The period that begins after the birth of the baby and his/her partner and until the physiological changes that occur in the mother's body during pregnancy disappear and the genital organs return to their pre-pregnancy shapes is called the puerperal period. It is approximately six weeks on average. However, it may take months for the mother's organs and systems to return to their pre-pregnancy state.
The restoration of the physiological changes that occurred during pregnancy during the postpartum period is called involution. The most important involution occurs in the uterus. During pregnancy, the volume and weight of the uterus increases significantly. After birth, it quickly begins to regain its previous shape. The vagina is edematous in the period following birth. There are bruising areas in the soft and loose vagina. The vagina, which is extremely stretched during the baby's transition, returns to its original state very slowly after birth. However, it never regains its old form. It undergoes involution in the labia majora and minora, but it cannot completely return to its previous state and remains a little loose and saggy. The color change on the skin decreases rapidly during the postpartum period and the skin regains its previous appearance within ten days. Excessive sweating during the postpartum period, especially during breastfeeding, helps to quickly resolve edema in the skin tissue.
The abdominal wall, which is stretched during pregnancy, takes on a turbaned appearance immediately after birth. Again, during pregnancy, the bluish red-looking pregnancy lines called striae gravidarum on the abdominal skin become silvery-white bright stripes after birth.
With the excretion of the baby and its partner, postpartum bleeding, sweating and discharge, an average of eight eight days in the first ten days of puerperium. kilograms of weight are lost. The pulse rate, which increased with birth, returns to normal, and the blood table returns to normal in 8-10 days following birth.
After birth, the stomach, small intestines and large intestines return to their previous state and place. Abdominal bloating and constipation may occur in the first days of postpartum.
Immediately after birth, edema and redness occur in the bladder. Bladder capacity is increased and there may be insensitivity to intravesical fluid pressure. As a result, conditions such as excessive tension, inability to empty the bladder, and residual urine occur. This urine remaining in the bladder creates a suitable environment for infection to settle.
In women who are not breastfeeding, The onset of bleeding may take up to the 12th week. In breastfeeding women, the longer the duration of breastfeeding, the later the onset of menstrual bleeding. In mothers who breastfeed regularly, the first menstrual period may be delayed up to 1 year. It is generally accepted that the menstrual periods observed in the first 6 weeks are non-ovulatory, but once menstruation begins, the chance of subsequent periods being ovulatory increases rapidly.
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