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The puerperium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

William Dunlop*
Affiliation:
Professor and Head of Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
*
Professor W Dunlop, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Princess Mary Maternity Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 3BD, UK.

Extract

The puerperium is a time of substantial maternal risk. Within recent years, crude maternal mortality rates of 8.9/100,000 total births have been reported from England and Wales and of 6.6/100,000 from Sweden. Maternal deaths are considerably more likely to follow delivery than to precede it (Table 1). The risks associated with caesarean section are particularly noteworthy: death rates have been reported to be as much as 12 times greater than those following vaginal delivery.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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