Post-pregnancy for women is an extremely sensitive period for them. At risk to so many things like depression, their physical health is also a factor that must be considered more so now that research has discovered a new risk that postpartum presents to women.

According to new research done by the joint efforts of Health Protection Agency and the University of East Anglia, the incidence of tuberculosis diagnosis is significantly increased in mothers postpartum.

Analyzing data of all women with pregnancies between the years of 1996 and 2008 in the General Practice Research Database, which totaled 192,801 women with a total of 264,136 pregnancies, significant discoveries were made.

Under those parameters, they found that out of the 177 TB events that occurred during the study, 22 occurred during pregnancy and another 22 occurred in the 180 days after pregnancy. Having observed the incidence rates, the crude TB rate for the combined pregnancy and post-partum period was 15.4 per 100,000 person years, a rate that is significantly higher than the rate of getting TB outside of pregnancy which 9.1 per 100,000 person years.

In addition to this discovery, they found that the risk of TB was significantly increased in the 6-month period following pregnancy.

Based on these findings, researchers suggested that targeted screenings for pregnant and postpartum women in high risk groups should be considered, given that delays in treatment are associated with poorer outcomes for both mothers and their children.

Other Risks for Postpartum Women

However, aside from the risk of tuberculosis, there are other things of concern that mothers-to-be should warned of, like the risk of iron deficiency and blood clotting.

According to a study done by the Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina Schools of Public Health and Medicine, iron deficiency was prevalent right after giving birth up to two years postpartum.

Their findings show that from the first six months postpartum, iron deficiency prevalence was 12.7%; with the seventh month going to the first year having a 12.4% prevalence; and 7.8% with the second year - compared to the women who have never been pregnant whose prevalence is only 6.5%.

Nicole Nichols, fitness instructor and health educator, reported in BabyFit-SparkPeople.com that Mayo Clinic researchers found that pregnant women and mothers that are three months postpartum are four time more likely to experience blood clots than those who are non-pregnant.

But what can mothers do to take care of themselves? Experts find that right after giving birth, it is important to get lots of rest and to get properly nourished to help the body heal. And that when taking care of the new baby, asking for help is encouraged so as not to compromise the mother's well being.