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Updated: Aug 17, 2026

An Experimental Paradigm for the Prediction of Post-Operative Pain (PPOP)
Published on: January 27, 2010
Cognitive deficits in women after childbirth
A I Eidelman1, N W Hoffmann, M Kaitz
1Department of Neonatology, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel.
Objective:
To test the cognitive function of parturients in the days immediately after delivery.
Methods:
One hundred postpartum mothers who delivered normal full-term infants were tested on standardized neuropsychological tests--the Wechsler Logical Memory Test and the Wechsler Visual Reproduction Test. Their test results were compared with those of nonpregnant childless women, third-trimester high-risk pregnant women, and fathers of newborns.
Results:
Postpartum women scored significantly lower than nonpregnant women on both tests on the first postpartum day. The use of intrapartum analgesia mitigated the cognitive deficit. High-risk pregnant women and fathers scored lower than nonpregnant women only on the Logical Memory Test.
Conclusion:
Objective documentation that postpartum women have transient deficits in cognitive function, particularly in memory function, can guide caretakers in the design of care plans for the postpartum lying-in period.
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