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Postpartum infections; Other names: Puerperal fever, childbed fever, maternal sepsis, maternal infection, puerperal infections: Streptococcus pyogenes (red-stained spheres) is responsible for many cases of severe puerperal fever.
Neonatal infections may be contracted by mother to child transmission, in the birth canal during childbirth, or after birth. [2] Neonatal infections may present soon after delivery, or take several weeks to show symptoms. Some neonatal infections such as HIV, hepatitis B, and malaria do not become apparent until much later.
Chorioamnionitis results from an infection caused by bacteria ascending from the vagina into the uterus and is associated with premature or prolonged labor. [3] It triggers an inflammatory response to release various inflammatory signaling molecules, leading to increased prostaglandin and metalloproteinase release.
Signs and symptoms usually include a fever greater than 38.0 °C (100.4 °F), chills, lower abdominal pain, and possibly bad-smelling vaginal discharge. The infection usually occurs after the first 24 hours and within the first ten days following delivery. Infection remains a major cause of maternal deaths and morbidity in the developing world.
Therefore, infants who are premature, sick with other infections such as blood infection or pneumonia, or who have immune deficiencies are at greater risk. Infants with normal immune systems are at risk if they have had a prolonged birth, birth complicated by infection of the placenta (chorioamnionitis), or have had umbilical catheters.
A vertically transmitted infection can be called a perinatal infection if it is transmitted in the perinatal period, which starts at gestational ages between 22 [24] and 28 weeks [25] (with regional variations in the definition) and ending seven completed days after birth. [24] The term congenital infection can be used if the vertically ...
Complications that occur primarily during childbirth are termed obstetric labor complications, and problems that occur primarily after childbirth are termed puerperal disorders. While some complications improve or are fully resolved after pregnancy, some may lead to lasting effects, morbidity, or in the most severe cases, maternal or fetal ...
Congenital CMV cannot be diagnosed if the infant is tested more than one week after birth. [citation needed] Visually healthy infants are not routinely tested for CMV infection although only 10–20% will show signs of infection at birth [citation needed] though up to 80% may go onto show signs of prenatal infection in later life. If a pregnant ...