Menstrual Cycle Works?

First, let us understand the way your menstrual cycle works each month. Menstruation is the term given to the periodic discharge of blood, tissue, fluid, and mucus from the reproductive organs of females. The flow usually lasts from 3-6 days each month and is caused by a sudden reduction in the hormones, estrogen, and progesterone. These hormones govern the menstruation process. Also, remember that these hormones are usually only present in small amounts, but the relationship between the levels of the hormones is critical. When the balance between the two is upset, some menstrual disturbances can occur.
In case of menstruation after pregnancy, it is common to get a delayed period after pregnancy. It is quite different in case of every woman. Some women may get their periods right away, while for others, it may take more time. Roughly, you should wait during breastfeeding and six months after that. Of those women who do not breastfeed, about 75 – 80% of them resume menstrual cycle after pregnancy by ten weeks. Breastfeeding can delay menstruation and ovulation for around 20 weeks or more however, cases may vary. Every woman is unique with her hormone levels, so it is difficult to say when period after pregnancy will resume.

You must also keep in mind that the first period after pregnancy is going to be heavy and might even be more painful. Do not worry, things will improve later. Resumption of menstruation after pregnancy is also a sign that your body is getting back to normal and it also means that you can conceive. So protect yourself for unwanted pregnancies. One important fact to remember that, ovulation, and menstruation does not exclusively happen together – you may have your period without ovulation or you may ovulate and then get your first period. The chance that you will ovulate in the first six weeks after childbirth is quite low. When a baby breastfeeds, the sucking sends signals to the pituitary to release prolactin. If you breastfeed frequently enough, so that there are high levels of prolactin, ovulation can be suppressed. Exactly when you start ovulating is hard to estimate. For some women, they may not ovulate until they stop breastfeeding completely.