When Can You Expect Your Period After Childbirth?

Pregnancy gives you the joy of nurturing and growing your little one in your womb and being able to eat whatever you want to when you get those cravings. But it’s also a no-show from your period throughout those nine months (What a blessing, am I right?). But once you give birth to your child, it’s normal to be curious about when and how your periods will start again.

Depending on whether you are breastfeeding or not, your period arrival will vary. Breastfeeding will delay your period by a great deal. This again depends on how often you breastfeed. If you breastfeed exclusively all the time then it can take more than 6 months for you to get your period. Then you’ll be back to the way it was before your pregnancy happened when you’re constantly checking for leaks while you feel like somebody’s punching you in the stomach. 

This is because the hormone, prolactin, can suppress reproductive hormones. Therefore no eggs are produced for fertilization which means no menstrual cycle.

But this is what is seen in most cases and is not true for all new moms. Sometimes women don’t get their periods for as long as they breastfeed and in some cases even if they are breastfeeding, they get their postpartum period in a month or so.

If you are formula-feeding your baby then you can expect your period anywhere between a month and 3 months. If you don’t get your period by 3 months, then it’s recommended to talk with your doctor, especially if you are someone who used to get periods regularly before you got pregnant.

For the first few months of your postpartum periods, you might be advised to use maxi pads instead of a tampon because your body is still healing and might need some time to get back to the normal state.

Having no periods doesn’t mean that you can’t get pregnant again because a few postpartum eggs are released before the first period, even if you are a breastfeeding mom. So it’s recommended to start with birth control as soon as you start having sex again.

It might take a few months before your periods become regular and the flow is normal. Some moms experience heavy flow in the beginning but it gradually reduces as the periods become regular.