When does a wife resume prayer after childbirth, and is it after forty days as is common, and what is the ruling if the bleeding stops before that or is intermittent?

If the postnatal bleeding (nifas (definition)) stops, the woman in postpartum returns to prayer and does not wait to complete forty days, because the determining factor is the cessation of the bleeding. However, if the bleeding continues until the fortieth day, she does not pray until she completes it. And if it continues after the fortieth day, she performs ghusl (definition) (ritual bath) and prays, because the maximum duration for nifas is forty days.

If the bleeding is intermittent, she does not pray until it ceases completely, either by the drying of the area or the appearance of the white discharge (al-qassah al-bayda'), or until forty days are completed, then she resumes prayer.