Mazal tov on the recent birth of your baby!
1) The insertion of an IUD does not in itself render a woman
niddah.
2) Bleeding that occurs during the day following the insertion can generally be attributed to
trauma (and thus does not render you
niddah). Please see our page on the
IUD for more details.
3) Stains found on
colored underwear or
disposable pantyliners, or in the toilet bowl, may be disregarded. Stains found on the
toilet paper may be disregarded as long as you waited at least a few seconds after urinating before wiping.
You should take precautions against becoming
niddah from further staining by continuing to wear colored underwear or disposable pantyliners, and waiting at least a few seconds (ideally 15 seconds) after urinating before wiping. While there is no requirement to look for staining, some women like to know what is going on with their bodies. As long as you take the above precautions, any stain you may find on the colored underwear/pantyliner/toilet paper/toilet may be disregarded and will not render you
niddah. (We do recommend
abstaining from marital relations until about 24 hours after staining stops; this is a voluntary precaution, not a halachic requirement.) If you experience an actual flow (comparable to a period) then you are rendered
niddah regardless of where the blood is found.
4) According to
Torah law, only bleeding accompanied by a
hargashah will render a woman
niddah. (A flow is presumed to have been accompanied by a
hargashah.) The Sages decreed that even stains unaccompanied by a
hargashah can render a woman
niddah. However, in order not to overly burden women, they limited the scope of this decree and only stains of a certain size and on certain surfaces will render one
niddah. Further, as long as a woman does not feel a
hargashah, she is not required to look for any staining.
Please feel free to get back to us with any further questions.
This response has been updated to reflect the rulings of our current Rabbinic Supervisor, Rav Kenneth Auman, regarding waiting before wiping.
