Deepa Mohandas 1 , Bindhu B 2
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.
