Puerperal fever might occur in a few days after parturition if proper care is not given. It develops in a few days and one need to take lot of care. Alexander Gordon, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Ignaz Philip Semmelweiss are the other three name of puerperal fever.
This is because Alexander Gordon was the first to identify such type of fever, then Oliver Wendell Holmes (professor at Harvard) made a detailed and extended the research on puerperal fever and lastly Ignaz Philip found the cause of Puerperal Fever.
The symptoms accompanied by Puerperal Fever include:
* Acute peritonitis, where the fever frequently makes its appearance before the pain is felt, although there are cases where fever and pain appear simultaneously.
* The burning or cutting colicky pains are most frequently experienced in the umbilical region; hence they spread rapidly over the whole abdomen. In many cases they become so violent that the least pressure or even slight touch is intolerable and causes severe pain.
* Meteorism comes in.
* One of the first and most troublesome symptoms is frequent vomiting.
The patient should be taken care of well. The disease may be accompanied by colds and emotions such as fright, fear, chagrin or injuries of the womb. This fever is also named as childbed fever.
These do not only occur during childbirth but also many times in case of abortion and the worst part is that it normally tends to occur in the first three to five days after pregnancy and can be fatal.
One can treat it by employing the following ways:
* During a purgative the bowels should be freely opened.
* Slippery-elm emulsion should be frequently injected into the vagina in order to bring the discharge.
* Fever is then tried to be controlled by aconite or veratrum.
* Tonic stimulants are used.
* In case gangrenous is observed charcoal and yeast poultices is given for about four to five times a day.
Though this is a very thin time for women she can take precautions and avoid such fatal diseases. For this she should be well aware of dos and don’ts while delivering a child.
