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fatigue PO), 1011 bac k pain (24). gastrointestinal sym pt oms
(IS) and respiratory s ymptoms ( 13 ) .
Eight s ub jects who had complaints o f low ba ck pain (3).
Sk i n rashes (2). pain a nd nu mbnes s in t he hand e2} . and
anxiety sYllIpt oms ( 1 ) s t a t ed defi nitel y they ha d noticed these
symptoms bef ore delivery; all others sai d t heir symptoms were
r e cent.
Su mma r y of int ervie w fin d i ng s
Althoug h the majority of women st ated they t h ough t they
were i n sat isfa ctory health , with l e s s than 10 \ des cibing
t heir health a s poo r, they had h i gh f requencie s of he alth
c omp l a i nt s with ov e r eighty-five percent of SUbj ects (8 7 .2 \:)
reporting a t least one com pl a i n t .
Ove r 60\ of women reported abdominal paIn at ho me a nd
a b out 17 \ of them still h ad abdold nal pa i n a t the t i me o f
interview. About a quarte r of t hem a l so reported fever.
Ot her co mmon compla i nts were dysuria ( 26') , a nd perineal
s o r e n es s (31'). At ho ugh breast f eeding was universal , bre ast
complaints were relat ively i n frequent, occurring i n about a
t enth of sUbjects.
Se lf- treatment wi t h "p res c r i ption " drugs was the most
frequ en t mean s by which SUbjects manag ed their health
proble ms, a nd this occurred i n about 60\ of SUbje c t s .