What causes abdominal pain after childbirth?

After ten months of hard pregnancy, the body of a pregnant woman who has just given birth should gradually recover, but the actual situation is that many expectant mothers experience lower abdominal pain. Since the factors that cause this situation are many and complex, we must have a certain understanding so that we can better deal with it. So, what is the reason for lower abdominal pain after childbirth? Let’s take a comprehensive look at the cause.

1. Anatomical factors. The female pelvic circulation is mainly characterized by an increased number of veins and weak structure. Generally, two or more veins are accompanied by an artery of the same name, with many anastomotic branches and venous plexuses, and slow blood flow. For example, the medium-sized veins in the pelvis, the uterine veins, vaginal veins, and ovarian veins, mostly have 2 to 3 veins accompanied by an artery of the same name. There may even be as many as 5 to 6 ovarian veins, forming a racemose venous plexus, which bends behind the sides of the uterine body until they flow through the pelvic brim to form a single ovarian vein. There are many anastomotic branches between the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovarian veins. In the mesosalpinx, there are anastomotic branches of the uterine vein and ovarian vein, forming a circular venous circulation, which then anastomoses with the outer ovarian venous plexus.

The veins originate from the venous plexus under the mucosa, muscular layer and serosa of the pelvic organs, converge into two or more veins, and flow into the thick internal iliac vein. The increase in the number of pelvic veins is to accommodate the slow flow of the pelvic veins.

The pelvic veins have thinner walls than those in other parts of the body, lack an outer sheath composed of fascia, have no elasticity, and most of them do not have valves. In addition, the valves of some multiparous women are often incomplete. It passes through the loose connective tissue of the pelvis, and the female pelvic veins have a large blood volume, so it is easy to cause venous congestion inside the pelvis, external genitalia, bladder, rectum and around the anus, causing blood vessels tortuosity, dilation and congestion. At the same time, there are varicose veins in the vulva, cervix and lower abdomen. In addition, the veins of the bladder, rectum, and genital systems are interconnected. Any obstruction in any one system can affect the other two systems.

2. Physical factors. Due to physical factors, some patients have significantly weak vascular wall tissue, fewer elastic fibers, and poor elasticity, which easily leads to venous blood congestion.

3. Mechanical factors. People who marry and have children early are prone to pelvic venous congestion because their genitals are too heavy when they are not fully mature, or they have excessive sexual intercourse and frequent pregnancies and childbirths. The influence of large amounts of estrogen and progesterone, coupled with compression of the veins around the uterus, can cause dilation of the veins around the uterus. Long-term standing or sitting position, the posterior displacement of the uterus due to the gravity of the uterus and the filling of the bladder can also affect the outflow of the pelvic vein. For people who are accustomed to sleeping on their backs, most of the pelvic veins are located lower than the inferior vena cava, which is not conducive to the flow of pelvic venous blood out of the pelvic cavity.

4. Tubal ligation. Since the fallopian tube has a dual blood supply, the artery originates from the fallopian tube branch and isthmic branch of the uterine artery, and the infundibulum is distributed from the fimbria of the ovarian artery. The two anastomose with each other, while part of the vein enters the ovarian plexus and part enters the cervicovaginal plexus, thus forming the characteristic that the fallopian tube artery and vein have different directions. During tubal ligation, if the mesosalpinx vein is damaged or local lesions occur, disrupting the balance of blood supply, it will affect the changes in the pelvic venous circulation dynamics. The blood circulation in the mesangial vascular network is obstructed, causing varicose veins. It can be considered that the damage or local lesions caused by tubal ligation is one of the main factors among many factors for the occurrence of pelvic varicose veins.

5. Autonomic nervous system dysfunction. Many scholars believe that the main symptoms of this syndrome are fatigue, low back pain, sexual discomfort, etc., and insomnia, depression, hysteria are closely related to pelvic venous congestion. Therefore, the autonomic nervous system regulation function loses balance and leads to local pelvic venous congestion.

6. Other factors. Uterine fibroids, chronic pelvic inflammatory disease (especially those with fallopian tube and ovarian cysts), chronic amenorrhea and cervicitis during lactation, etc., can show pelvic venous congestion images during angiography.

The above is an introduction to the causes of lower abdominal pain after childbirth. I hope it will be helpful for mothers. There are many reasons for lower abdominal pain after childbirth, and the situation in this regard is quite complicated. If the pain is severe, it is best to go to the hospital for a comprehensive examination. After all, the baby needs careful care just after birth, and the mother's body must not have any lesions.