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

If the labour is normal and the puerperium uncomplicated, the number of leucocytes regains the normal in about a week.

From Manual of Surgery Volume First: General Surgery. Sixth Edition. by Alexis Thomson

It certainly does not retard repair and recovery during the puerperium.

From The Mother and Her Child by William S. Sadler

Clean walls, clean floors, and a scrupulously clean bed must be maintained throughout the puerperium.

From The Mother and Her Child by William S. Sadler

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 Walter L. (Walter Lytle) Pyle

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 Jerome Beers Thomas