Nishmat's Women’s Health and HalachaIn memory of Chaya Mirel bat R' Avraham

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Dark stains that were misplaced

12 May, 2014

Question:

I am currently six months pregnant with twins and I have been spotting on and off the past few months of my pregnancy.

Lately I spotted while I happened to be wearing white underwear. The blood looked old. It was clotty and very dark red. I saw my doctor who said everything looks ok but she can't determine where the blood is coming from. Does this make me nidda if the blood wasn't new?

Another issue I have is I don't have that underwear anymore. I misplaced it in the wash, so I can't even show a rav for him to advise me.


Answer:

B'Sha'ah tovah!

Even old blood that is uterine in origin can render a woman niddah. Dark red is generally a problematic color.

The size of the stain is a relevant factor in this situation. If each individual stain found on the underwear was smaller than a gris (the size of a US dime or Israeli shekel), the stains may be disregarded and did not render you niddah.

If you are unsure of the size of the stains (they may have been smaller than a gris but you don't fully recall), there is room to be lenient due to a combination of factors: you no longer have the stain to be evaluated, you are pregnant and halachically considered a mesuleket damim (a woman who does not menstruate), and the stain was found externally and not on an internal bedikah

Only if you are certain that the stain was larger than a gris, and that the color was dark red, must you assume you were rendered niddah. If this is the case, you need to wait the four- or five-day minimum from finding the stain before performing a hefsek taharah and counting the clean days.

If you experience difficulty completing the clean days due to staining, please don't hesitate to get back to us for further guidance.

Going forward, you should be careful to wear colored underwear (or a disposable pantyliner) at all times when you are tehorah to avoid finding problematic stains. See our article on stains for more details.

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

We wish you a smooth and healthy pregnancy.

B'Hatzlacha


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