Health’s Blog

Most women with a normal delivery stay in the hospital or a birthing center for 1 or 2 days. First-time mothers are recommended to stay 2 days rather than 1. Patients recovering from a caesarian section stay 3 to 4 days. More than 80% of patients in one study had at least one symptom of the following: headaches, urinary tract infections, problem with incontinence of feces or urine (from pelvic floor descend), painful perineum or breast feeding problems (Ref. 18, p. 694).

About 3% in that study needed to go back into the hospital because of abnormal bleeding, more serious infections or symptoms of blood clots. All of this can be managed clinically, but the physician and the patient have to be certain that any problems are communicated. If in doubt, go to the hospital to be checked out!

A missed blood clot could develop into a serious condition where the patient runs out of clotting factors or the clot gets dislodged and leads to severe breathing problems due to pulmonary emboli and possible shock as a result of this.

As Dr. Ignaz Semmelweiss described in 1861 in his book (Ref. 21), there is the constant danger of infections from non sterile techniques during child birth.

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There are 3 pairs of common sinus cavities, the frontal sinuses above the eye sockets, the ethmoid sinuses between the nasal cavity and the eye sockets, and the maxillary sinuses underneath the eye sockets, but above the upper row of teeth. There is a fourth location of a sinus cavity, located in the midline right underneath the pituitary gland, which is called the sphenoid sinus. These hidden cavities in the facial bone are lined with a mucous membrane and are connected to the inside of the nose through very tiny ducts.

These can get plugged with a cold, which can lead to a “vacuum headache”. Subsequent bacterial superinfection can lead to an acute sinusitis. Often the pathogen is a bacterium such as Haemophilus influenzae or Staphylococcus aureus, but viruses can also cause an identical clinical picture. As the sinus ducts are plugged and a vacuum develops inside the sinus cavities, there is an accumulation of inflammatory serum, which is the ideal breeding ground for bacteria to multiply in.

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