The physiological reasons for the low temperature (35.4 degrees Celsius) of the patient are peripheral vasoconstriction along with the infusion of room temperature liquids prescribed by the doctor (Schorn & Phillippi, 2014). The identified hypothermia was largely caused by the replacement of blood lost by the patient due to uterine atony that occurred after the vaginal childbirth.
Even though the systematic review conducted by Liu et al. (2017) indicates that there is little known about temperature changes associated with postpartum haemorrhage in women, Schorn and Phillippi (2014) report that the administration of necessary fluids and oxygen in the body may affect the mentioned aspect. In other words, the volume replacement required to address the consequences of postpartum haemorrhage caused the abnormal temperature in the given patient.
Another critically important vital sign of blood pressure (88/50 mmHg) also refers to physiological reasons. In particular, the presented blood pressure may be considered a symptom of severe hypotension that occurred due to the decreased intravascular volume. As stated by Kerr et al. (2016), hypovolemic shock condition is regarded to be a systolic blood pressure less than 90 mmHg with a pulse rate higher than 120. A drop in the above hemodynamic measure may be masked with compensatory physiological responses of the body to postpartum haemorrhage (Taylor, Fleischer, Meirowitz, & Rosen, 2017).
The volume of blood plays an important role in the circulatory system of the body that, in turn, affects the overall condition of the patient. In this regard, it is essential to consider several vital signs in combination to understand the genuine causes, symptoms, and potential health outcomes. The hypovolemic shock identified in this patient and pulse rate should be interpreted in concert since their physiological reasons coincide in many respects. One may assume that peripheral vasoconstriction may also affect pulse and temperature rates.
Speaking of the pulse rate (130 b/min) of the patient under analysis as of an abnormal vital sign, one should emphasise that it is associated with insufficient tissue oxygen perfusion. Pulse oximetry may be regarded as the key physiological reason leading to high pulse rates (Rath, 2011). A significant blood loss noted in the given patient seems to result in such clinical signs as a rise in pulse and, at the same time, a slight yet evident decrease in systolic blood pressure, as argued in the recent study by Rath (2011), who explored postpartum haemorrhage definitions in an attempt to update them.
The failure of the body’s compensatory mechanisms may also be noted among other reasons that caused the specified abnormalities in the patient’s vital signs. It should also be stressed that the findings discovered in the research conducted by El Ayadi et al. (2016) are essential to interpret vital maternal symptoms in a postpartum period. The author also revealed that pulse was proved to be less representative compared to hypovolemic shock indicators (Ayadi et al., 2016). To understand the physiological reasons for vital signs, it is critical to consider peripheral vasoconstriction and volume replacement for all of them.
References
El Ayadi, A. M., Nathan, H. L., Seed, P. T., Butrick, E. A., Hezelgrave, N. L., Shennan, A. H., & Miller, S. (2016). Vital sign prediction of adverse maternal outcomes in women with hypovolemic shock: The role of shock index. PLoS One, 11(2), 1-8. Web.
Kerr, R., Eckert, L. O., Winikoff, B., Durocher, J., Meher, S., Fawcus, S.,… Weeks, A. (2016). Postpartum haemorrhage: Case definition and guidelines for data collection, analysis, and presentation of immunization safety data. Vaccine, 34(49), 6102-6109. Web.
Liu, Y., Shen, Y., Zhu, W., Qiu, J. B., Huang, Q., & Ye, W. Q. (2017). Clinical assessment indicators of postpartum hemorrhage: A systematic review. Chinese Nursing Research, 4(4), 170-177. Web.
Rath, W. H. (2011). Postpartum hemorrhage–update on problems of definitions and diagnosis. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, 90(5), 421-428. Web.
Schorn, M., & Phillippi, J. (2014). Volume replacement following severe postpartum hemorrhage. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, 59(3), 336-343. Web.
Taylor, D., Fleischer, A., Meirowitz, N., & Rosen, L. (2017). Shock index and vital‐sign reference ranges during the immediate postpartum period. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 137(2), 192-195. Web.