A study published on European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology confirms what many women who have given birth already know: postpartum recovery requires much more than the traditional six weeks of puerperium.
Of the over one thousand mothers involved in the study, only less than half had fully regained their physical, mental, sexual and functional fitness six months after giving birth.
Nothing but quarantine! The research recruited 1,117 Dutch women via social media, who filled out a questionnaire three and six months after giving birth, evaluating their recovery on four aspects – physical, mental, sexual and functional.
The data showed that after six months only 42.5% of the participants had recovered in all four fields; on average, women who got back into shape took about 15 weeks to recover, much longer than the usual six weeks (or quarantine).
The type of birth does not matter. First of all, daily activities returned to normal, resuming on average after three weeks, while sexual life took longer, around seven weeks. Physical and mental recovery, however, was often incomplete even six months after giving birth.
Advanced maternal age and a negative experience of childbirth had the greatest impact on recovery times; surprisingly, however, the mode of delivery (natural or cesarean) had a minimal role compared to other factors.
The limitations of the study. The authors recognize some limitations to the study, such as the fact that the sample is not representative of the general Dutch population (women with a high level of education and with jobs exceeding 32 hours per week are overrepresented) and that recruitment via social media may have attracted mainly those experiencing a slower recovery.
Despite these limitations, the results confirm what has already been highlighted by various studies over the years: postpartum recovery is a long process, both from a biological and psychological point of view, and new mothers should be supported by society.
