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My cousin recently gave birth to a healthy baby girl ...

Sent to Health Experts July 27 2007 at 9:06 AM
   

My cousin recently gave birth to a healthy baby girl vaginally on 07/13/07. she weighed 9lbs she was also given an epidural. since giving birth my cousin has been experiencing some sharp shoulder pain, neck pains,and continuous headaches. during her f/u appt she was hospitalized for high blood pressure. she is also complaining that when she stand ups she is experincing hearing and visual loss, as well as blood in her stool. can I get some insight

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July 27 2007 at 9:47 AM (41 minutes and 1 second later)
         
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Childbirth is a very traumatic thing to put the body through, and it may take several weeks for the body to recover from such an ordeal. The most important thing right now would be that she be evaluated, monitored, and treated (if appropriate) for postpartum hypertension, which occurs in some women after giving birth. It's not known entirely what causes this condition, but it's thought to be related to the huge change in body fluid volumes that occurs after childbirth. This could very well cause symptoms like headaches and visual disturbances. The symptoms that she's experiencing when standing up could also be related to sudden changes in blood pressure (called either orthostatic hypotension or orthostatic hypertension, the latter of which is more unusual). When a person stands suddenly, there can sometimes be a sudden drop in blood pressure (hypotension) that can result in temporary symptoms like dizziness and seeing spots. If she wasn't prone to this before pregnancy, it's likely the result of sudden, dramatic fluid changes that occured after birth. These symptoms might be eased by taking care to stand from a sitting or reclining position very slowly as she recovers. It may take up to 4 weeks or more for her body fluids to normalize, but it should get less severe over time.

Any shoulder, neck, or back aches and pains are extremely common after a vaginal delivery. If they're moderate to severe in nature, she can request stronger medications from her doctor, but ibuprofen every 6-8 hours and/or tylenol every 4-6 hours may help in the meantime.

Childbirth is also notoriously hard on the bowels (especially with a 9lb baby!), so blood in the stool isn't uncommon either. This is caused by hemmorhoids from the pressure of the event, or straining from constipation that commonly ensues. If it's a large amount of blood, or dark in color (as opposed to bright red), sticky, or has a foul odor, it would be advised to get it checked out, as this could indicate bleeding higher up in the digestive tract. Otherwise, suggest that she take some gentle, non-stimulant stool softeners, such as colace (not peri-colace, though, which does have a stimulant in it).

I hope this helps!




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