According to the study of Maternal Health and Maternal Morbidity in Ireland (MAMMI), two thousand six hundred mothers suffer from severe pain, sexual health problems, anxiety and depression, most of it unreported.Months after giving birth, mothers experience pelvic girdle pain, painful sex, leaked urine, anal inconsistency and abdominal wound infection for those who undergone a caesarean operation.
In a statement, Dr. Deirdre Daly said that lack of conversation between mothers and healthcare professionals serves as a factor causing women to suffer these birth-related health problems in silence and put up with problems that can be prevented from happening if treated on time as cited on The IrishTimes.
The principal investigator of Trinity College Dublin, Prof. Cecily Begley stated that during the first three months postpartum, women are not being asked by their healthcare professionals causing them to be unaware of the preventable or treatable health problems they can acquire after bearing a child.
As Prof. Cecily Begley also said that these challenges are neglected for the reason that 80% of mother fails to inquire about sexual health and 50% does not ask about depression and anxiety leaving them no clue about having such health concerns.
To solve these birth-related health problems on women, Dr. Deirdre Daly stated that healthcare professionals must find time to ask women about their health problems. They should get all this information out to women for them to be informed, and inform each other.
As cited in BabyCenter, stated in the article on the postpartum checkup, a doctor or a midwife must see a mother four to six weeks after giving birth to check about her physical and emotional recovery from pregnancy and delivery.
The director of labor and delivery at Massachusetts General Hospital, MD. Laura Riley reported that she would have a one-to-one talk about diet and exercise together with the mother during postpartum to maintain their physical fitness and health, as found in The Bump.
If you're shocked by the reduced quality of care that women receive after giving birth, you can do something about it and get involved within the industry yourself to make a difference. To get into nursing and specialize in a role that will help pregnant and postnatal mothers, you need to earn the required qualifications. You can do that via one of the many available Elmhurst Nursing Programs.
As this research has illuminated that postpartum health problems are affecting a huge proportion of women within the UK and Ireland, it's important to learn about some of the most common issues so that women can recognize the symptoms and find support and treatment as early as possible so that they no longer have to suffer in silence. Here's some more information on both some of the most common and well as most impacting birth-related health issues.
Mental Health Problems
Struggling with your mental health is an extremely common issue for new parents and can regularly lead to anxiety and depression. It's estimated that 1 in 5 women who have given birth experience some form of poor mental health within the first year of their child being born.
This can be a confusing time and one that many new parents feel shame about. Bringing in a new child into the world would have been considered a joyous occasion for many, as it's something that they've wanted to do for a long time. However, feeling sad or depressed with a new child can make you feel like you're being ungrateful, making women feel like they're a bad mother, causing them to grow further into anxiety and depression.
If you suffer from these mental health issues after birth, it's vital that you realize that this is normal and that you shouldn't view yourself negatively. A female's body has gone through huge changes during the pregnancy, and with various hormone imbalances and other physical factors playing havoc with your mind, there's huge justification as to why you may be feeling this way.
One of the most common mental health issues for mothers to develop is postnatal depression (PND). This issue can be really frightening and exhausting, so if you feel that you are developing it, it's important that you speak to your doctor about it during any check-ups or appointments that you have in the future.
Developing PND is more likely depending on some environmental and situational factors, meaning that some mothers are more at risk than others. Some factors that make PND more likely is if:
depression runs in your family or if you've suffered from a mental illness before
you've had a difficult, traumatic, or stressful birth
your baby needs extra care or was born with a health condition
you have financial issues or other worries within your personal life
PND can be combated through therapy as well as antidepressant medicine, which a doctor will prescribe.
Uterine Infections
These infections are also pretty common and can be very uncomfortable for the women who develop them. Uterine infections can be caused due to any leftover placenta that wasn't expelled after birth. Normally, the placenta should separate from the uterine wall during the delivery of your child and be expelled from the vagina around 20 minutes after giving birth. Unfortunately, pieces of the placenta can still be left in, which can cause infection.
If left untreated, this issue can cause mothers to go into a potentially dangerous toxic shock, so to prevent this, it's worth knowing and looking out for any of the key symptoms of an infection.
One of the main things to look out for is if you start to experience a high fever or if your skin feels as if it's burning up. You might also develop flu-like symptoms alongside this fever, making it a really uncomfortable experience. These symptoms are common for all kinds of infections, so it's important to be aware of them, as it could help you catch an issue early, making it a lot easier to sort out.
Other symptoms that you might experience include a rapid heart rate, a swollen, tender uterus, as well as a foul-smelling discharge. These symptoms usually point towards a uterine infection, and if you also find that you have a high white blood cell count during one of your post-pregnancy check-ups, then this could be an indication as well and should be something that you bring up with your GP.
Thankfully, these types of infections can be treated with a course of antibiotics that usually last around two weeks. When taking antibiotics, it's important that you complete the entire course, even if your symptoms reside, so that your body doesn't build up an immunity to them.
Kidney Infection
Another common infection that is blighting mothers all around the country that parents should be aware of is an infection of the kidney. Kidney infections can be caused by bacteria spreading from the bladder into the kidneys, usually resulting from a urine tract infection (UTI) not being dealt with.
As well as the common symptoms of fever and nausea that are common with most infections, a kidney infection is also characterized by frequent urination, as well as an overwhelming urge to go urinate, even if you've just gone. Naturally, these symptoms can be quite debilitating and can affect the comfort and confidence of a mother. That's why, if you get any of the following symptoms, either on their own or alongside the need to urinate, then you should speak to a health professional as soon as you can:
pain in the lower back
constipation
painful urination, such as a burning or stinging sensation
fever
nausea
Much like the treatment of a Uterine infection, these are treated by a course of antibiotics that are taken either orally or intravenously. Patients should also drink plenty of fluids to flush out the bacteria.
Perineal Pain
The perineum is the part of the body between the rectum and the vagina. Due to its proximity to two fairly personal areas of the body that some people might not feel comfortable discussing with a doctor, many women suffer from perineal pain in silence and don't seek out the medical attention that they need. This needs to change, as perineal pain is something that is quite common and affects a lot of women once they've given birth, so it really should be something that mothers feel comfortable talking about.
During childbirth, this area that is filled with tender tissues may have stretched and even torn during delivery, causing them to feel swollen, bruised, and sore in the days and weeks after birth. This pain can also be multiplied if a mother receives an incision to the perineum to stop the vagina from ripping during birth.
The pain should lessen after time as your body naturally heals; however, there are things mothers can and should do to relieve the pain and ensure that there are no further complications. To avoid infection, mothers should either use sitz baths, cold packs, or warm water applied to the area to reduce tenderness. It's also vital that mothers wipe themselves front to back after a bowel movement to ensure that the perineum isn't infected with germs for the rectum.
To help with pain while sitting, mothers can get doughnut-shaped pillows from various stores that can relieve pressure from the perineum. Pain killers can also help with the pain; however, be sure to avoid aspirin if you're breastfeeding.
Pelvic floor exercises can also help you speed up the healing process, just ensure that you stop if you get any persistent pain in the vaginal area.
Engorged Breasts
When your milk comes in, which is usually between two to four days after the delivery of your child, your breasts may become very large, hard and sore, due to all the milk that is being produced inside. This will usually ease once you start to establish a breastfeeding pattern. However, if you're not breastfeeding, you may have to endure this engorgement until your body stops producing milk, which should be within three days if your baby is not suckling.
If the pain gets too much, you can relieve some of the discomfort by investing in well-fitting support bras and applying ice packs to your breasts. If you are breastfeeding, you can express a little bit of milk to help relieve some of the pressure. However, this shouldn't be done if you're not planning to nurse your baby, as doing so will encourage your body to produce more milk that you do not need.
For the same reason, it's also a good idea to avoid hot showers, as this will confuse your body and make it produce more milk with can further discomfort. You can also obtain oral pain relievers, which can help reduce the discomfort until your milk supply dries up and subsides.
Clogged Ducts
Another issue that could accompany engorged breasts are clogged milk ducts, which can cause increased swelling, redness, pain, and even a lump in the breast.
Thankfully, most clogged ducts can be treated with home solutions. The most common is massaging the breasts to help unclog it and frequent nursing until the breast is emptied. Applying warm, moist packs to the area regularly throughout the day may also solve the issue.
However, if the issue doesn't subside after home treatment or if you still have a lump after dealing with clogged ducts, it's best to consult a GP than suffer in silence.
Conclusion
There are many different illnesses and health issues that women can get after giving birth, and the examples explored here barely scratch the surface. With the research finding that not enough women are being asked the right questions during their early care after pregnancy, women have increased responsibility to take their own health into their own hands and talk about any symptoms they may be having.
Through increased conversation and heightened awareness of the various issues that could befall a woman during the days and weeks after giving birth, women's quality of care can be increased dramatically.
