Persistent Post-Abortion Bleeding: Causes & When to Worry

Question
Hi there, I am 22 years old & I had an abortion on the 18 May. My problem is I couldn't stop bleeding ever since. The bleeding comes & goes, I don't have any pains & I am worried because I should be expecting my second period soon.

Answer
Bleeding on and off for a few weeks after an abortion is common, so most probably there is nothing to worry about. This depends, however, on how much you are bleeding, what your overall health is like, and what your doctor thinks of the situation. Did you go for a final checkup two weeks after your procedure? If you didn't, it's really important that you do so to make sure there were no complications from the abortion.

If you had extremely heavy bleeding immediately after the abortion (soaking one pad in 2 hours, twice in a row) or if you had a fever (even if only slight) in the days immediately after the abortion, then you must immediately seek medical attention because these are signs of cervical/uterine infections that may be serious, even fatal.

If your bleeding is heavy (like a normal period or heavier) and you are bleeding almost continuously (say, you had only 7 non-bleeding days in the past 4 weeks), you are losing a lot of blood and that in itself is cause for concern. You should see your doctor.

If your bleeding is light or spotty, and it stops and starts frequently (bleeding time is less than non-bleeding time overall), and you have no other problems (fever, dizziness, fatigue etc), then it's fine, your bleeding should disappear in a few more days, maybe a week.

You should expect your menstrual cycle to be completely off-kilter for a few months. It will take a while to stabilize, and your period may not even show up for a couple of months, or it may be early a few times in a row. The standard amount of time it takes for your body to go back completely to normal is six months. Inbetween, you may still be feeling several signs of pregnancy, including morning sickness, fatigue, frequent urination, food cravings and aversions, etc. It takes a long time for your body to get rid of all those pregnancy hormones.


(I am not a medical professional, please don't consider any of this to be medical advice.)