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

  • Hebrew
  • English
  • Espnaol
  • Francais
  • donate
Menu
Side Bar

Postpartum staining

7 September, 2003
Question:

I just had my first baby (7 weeks ago) and finally was able to go to the mikvah 2 nights ago, and this morning I found 2 small red stains on my underwear. The underwear is colored but the part that has the stains is white. I’m using the pill (Pops since im breastfeeding). Am I going to be staining throughout the whole time that I’m taking the pill? What do I do niddah wise? I’m so frustrated.


Answer:

Whether you are niddah or not depends on the size of the stains. If they are clearly less than the size of a dime each, then you are not niddah. If they are closer to the size of a dime, or if you are not sure, then arrange to have them shown to a halachic authority.

It is not unusual to have some staining (1) post partum, (2) while breastfeeding and (3) when taking birth control pills, especially in the first few months and especially while using progesterone-only pills. This staining does not necessarily make you niddah. It depends on the size of the stain and where it is found (see the article on stains for explanations and further details). It is thus a very good idea to only wear colored underwear (without a white lining) at this time in your life cycle.

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.

Accessibility Toolbar