Puerperal (disambiguation)

Puerperal refers to the period immediately after childbirth, focusing on the mother's health and adaptation to motherhood. This term is derived from the Latin word "puerpera," meaning a woman in childbirth, indicating its direct relation to postpartum period activities and conditions. The puerperal period encompasses various aspects of care, recovery, and the potential complications that can arise after delivery. This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the term "Puerperal."

Puerperal Conditions and Concepts

• Puerperal fever: A condition also known as childbed fever, a bacterial infection that can affect women after childbirth. Historically, it was a significant cause of maternal death.
• Puerperal sepsis: A severe infection that can occur in the postpartum period, often as a complication of puerperal fever.
• Puerperal psychosis: A rare psychiatric condition that can develop in the first few weeks after childbirth, characterized by severe mood swings, depression, delusions, and hallucinations.
• Puerperal mastitis: Inflammation of the breast tissue that can occur in breastfeeding mothers, often due to a blocked milk duct or bacteria entering the breast.
• Postpartum period: The period immediately following childbirth as the mother's body, including hormone levels and uterus size, returns to a non-pregnant state.

Related Medical Terms

• Obstetrics: The branch of medicine and surgery concerned with childbirth and the care of women giving birth.
• Midwifery: The health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), besides sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives.
• Postpartum depression: A complex mix of physical, emotional, and behavioral changes that happen in some women after giving birth.

See Also

• Childbirth: The process of giving birth to a baby, involving labor and delivery.
• Maternal health: The health of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period.
• Neonatology: A subspecialty of pediatrics that consists of the medical care of newborn infants, especially the ill or premature newborn.