Counting 14 days from miscarriage
22 October, 2019
Question:Hello, I have just had a miscarriage and am trying to work out the correct time for me to go to the Mikvah.
I last went to the Mikvah on 30th April. I first started spotting lightly on the day of 23rd June. By the weekend I was bleeding quite heavily and had the miscarriage confirmed in the hospital the morning of Monday 27th June. At that point, the scan revealed that the fetus, fetal sac, and placenta were still present. The fetus did not have a heartbeat.
The bleeding has now ceased and I was able to do a hefsek taharah on Tuesday, 5th July. I realise that there should be at least 14 days before I can immerse in case the fetus was female. However, I am unclear on the following:
(1) Do I need to wait seven clean days after the bleeding?
(2) When do I first start counting the 14 days? Is it from 23rd June or from when the the fetus is expelled? I do not know the exact date that the fetus was expelled, I was still bleeding and passing clots until the day of the hefsek.
Thank you!
Answer:We are sorry to hear of your miscarriage.
1. Yes, following miscarriage a woman must perform a hefsek taharah (though she may omit the moch dachuk), followed by seven clean days and mikveh immersion.
2. The fourteen days are counted from when the main part of the fetus was expelled.
In a case in which there is no clear date for passing fetal tissue, we usually go by the onset of heavy bleeding. In this case, we could not attribute the tissue passing to any time before the morning of the 27th. However, we would assume in your case that the fetus was passed by the 28th, since there is no clear indication to the contrary and you already had significant bleeding earlier. You may immerse on the night of Tuesday 12th July as scheduled.
We wish you a refuah sheleimah.
Please write back with any further questions.
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