Deepa Mohandas1, Bindhu B2
BACKGROUND
Puerperium refers to the six-week period following childbirth. This is a dynamic period when the physiological changes that occur during pregnancy resolve and the body system return to their pre-pregnant state. Many of the complications leading to postpartum maternal morbidity arise during labour and delivery and in the first 1-2 weeks following delivery. The complication during immediate postpartum periods is managed in hospital itself. But, there is a risk of persisting these complications and from the postnatal checkup, the magnitude of the postpartum morbidity of these women are assessed.
The aim of the study is to assess the postpartum physical morbidities among postnatal mothers and determine the association of those with selected variables.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This is a descriptive study. Sample in this study consists of 406 consecutive cases of postnatal mothers after 6 weeks of postpartum period who are visiting Family Planning Outpatient Department of Sree Avittom Thirunal Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, for postnatal checkup. Each woman was assessed by using interview schedule. The findings were presented under the following headings. Sociodemographic data, postpartum morbidities and association between selected variable and postpartum morbidities.
Study Setting and Design- The design adopted is descriptive research design. 406 postnatal mothers attending the Family Planning Outpatient Department of Sree Avittom Thirunal Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, for postnatal checkup after 6 weeks postpartum are allocated. Each woman was assessed by interview schedule. The physical postpartum morbidities among postnatal women were assessed.
RESULTS
Data was analysed using SPSS software using descriptive and inferential statistics based on the objective using frequency and Chi-square test.
CONCLUSION
In the present study, 57.6% of women had morbidities of which 29.3% had postpartum anaemia, 45.5% had backache, 15% had perineal pain, 16.5% had constipation, 6.1% had stress incontinence, 11.8% had breast problems, 10% had haemorrhoids, 5.9% had urinary tract infection and 18.7% had leucorrhoea. Also, 9.8% of subjects had persistent diabetes and hypertension in the postnatal period too. The present study shows that there is significant association between postpartum morbidities and mode of delivery, parity, socioeconomic status and anaemia. The findings of the study have a lot of implications in the field of health, patient education and medical research. The study brings out certain critical area and salient points, which necessitate urgent attention of policy makers, service provide and the society.
