EBN- More than 40 million women a year experience lasting health issues after childbirth, a global review has found, prompting calls for greater recognition of common postnatal problems.
The sweeping analysis of maternal health worldwide shows a very high burden of long-term conditions that last for months and even years after giving birth. One in three new mothers worldwide suffer from such issues.
The findings emerged from a series published in the Lancet Global Health and eClinicalMedicine, backed by the UN’s Special Programme on Human Reproduction, the World Health Organization and the US Agency for International Development.
Prof Pascale Allotey, the director of sexual and reproductive health and research at the WHO, said: “Many postpartum conditions cause considerable suffering in women’s daily life long after birth, both emotionally and physically, and yet they are largely underappreciated, underrecognised, and underreported.
“Throughout their lives, and beyond motherhood, women need access to a range of services from healthcare providers who listen to their concerns and meet their needs – so they not only survive childbirth but can enjoy good health and quality of life.”
The analysis examined health problems arising or continuing six weeks after childbirth or later. These included pain during sex, affecting more than a third (35%) of postpartum women, low back pain (32%), anal incontinence (19%), urinary incontinence (8-31%), anxiety (9-24%), depression (11-17%), perineal pain (11%), fear of childbirth (6-15%) and secondary infertility (11%).
Researchers called for greater recognition within the healthcare system of these common problems, many of which occur beyond the point where women typically have access to postnatal services.
Effective care throughout pregnancy and childbirth was also a critical preventive factor, in order to detect risks and avert complications that could lead to lasting health issues after birth, they added.
