Question

You are attending to a 34-year-old female patient in labor. The pregnancy was a difficult one, and she spent much of the third trimester on bed rest. The delivery is uneventful, and as you are preparing for transport, the patient tells you that she is feeling short of breath. Based on this information, you should suspect:

Answer 1

The patient's feeling of shortness of breath after delivery may be due to respiratory system changes during pregnancy. The growing uterus exerts pressure on the diaphragm, which can cause dyspnea. However, as the fetus descends lower in the last weeks of pregnancy, this usually helps alleviate the shortness of breath.

Step-by-step explanation:

Based on the information provided, the patient's feeling of shortness of breath after delivery may be due to the respiratory system changes that occur during pregnancy. During the third trimester, the growing uterus exerts pressure on the diaphragm, leading to a decrease in the volume of each breath and potentially causing dyspnea. However, in the last weeks of pregnancy, the pelvis becomes more elastic, and the fetus descends lower in a process called lightening, which typically helps alleviate dyspnea.