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Question:
My wife is disabled. What is the normal period of recovery from a routine childbirth?
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Answer:
by Sandra Welner: ()
The length of time it takes to recover after childbirth
varies from pregnancy to pregnancy, even in women
without disabilities. Depending on the nature of your
disability, the recovery period after childbirth can be
anywhere from one to three months before you feel mostly
like you did before, but there are some changes in function
that may not go back to baseline - at least not right away. If
you have MS for example, you may notice exacerbations
after delivery which could last up to 6 months. Other
disabilities such as fibromyalgia can worsen a little bit after
delivery. Sometimes the physiological changes that can
happen to your body after pregnancy such as bowel and
bladder changes, fluid retention, weight gain, instability,
fatigue, can last variable durations of time. It is very
individual. There is a reference that you can check out. The
textbook is called Medical Complications of Pregnancy. It is
published by Lippencot Raven Publishing Company. It came
out in December 1999. The entire book covers many
different chronic diseases and disabilities and there is a
special section on physical disability and pregnancy. You
may also want to check a few web sites -- Through the
Lookinglass (tlg.org?) in Berkeley, CA is a good one.
University of Alabama (uab.edu) is another one. And a third
one is http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages. Good
luck. Sometime you might just have to be a little patient. If
you have something that doesn't seem right to you, talk to
your obstetrician. He or she may be able to sort it out with
you. Reviewed by: Kathleen VanKirk DHS
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