puerperium

American  

[pyoo-er-peer-ee-uhm] / ˌpju ərˈpɪər i əm /

noun

Obstetrics.

1. the four-week period following childbirth.

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puerperium British  

/ pjʊəˈpɪərɪəm /

noun

1. the period following childbirth, lasting approximately six weeks, during which the uterus returns to its normal size and shape

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Etymology

Origin of puerperium

1885–90; < Latin: childbirth, childbed, equivalent to puerper ( us ) of a woman in labor ( puer boy, child + -perus bringing forth, akin to parere to bear, breed) + -ium -ium

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

puerperium

The mother was attacked with pneumonia on the fifth day of her puerperium, but recovered; the child died in four weeks of intestinal catarrh.

From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Pyle, Walter L. (Walter Lytle)

Walters looked into the statistics of such cases and found 36 accidental removals of the uterus in the puerperium with 14 recoveries.

From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Pyle, Walter L. (Walter Lytle)

It is not at all unusual for a sleeping mother in the early puerperium to wake up in a sweat with night gown very nearly drenched.

From The Mother and Her Child by Sadler, William S.

In some countries of Malaysia the oil is used in the same way especially in beriberi and the periarticular inflammations incident to puerperium.

From The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines by Thomas, Jerome Beers

Sunshine and95 fresh air are wonderful health restorers as is also a well-directed cold water friction bath administered near the close of the second week of a normal puerperium.

From The Mother and Her Child by Sadler, William S.