Synonym
Peurperium
Definition
The puerperium (peurperium) is the period of time after a birth in which the body, which is geared towards pregnancy (pregnancy), returns to its original state. In addition, the puerperium is the time when milk production (lactogenesis) and milk flow (lactation) begins. The puerperium begins with the birth of the placenta and lasts about 6 – 8 weeks.
Duration of the childbed
The puerperium is the period of the first six to eight weeks after birth. In addition, a distinction can be made between an early and a late puerperium bed, whereby the early puerperium bed refers to the first ten days after birth. From the eleventh day after the birth on, the woman is in a late-week bed. Depending on how quickly the birth wounds heal, the duration of the postpartum period can vary from woman to woman. However, it usually ends after six to eight weeks.
The real puerperium
During the postpartum period, patients who are referred to as women in childbed experience some physiological, normal changes in the body and psyche. During this time, there may also be pain in the abdomen or abdominal pain in the puerperium. However, these are usually due to the transformation processes in the body, which are quite normal after delivery.
Regression of the uterus (uterine evolution)
During the puerperium, there is a regression (involution) of the uterus, which increases during pregnancy (pregnancy), especially in muscle mass (hypertrophy of the myometrium). At the end of pregnancy, the uterus weighs about 1000 g and reaches with its highest point (fundus uteri) in the 40th week two transverse fingers below the costal arch. Immediately after birth, the fundus uteri, usually referred to in practice only as the fundus, comes to lie between the navel (umbilicus) and the symphysis.
The contraction of the uterine muscles (contractions of the myometrium), the so-called afterpains, causes the uterus to recede quite rapidly. Thus, 24 hours after a birth, the fundus is usually already at the level of the navel. Every day after the birth, the fundus is lowered by one transverse finger.
After one week, the uterus has already shrunk by half. On the tenth day, the fundus is at symphysis level and after about six weeks, i.e. at the end of the puerperium, the uterus has reached its original size again. Its weight is then again around 80 g.
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