lochia

Borrowed from Latin lochia, from Ancient Greek λοχεία (lokheía), neuter plural of λοχείος (lokheíos, “of childbirth”), from λόχος (lókhos, “childbirth”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlɒkɪə/
• (US) enPR: lō'kē-ə, enPR: lŏk'ē-ə

lochia pl (plural only)

1. Normal post-partum vaginal discharge; blood, mucus, and placental tissue that are discharged from a female's vagina (similar to menstruation) for several weeks after she has given birth.
   • 1822, Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal

     In April 1819, I attended a young married lady in her first pregnancy, in whose case the lochia began to diminish on the seventh day after parturition, [...]

   • 1866, Fleetwood Churchill, On the theory and practice of midwifery

     Variations in the quantity, quality, or odour of the lochia not unnaturally excite great alarm in the mind of the patient, who regards any deviation in this secretion as a proof of serious disease. Yet very remarkable differences do occur, without any morbid affection of the uterus or vagina.

   • 1884, William Smoult Playfair, A Treatise on the Science and Practice of Midwifery, volume II (fifth edition), part III, chapter IX

     In three or four days the distinctly bloody character of the lochia is altered. They have a reddish watery appearance, and are known as the lochia rubra or cruenta [...]

   • 1921, the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, published by the American Gynecological Society

     On the fifth day the coryza, cough and rash were all improved, but the patient was irrational; the lochia were thin, watery and odorless; [...]

   • 1924: The Canadian nurse, published by the Canadian Nurses' Association

     Check lochia and change sterile pad. If the patient's pulse is under 90, the fundus is firm and the lochia is normal, the patient may be left at the end ...

   • 1927, The Indian Veterinary Journal, published by the Indian Veterinary Association

     In one Magra ewe which gave birth to twins, lochia continued for 8 days [...]

   • 1946: Nicholson Joseph Eastman and Emil Novak, Obstetrical and Gynecological Survey

     By the fifth day, however, the lochia was normal in most of the patients and in only 4 patients was it heavy.

   • 1998, Giovanni Maciocia, Obstetrics & Gynecology in Chinese Medicine, page 609

     For the first three or four days after delivery the lochia are red; [...] three different types of lochia are distinguished: ‘lochia rubra’ or ‘red lochia’, ‘lochia serosa’ ‘serous lochia’, which appears five to six days after delivery, and ‘lochia alba’ meaning ‘white lochia’, the final lochial discharge [...]

• The word is sometimes treated as though it were a singular noun, in which case it is uncountable.

• -aholic, Acholi