With the healing process of the wound of the wall of the uterine cavity created after childbirth and the separation of the placenta, puerperal excreta(lochia) containing blood and necrotic tissues of the temporal membrane appear. They undergo certain physiological changes depending on the puerperal period and observing them is important in monitoring the puerperium. They have a nauseous odour and are a very infectious discharge, as they contain a very high number of micro-organisms that enter the uterine cavity via the vagina (staphylococci, streptococci, Escherichia coli and others) the number of micro-organisms increases further on day 2-3 of the puerperium.

Self-observation can be facilitated by knowing the changes in the nature of faeces according to the duration of puerperium in the table below:

Postpartum period	Colouring	Determination	Stage of wound healing in the uterine cavity
Day 1-3	Bloody	Lochia rubra, cruenta	Haemostatic imbalance
End of 1 week	Brown-blooded (semi-liquid)	Lochia fusa	Reduction of excreta by progressive vascular clamping of the uterine wall, closure of the utero-pelvic vascular lumen by thrombi
End of 2nd week	Dirty yellow	Lochia flava	Excretion of necrotic cellular material
End of 3rd week	Greyish white	Lochia alba	Gradual wound healing
End of weeks 4-6	feces disappearance	feces disappearance	Wound healing complete

It is also very important whether there was any soft tissue trauma during labour as a result of spontaneous injury or perineal incision. If this is the case, observation of the area of injury should be increased for:

• redness,
• swelling,
• increased temperature,
• increased tension at the wound edges,
• increased sensation of pain.