| Chapter 7 THE LAWS OF PURITY AFTER CHILDBIRTH
If she feels labor pains 1. As soon as the pains of childbirth set in, the woman must separate from her husband. If the pain stops completely and a careful examination fails to reveal even the slightest drop of blood, a Rabbi must be consulted regarding her status. After childbirth or miscarriage 2. Immediately after childbirth, a woman is a Nidah regardless of whether the birth was full term or premature, or a miscarriage of any size or form. After the bleeding has completely stopped and a thorough examination (Chapter 2, par. 4) determines that she is clean, she may don white and begin counting the seven clean days, as explained above (Chapters 2 & 3). The date of Tviloh after childbirth has special rules which will be explained in the following two paragraphs.
The time of Tviloh after childbirth 3. If she gave birth to a girl, under no circumstances may the Tviloh take place before fourteen days after the birth, even if she already completed counting the seven clean days. The same rule also applies to a miscarriage, when it cannot be determined whether the lost embryo was male or female. For this reason, a woman who miscarried more than forty days after intercourse with her husband, is considered as if she gave birth. Even after she completed her seven clean days, as mentioned above, she may not perform the Tviloh during the first fourteen days after the miscarriage. (in all uncertainties, she must either wait or ask a shaaloh.)
4. If, however, she gave birth to a boy, she may perform the Tviloh even within fourteen days, as long as she has completed counting the seven clean days and performed all the necessary examinations. (This case is very rare.)
Sometimes, for health reasons, it is necessary to wait six weeks or more after childbirth, before performing Tviloh. This depends on the woman’s strength and the condition of her health. |