What is a normal period, a heavy period, and menorrhagia?
About 1 in 3 women describe their periods as ‘heavy’. However, it is often difficult to know if your periods are normal or heavy compared to other women. Some women who feel they have heavy periods actually have an average blood loss. Some women who feel they have normal periods actually have a heavy blood loss. Most of the blood loss (about 90%) usually occurs in the first three days with either normal or heavy periods. Some medical definitions of blood loss during a period are: • A ‘normal’ period is a blood loss between 20 and 60 ml (4-12 teaspoonfuls). Bleeding can last up to eight days, but bleeding for five days is average. • A ‘heavy’ period is a blood loss of 60-80 ml or more. This is about half a teacupful or more. However, it is difficult to measure the amount of blood that you lose during a period. For practical purposes, a period is probably heavy if it causes one or more of the following: • Flooding through to clothes or bedding. • You need frequent changes of sanitary tow
