Why we pass clots during our period?

Why do we pass clots during our period? This is a great question that we received from our Instagram page and had The Lady Doctors answer for us!

Clots during your menstrual cycle can be very normal. A clot is just blood that has pooled together. When blood sits around in one spot for a while, it forms a big glob called a clot. Then it plops out of your body when you stand or get up. So clots can be very normal and you should not worry. What you should look out for is the following -- color of the blood, amount of blood, size of clots and how many clots.
1. When is comes to color, bright red means it is fresh blood. Dark red means it is older blood, and brown means really old. Watch out for a lot of bright red blood. This can mean you are bleeding to much.
2. The amount of blood is also important to observe. Usually you will have 1-3 days which are heavy, but other days which are medium or light. If you start having more than 2-3 days of heavy flow, you may be bleeding to much.
3. Small clots are ok. Medium size clots are ok. Large clots can be okay. But if you have a lot of them all the time, then you need to see a doctor. A rule of thumb is if you have a lot of clots (not one, not two, but a lot) that are bigger than a quarter, see your doctor.
4. If you ever feel lightheaded or dizzy, that is a sign that you could be loosing to much blood and you need help. There are some of us who bleed too much and feel tired all the time. The only way to make sure you are healthy and not bleeding too much is to check a Hemoglobin -- a simple finger stick blood test.

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