The hormones change
If the hormonal balance was set for pregnancy during the past nine months, the hormonal focus after birth is on physical involution. This process begins immediately with the afterbirth. As the placenta gives birth, all blood and urine levels of the hormones it produces drop. These include the steroid hormones estrogen and progesterone. As these hormones decrease, remodeling and involution begin. The production of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), on the other hand, picks up again, and follicle maturation in the ovary starts up again.
The fact that the first period after birth is still some time in coming is due to another hormone, prolactin. It is produced in the brain (more precisely: in the anterior pituitary gland) as soon as estrogen drops. Prolactin ensures that the mother’s breast produces milk soon after birth – usually on the third to fifth day of the postpartum period. As the baby sucks on the breast, the production of prolactin is further stimulated. In most breastfeeding mothers, prolactin prevents ovulation. This results in what is known as lactation or lactamenorrhea, i.e. the absence of menstrual bleeding during the breastfeeding period.
When is the first period after birth?
The onset of the first period after birth depends on how intensively the woman breastfeeds. The more milk-forming prolactin is produced, the more effectively the maturation of the eggs and ovulation are inhibited and the later menstruation resumes. Particularly in the first six weeks after birth, women are therefore less fertile. Only after weaning does a normal cycle settle back in.
However, even though fertility is reduced in the first six weeks after birth and breastfeeding suppresses the maturation of the eggs, it must always be emphasized: Breastfeeding is not a safe contraceptive method! The first ovulation usually occurs unnoticed before the onset of the first period after birth. You can therefore become pregnant again even before the onset of the first menstrual period!
Non-breastfeeding women can expect their cycle to start again as early as six to twelve weeks after giving birth. The first period after pregnancy and birth could therefore occur after about eight weeks. In addition to prolactin, the stage of involution also plays a role here.
Postpartum flow or period?
Does the period change after childbirth?
Especially the first menstruation after childbirth is usually relatively heavy and painful. Sometimes it also lasts unusually long. The subsequent cycles are usually irregular and variable. Only after about half a year the cycle has usually settled down again. However, this does not necessarily mean that it is now the same as it was before pregnancy: for example, if the days used to be associated with severe cramps, they can now be quite mild.
Note: If your period after giving birth is accompanied by unusually heavy bleeding and severe pain, you should contact your gynecologist.
