Puerperal fever is a disease occurring in puerperal women, usually a few days after the birth of the child and caused by infection of the uterus (womb), often with streptococcus. It causes fever, abdominal pain, and discharge of pus from the uterus. The introduction of asepsis in obstetrics by I. P. Semmelweiss greatly reduced its incidence. Today, antibiotics are required if it develops.