About 1 in 100 to 5 in 100 women have postpartum hemorrhage. It is more likely with a cesarean birth

. It most often happens after the placenta is delivered, but it can also happen later.

How common is it to hemorrhage after giving birth?

Postpartum hemorrhage (also called PPH) is when a woman has heavy bleeding after giving birth. It's a serious but rare condition. It usually happens within 1 day of giving birth, but it can happen up to 12 weeks after having a baby. About 1 to 5 in 100 women who have a baby (1 to 5 percent) have PPH.

What causes a woman to hemorrhage after giving birth?

After the placenta is delivered, these contractions help compress the bleeding vessels in the area where the placenta was attached. If the uterus does not contract strongly enough, called uterine atony, these blood vessels bleed freely and hemorrhage occurs. This is the most common cause of postpartum hemorrhage.