Out of lurking/studying for exam mode (should be interesting after not
writing any exam for 10 years...).

A recent issue of the Women's Health Matters newsletter (from Women's
College Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; June/97) mentioned a study
from Obstetrics & Gynecology Feb. 97 that found that "although women are
often told by their doctors that lochia usually ends between 10 days and 2
weeks postpartum, a recent study suggests otherwise. Researchers from North
Carolina and the Philippines studied 477 bf women in Manila. They found that
lochia lasted on average about 4 weeks, although the duration of bleeding
varied widely from 5-90 days postpartum. Only 15% of women reported that
their lochia was finished within 2 weeks of giving birth.

"The researchers also found that it was common for postpartum bleeding to
stop and start again. About 25% of women in the study reported a new episode
of bleeding at approximately 6 weeks after childbirth.

"These data suggest that lochial flow up to and beyond 6 weeks postpartum is
not unusual and that half of pp bf women can expect to bvleed for about 4
weeks, rather than for 2 weeks as commonly assumed in Western obstetrics,"
researchers said. "Women will be better able to cope with the pp healing
process if their experiences resemble their expectations."

Amen to that last statement.

Leslie Ayre-Jaschke, BEd, IBCLC
Peace River, Alberta, Canada