How much bleeding is normal?

[BaileyB]

How much bleeding is normal in labor? It is ridiculous I have to ask that since I have had 2 children but they were in a hospital with that stupid white sheet over my lap...

Like what is the difference between normal labor bleeding and placenta previa bleeding?

[jljeppson]

It surprises most people, but a normal birth usually has less than 300cc's.  200-250 cc's or so is about normal, 300-400 a little above normal, 500 or more is considered hemorrhage.  Usually you don't need to worry until it's up in the 700 cc's or more range; that's when you start worrying about shock, etc.  To convert it to oz's, 30cc's=1oz (approximately) so typical blood loss is around a cup.

[Almi]

In labor though?  You shouldn't have any bleeding during labor.  That can signal that there is something wrong with the placenta (previa, abruption).

[holly6737]

You shouldn't have more than bloody show in actual labor.

[jljeppson]

Agreed.  If you're asking about labor (not after delivery, like I assumed) you shouldn't see more than bloody show.

[novascotiamama]

How can you tell what a cup looks like if you were to have a water birth though? Is there a trick you could use to determine if there was too much blood loss in a birthing/kiddie pool?

[jljeppson]

Water births do make it hard to tell amount of blood loss, but a good rule of thumb is that if it's starting to get hard to see the mothers thighs then it's time to get her out and treat for hemorrhage.  Overall, there's so much water in the typical birth pool that it doesn't get murky or cloudy with the small amounts of blood, fluids, etc from the typical birth.  If the water is starting to get cloudy around her thighs, it's an indicator that the mother is losing more than the typical amount of blood.