puerperium is the period that occurs right after childbirth, also called post childbirth. At this stage, the woman's body is in the process of pregnancy recovery, suffering a series of physical and psychological changes.
During the puerperium, the woman is clinically called puerperal. During this period, as in prenatal care, the woman must maintain some care to achieve complete recovery and avoid health problems.
Doctors estimate that the average time of puerperium is 6 weeks, starting immediately after the baby is born. During this phase, the puerperal woman's body is in the process of stabilizing, returning to what it was before pregnancy. The woman must continue to seek medical advice until the body has fully recovered.
It is during the puerperium that a woman begins breastfeeding, with the rise of hormones responsible for producing breast milk. For this reason, it may be that during the breastfeeding phase a woman experiences changes in her menstrual cycle.
Normally, non-breastfeeding women are able to stabilize their ovulatory function within 8 weeks of giving birth. However, those who are in the process of breastfeeding can spend between 6 and 8 months without ovulating.
Postpartum phases
The puerperium can be divided into three main phases:
- immediate puerperium: lasts approximately 2 to 4 hours after delivery, with delivery of the placenta;
- mediate puerperium: from the immediate puerperium to the 10th day. At this stage the woman goes through the loquiation, ie, secretions released by the uterus, eliminating residues from the placental membranes. It is at this stage that the uterus returns to its normal size after being dilated for pregnancy.
- late puerperium: from the 10th to the 45th day. At this stage, the woman must continue to be observed for periodic medical care.
There is still a fourth phase, called the remote puerperium, which extends from the 45th day until the woman is able to return to her reproductive function.
Normal puerperium and pathological puerperium
The so-called "normal puerperium" is when the woman goes through all stages of the puerperium as planned, without complications or physical and psychological anomalies.
O "pathological puerperium", in turn, it happens when there are complications or anomalies in the woman's postpartum recovery process, such as puerperal hemorrhagic syndromes, infections, thromboembolic disease, postpartum depression, sadness syndrome and others psychopathologies.