INFORMATION FOR WOMEN WHO HAVE ENDOMETRITIS DURING PREGNANCY OR BREASTFEEDING

What is endometritis?

Endometritis is a type of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). Specifically, it is inflammation of the endometrium, the inner layer of the uterus - the layer that surrounds the uterine cavity and where pregnancy begins when a blastocyst, a kind of early embryo, implants. More accurately, the condition is called endomyometritis, because often the inflammation penetrates beyond the endometrial layer into the myometrium, the thick muscular layer that constitutes most of the mass of the uterus. Sometimes, the inflammation even reaches the outer layer of the uterus, the perimetrium. The inflammation is due to infection, typically an infection that occurs at delivery, just after delivery, or very late in pregnancy, so generally, endometritis is a post-partum condition (a problem the occurs after delivery). In the context of pregnancy, endometritis is generally acute, meaning that it develops quickly and is severe. In contrast, endometritis can be chronic (less intense but present over months to years with waxing and waning) but usually this occurs in women after menopause, rather than in connection with pregnancy. Thus, when we talk about endometritis in this report, generally, we are referring to acute endometritis.