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

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Spotting & beginning five days

6 September, 2006

Question:

I am on the minipill and was not expecting my period when yesterday I began to have some spotting (on colored underwear and toilet paper). We abstained from relations and all physical contact as a precaution that it may become a flow, but I did not consider myself a niddah and so we did not separate the beds or refrain from passing to each other. The staining became an actual flow this morning. Can I consider yesterday day one, or must I begin counting from today?


Answer:

This is an excellent question which we have recently explored in depth in the section on beginning the five day minimum in our article on Minimum Days.

The five days are defined as days on which the couple is halachically prohibited from having relations. Counting the day of the spotting as day one would only be possible if you were considered halachically prohibited to your husband or were unsure but acted as though you were in niddah. Given that you did not consider yourself niddah or separate the beds, it was clear to you that there would have been no halachic prohibition involved in having relations.  Thus you consider today, when you entered niddah, as day one.


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