This is probably one of the things you don’t expect as a parent until you see it.

You get your baby girl all set-up for a diaper change and you notice something other than the usual ‘pee’ or poop’ diaper; huh! specks of blood?

It can be very be scary, but this is normal. 

This is called “false menses” and typically occurs in girls.

Happened to my daughter too. I was a Pediatrician by then I had her so I was less scared.

I posted a video of this on tiktok (follow me (@dr_norajiaka) if you are there too) and was surprised at the number of people who hadn’t heard of it too.

Why does it happen?

When a mother is pregnant, baby is exposed to mother’s hormones (in this, case estrogen). After the baby is born, that exposure to hormones  from the mother stops. and a a result there is what we call “hormonal withdrawal.”.

The hormone drop-off and withdrawal causes a little shedding of the baby’s uterine (endometrial) lining; causing the vaginal bleeding you may see on the diaper.