A study on first-day ambulation in obstetrics

We have presented 1,010 patients delivered at or near term with whom routine ambulation was started on different days. Those ambulated on or before the first postpartum day had four and five times, respectively, fewer complications than those ambulated on the second and third days or the group up and about on and after the fourth postpartum day. The evidence of decreased incidence of infections incidental to the puerperium is striking, and the proof of earlier restoration of normal physiological function seems inescapable.