Endometrial ablation

I will be having an endometrial ablation next week. I believe my gynecologist will be going through my cervix for this procedure. Does the procedure itself make me niddah?

Since I will (unfortunately) be in my seven clean days at the time of the procedure, after the procedure is over and immediate discharge has ceased, can I start counting seven clean days? Can I skip the minimum 5 day wait?

My doctor's office told me that I could be having a discharge for up to several weeks after the procedure. The discharge will be water and pieces of the endometrium. Is this discharge cause for niddah?

Dear questioner,

Thank you for your question.

According to most opinions, an endometrial ablation does render a woman niddah. In any case, since you will be having the procedure performed while you are still niddah, you must wait until the bleeding ceases before counting a new seven clean days. There is no five day minimum in this case since you will already have been niddah for more than five days at the time of the procedure.   

It may take several weeks for the bleeding to cease. However, if the discharge is brown and not red or black, you can attempt to perform a hefsek taharah and bedikot and have them evaluated by a rabbi. You should review the laws of stains since not all stains will invalidate the clean days. Once you immerse you should continue to take precautions to prevent becoming niddah from further staining.

Please feel free to get back to us with any further questions.

Refuah Shleimah!

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