Immune and Physical Recovery Following Cesarean Delivery

Pregnancy results in an altered immune state compared to the nonpregnant population. A significant proportion of women undergoing cesarean delivery recover poorly. The first step to determining whether this is an immune driven / associated process is to characterise what effects this surgery has on maternal immune function. "Normal" changes will be evaluated in maternal immune function and activity precipitated by surgery and delivery of the neonate. Immune response to surgery will be compared to historical immune data from patients undergoing non-obstetric surgery (orthopaedic patients).