Abstract

In order to verify whether the type of delivery influences the puerperal psychologic and somatic condition, two groups of primiparous women were compared, on the 3rd day and at 1 month after delivery. One group consisted of 26 women who had undergone an emergency caesarean section on account of fetal distress during labor, while the other consisted of 26 women with a normal vaginal delivery. All the subjects completed the Symptom Questionnaire (SQ), which evaluates Anxiety, Depression, Somatic Symptoms and Hostility. During the puerperium primiparous women with a caesarean section showed a significantly greater symptomatology in all parameters tested by SQ. These results suggest that the emergency caesarean section on account of fetal distress change, in the woman, a few genetically pre-programmed biological and behavioral sequences.