Periods After Miscarriage

If you have suffered a miscarriage, you may wonder when your periods will return. If you are planning on trying to get pregnant again, getting your period is a signal that your body is back on track. It's hard to tell exactly when your period will return and what it will be like when it does. Here is plenty of information so you can be ready and know what you can expect.

When Will You Have Periods After Miscarriage?

While it is different for every woman and the circumstances of her miscarriage, it is fairly common for a woman's period to resume in about 4 to 8 weeks. If the miscarriage occurred in the very beginning of the pregnancy, the period may return in about four weeks; if it is a late term miscarriage, it could take from two to three months to get back to normal.

What Will the First Period After Miscarriage Be Like?

When your period does return the first one may be different from your previous periods. If you were used to having light periods, you may have much heavier ones; if you are used to heavy bleeding, you may be surprised to find such a light flow. After a woman loses the fetus, she will experience light or heavy bleeding on and off for a couple of days or several weeks.

The other thing many women experience is blood clots. There is nothing to worry about; it is just a process of putting the body back to where it was before.

With each woman going through their own experience, periods after miscarriage vary for different people. Here are some types of new cycles you might expect:

• ŸIn between spotting and a very light period
• ŸYou may have cramps or not have them at all
• ŸHeavy bleeding that suddenly stops and ends up to be spotting
• ŸA light flow that ends up turning into spotting
• ŸA combination of spotting for a few days, stopping, then a heavy flow begins

Sometimes you may experience the following which are not considered periods at all:

• ŸNothing but spotting for days
• ŸSpotting that comes and goes
• ŸA heavy bleeding cycle where you go through a pad an hour for more than a week

The blood that is passing after the miscarriage helps to remove toxins that may have been building up in the uterus. This also helps to clear the way for the menstrual cycle to get back to normal.

What If Your Periods After Miscarriage Are Irregular?

No women enjoy having irregular periods so having to go through irregular periods after suffering a miscarriage is extremely difficult. The irregular periods seem to be a constant reminder that you are not pregnant any more. Being irregular not only means you don’t know when they are coming but your flow could be heavy, light, or you might not even have any bleeding at all.

1. Your Body May Be Trying to Pass a Clot or Tissue Left in the Uterus

If you have a miscarriage and it is in the beginning of the pregnancy, you might not even realize you are having a miscarriage; it may appear to be your regular period. But if your miscarriage comes later your uterus may be trying to pass some of the existing placenta or left over tissue.

2. Your Periods Are Irregular Before Pregnancy

If you were one of those women who always had irregular periods, chances are you will be back to the same schedule after your miscarriage. If you were always regular before the miscarriage, but irregular after, you should contact your doctor.

3. You Are No Longer Ovulating Regularly

Under normal circumstance, the uterine lining is shed when you produce an egg. If there is no egg, the lining will keep growing and getting thicker and thicker which could result in bleeding. Just like a period, it could be heavy bleeding or spotty.

4. You Are Either Too Heavy or Too Thin

Extremes in weights could result in irregular periods. Sometimes when women become too thin from too much exercise or dieting they don't even get their periods anymore.

5. You Might Be Expecting Again

If you have been the gamut of having a heavy period then a light one and then no period at all, you will have to wait out those irregular periods. If you don't have your period again after several months, you should check with your doctor to make sure that you are not pregnant again too soon after the miscarriage.

When Can You Get Pregnant After Miscarriage?

Your body can actually recover fairly quickly from a miscarriage. Within a couple of days, your body will function as it did before you were pregnant. But your emotional state may have a lot more to do with when you can get pregnant again after a miscarriage than your physical state. Give yourself the chance to grieve and feel the emotions that come with this experience, such as sadness, anger and guilt. When you are ready to think about getting pregnant again you may want to talk with your doctor.