Early Puerperal Complications: A Two Year Review in a Private Health Facility

Abstract

This is a retrospective study of early puerperal complications as seen in a private health facility over a two-year period. There were two hundred and five patients (9.8%) of the total number of patients who had spontaneous vaginal delivery during this period that reported early puerperal complications in the two-year period from 1st January 2002 to 31st December 2003. The commonest early puerperal complication was fever 115(56.1%), Perineal pain 94(45.9%) and abdominal pain 76(37.1%); Breast engorgement accounted for 66(32.2%) and secondary post partum haemorrhage occurred in 42(20.5%) of patients. Low parity women accounted for 132(64.4%) of the study population. Early puerperal complications are not rare in this environment but reports on its prevalence are sparse. The need to increase awareness to improve early diagnosis and management to preserve women's reproductive health are discussed. Keywords : Puerperal complications, Low Parity Women's reproductive health The Nigerian Medical Practitioner Vol. 51 (3) 2007: pp. 36-39