Bleeding after cerclage
24 August, 2009
Question:I am 22 weeks pregnant and since my cervix had begun to dilate, I had an emergency cervical stitch (a cerclage) put in (closing the cervix). I had spotting and brief flow (enough that would ordinarily render me niddah) from the surgery (which is common after the surgery). Do I assume that the bleeding is cervical or from a "wound", or am I niddah?
Thank you.
Answer:In this case, given that you had a clear cause to which to attribute your bleeding, and given that no uterine bleeding would be expected at this time, you may treat this bleeding as dam makkah, blood from a wound. Dam makkah does not make a woman niddah. You need not observe any strictures of niddah, unless you were to have bleeding inconsistent with what is typical for cerclage.
We wish you well for the remainder of your pregnancy. BeSha'ah tovah!
This internet service does not preclude, override or replace the psak of any rabbinical authority. It is the responsibility of the questioner to inform us of any previous consultation or ruling. As even slight variation in circumstances may have Halachic consequences, views expressed concerning one case may not be applied to other, seemingly similar cases. All health and health-related information contained within Nishmat's Women's Health & Halacha Web site is intended to be general in nature and should not be used as a substitute for consulting with your health care professional. The advice is intended to offer a basis for individuals to discuss their medical condition with their health care provider but not individual advice. Although every effort is made to ensure that the material within Nishmat's Women's Health & Halacha Web site is accurate and timely, it is provided for the convenience of the Web site user but should not be considered official. Advice for actual medical practice should be obtained from a licensed health care professional.
For further questions or comments: 
The Nishmat Women's Health and Halacha Site is a public service of Nishmat, The Jeanie Schottenstein Center for Advanced Torah Study for Women. This project and others like it are made possible by contributions from people like you. If you have benefited from the service, and wish to enable us to help others, click here to donate.
Users of Internet filtering services: This site discusses sensitive subjects that some services filter without visual indication. A page that appears 100% complete might actually be missing critical Jewish-law or medical information. To ensure that you view the pages accurately, ask the filtering service to whitelist all pages under yoatzot.org.
Ask a Yoetzet
Golda Koschitzky Hotline
