Continuous Labor Support
Having a child can be one of the scariest times for a woman. To go through it alone could be even worse. Only 12.4 percent of an intrapartum nurses’ time on duty is spent giving support to her patient (Measuring Nursing Support during Childbirth). While the amount of continuous support goes down, the usage of things such as labor inductions, cesarean births, or pain medicine goes up. The continuous one-to-one support by a well-trained intrapartum nurse during labor and childbirth verses the support normally given during labor and childbirth can result in an overall better experience for the mother and child.
Nursing was never an official occupation until the Crimean War in the 1800's. Florence Nightingale, along with a group of volunteers, was sent to help clean a British hospital in Turkey. The group also helped take care of the patients. After her visit, Nightingale pushed for hospitals to have stricter sanitation methods. She found better ways to graph statistical data. She also helped with the formation of the Royal Commission on the Health of the Army. Although she could not be appointed to the Royal Commission, Nightingale did write the Commission's report. Due to all of her contributions to the medical field, Nightingale is considered by many as the founder of nursing.(History of Nurses)
An intrapartum nurse, also known as a labor and delivery nurse, help bring people into the world every day. (A Practical Approach to Labor Support) They take care of the women during before, during, and after childbirth, prepare the families for life with a new child, and assist the doctor. A few things an intrapartum nurse do include monitor the baby and mother's heart rate and blood pressure, time the mother's con...
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...uld give the partner encouragement, praise, reassurance, and nursing presence. The nurse should tell the partner that he/she/they are doing a good job of helping with supporting the mother. If the partner is stressed it could affect the mother's happiness with her labor and delivery. (A Practical Approach to Labor Support)
While there has been an increase of inductions of labor, cesarean births, use of analgesia, and medical complications during birth, the number of intrapartum nurses compared to patients have decreased. Even though it has been proved that a intrapartum nurse giving continuous one-to-one support for a laboring woman, versus the normal support given today, can give an increased satisfaction with the overall laboring experience, there has been no rush to employ more intrapartum nurses trained in continuous one-to-one support. (Standing Up For Nurses)
Perinatal nurses and neonatal nurses both assist the doctor during the birth depending on the risk of the pregnancy and how they think the baby will do will determine what nurse is in the room with you. Both neonatal nurses and perinatal nurses deal with newborn babies. If your baby is high-risk for illness or if your baby is being born prematurely there will be a neonatal nurse with you in the delivery room. If your baby is healthy and being born on time you will have a perinatal nurse with you in the delivery room. In the nursery although they deal with babies with different health they do some things the same when they are taking care of them. Nurses in both the NICU and the well-baby nursery have to take care of babies right after delivery measuring vital signs and giving them vital nutrients. Both nurses must evaluate the condition of each patient exclusively and use the information the gather to create or adjust the patient’s treatment plan. Both jobs go through the same training until the neonatal nurse has to start training for the
Neonatal nursing is a field of nursing designed especially for both newborns and infants up to 28 days old. The term neonatal comes from neo, "new", and natal, "pertaining to birth or origin”. Neonatal nurses are a vital part of the neonatal care team. These are trained professionals who concentrate on ensuring that the newborn infants under their care are able to survive whatever potential life threatening event they encounter. They treat infants that are born with a variety of life threatening issues that include instances of prematurity, congenital birth defects, surgery related problems, cardiac malformations, severe burns, or acute infection. Neonatal care in hospitals was always done by the nursing staff but it did not officially become a specialized medical field until well into 1960s. This was due to the numerous advancements in both medical care training and related technology that allowed for the improved treatment and survival rate of premature babies. According to the March of Dimes, one of every thirteen babies born in the United States annually suffers from low birth weight. This is a leading cause in 65% of infant deaths. Therefore, nurses play a very important role in providing round the clock care for these infants, those born with birth defects or other life threatening illness. In addition, these nurses also tend to healthy babies while their mothers recover from the birthing process. Prior to the advent of this specialized nursing field at risk newborn infants were mostly cared for by obstetricians and midwives who had limited resources to help them survive (Meeks 3).
Maternity care used to be and still is at some facilities segregated into three departments; intrapartum, postpartum and nursery. This care is often called “transitional” care, and has been described as “rigid and inflexible” (Waller-Wise, 2012). During my obstetrics rotation, the transition to family centered care was observed.
There has been a long standing turf war Between obstetricians and midwives, but this article explains for that might be coming to an end. Britian’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence discovered that it is safer for healthy women with uncomplicated pregnancies to give birth at home with the supervision of midwives. Studies have shown that doctors are much more like to use interventions such as forceps, spinal anesthesia and cesarean section, when unnecessary and those procedure carry risks of inaction and surgical accidents. Many studies have shown that midwives provide care just as well or even better than obstetricians, when mothers are expected to deliver a single baby at full term and the babies head is presenting first in the birth canal. “The professional society for obstetricians, however, cites evidence that planned home birth carries an increased risk of neonatal death, compared with planned hospital birth.” Some medical center are trying to have the best of both worlds by allowing midwives to have more a independence within the
...e health care clinician to more comfortably assist in the delivery. However, it is important for nurse manager(s) on labor and delivery units to educate their floor nurses on the benefits of utilizing upright birthing positions during the second stage of labor and then to fully inform their patients on these positions, whether or not she had asked for information regarding upright birthing positions, and implement their use when possible. Careful evaluation of the change on the unit will provide the nurse manager(s) with appropriate feedback regarding the effectiveness of the change. All in all, upright delivery positions yield more optimal outcomes than supine delivery positions for both the mother and the baby and the nurses should be appropriately educated to give their patients an informed choice and advocate for and support the patient in her final decision.
Their work environments include a physician’s office, hospitals, nursing care facilities, schools, and clinics. Nurse midwives also work in birthing centers. Some may even treat patients in the comfort of their patient’s home. Also, they may travel long distances to help care to patients in places wh...
A labor and delviery nurse has vast knowledge of the process and methods that are required for delivery and bring a new life into the world and is educated with the responsibilities of assiting the new born babies with their medical issues. Considering all the responsibilites needed to take on this career, such as assisting women with complications within the pregnancy, delivering a newborn and managing post birth issuses, the nurse must be professional in his or her work at all times. All people wishing to pursue the career of being a Labor and Delivery Nurse must also have good analytical skills, as part of there job to montior and analyze the mother and child (CollegeAtlas.org).
In the world of midwifery, women in particular are the main focus of primary care. In addition, it is about being with the women, in partnership with the women and delivering women centered care. In the perspective of midwives, it is important that women view midwives as the supporters of their journey rather than midwives doing their jobs. (Carolan & Hodnett, 2007). Midwives are the primary providers of maternity care. They have the role and responsibility to deliver continual care throughout a women's naivety and ensures that the women receive optimal care and support. Over the time of pregnancy and beyond, women and midwives have the time to create trust and develop a sense of bonding with one another. Antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum
Emily is a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse of 11 years. Emily routinely provides care for babies as small as 800 grams (about 1 and ¾ pounds), babies born with drug addictions, and the routine twins and triplets born as a result of fertility medications and assisted reproductive technologies (ART). As a strong Christian woman, Emily wasn't sure she could fulfill the tasks required of her when she first came on. Nor did she think she could cope with the occasional “expiration” of a young life. However, after more than a decade, Emily continues to provide exemplary care to babies, and parents alike, in the first few weeks and months of life. Throughout her decade long career, Emily has seen much change and continues to see the landscape transform within her small part of the nursing community.
For any mother the birth of a newborn child can be a challenging experience. As nurses it is part of our job to ensure their experience is positive. We can help do this by providing the information they will need to affective care for their newborn. This information includes topics such as, breastfeeding, jaundice, when to call your doctor and even how to put your baby to sleep. When the parents have an understanding of these topics before discharge it can largely reduce their natural anxiety accompanied with the transition to parenthood. Health teaching for new parents is seen as such an important aspect of care on post-partum floors it is actually a necessary component that needs to be covered before the hospital can discharge the patients. At the moment the strategies most hospitals use in Durham Region are Video’s and Parenting Booklets that are primarily based in the English Language. In such a culturally diverse region this becomes a barrier to providing the health teaching to patients who do not speak English as a first language (ESL). This reflection will explore the challenges I faced when providing health teaching to an ESL patient as well as the importance of health teaching in the post-partum area.
They are responsible for the total care of the mother and unborn fetus. They provide care to women during labor and childbirth. There are three stages of delivery: antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum phases. During the antepartum phase, the nurse provides support and pain control during labor, monitors the fetal heart rate and contraction pattern, and the mother’s vital signs and progress. The nurse assists with inducing labor as needed, monitors the mother and fetus for complications. During the intrapartum phase, the nurse assists with vaginal deliveries and cesarean sections. During the last phase of postpartum care, the (L&D) nurse assists and monitors the mother and baby after delivery. The nurse assesses the newborn with the APGAR(Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, Respiration) score and monitors the mother and baby for complications by assessing vital signs and doing physical assessments. During this phase, the nurse is also responsible for providing education and support to the mother with breastfeeding, pain control, and newborn care after
Berk conveys that while doctors are present during some home births, most are attended “…by certified nurse-midwives who have degrees in nursing and additional training in childbirth management” (CITATION). There are risks associated with childbirth, regardless of the setting. For women who are healthy, have not experienced issues during their pregnancies, and have not experienced issues with previous pregnancies, and are attended by a medical professional, home births can be just as safe as hospital births. Homebirths can also be more relaxing because the mother can move about more freely and has more control over the birthing experience than generally permitted during a hospital birth. Complications can arise during home births just as they can during a hospital birth. Therefore, it is wise to have a plan in place for transportation to the hospital if needed. There are numerous advantages to home births which include freedom of movement, more control over the birthing experience, decreased unnecessary medical interventions, and faster recovery. Disadvantages to homebirths include that a doctor is not likely to be quickly
...o find a balance between interventional and non-interventional birth. With this being said, I also understand that there are strict policies and protocols set in place, which I must abide to as a healthcare provider, in any birth setting. Unfortunately, these guidelines can be abused. Christiane Northrup, MD, a well recognized and respected obstetrician-gynecologist has gone as far as to tell her own daughters that they should not give birth in a hospital setting, with the safest place being home (Block, 2007, p. xxiii). Although I am not entirely against hospital births, I am a firm believe that normal, healthy pregnancies should be fully permissible to all midwives. However, high-risk pregnancies and births must remain the responsibility of skilled obstetricians. My heart’s desire is to do what is ultimately in the best interest of the mother, and her unborn child.
The hospital room holds all the usual scenery: rooms lining featureless walls, carts full of foreign devices and competent looking nurses ready to help whatever the need be. The side rails of the bed smell of plastic. The room is enveloped with the smell of plastic. A large bed protrudes from the wall. It moves from one stage to the next, with the labor, so that when you come to the "bearing" down stage, the stirrups can be put in place. The side rails of the bed provide more comfort than the hand of your coach, during each contraction. The mattress of the bed is truly uncomfortable for a woman in so much pain. The eager faces of your friends and family staring at your half naked body seem to be acceptabl...
When the baby is admitted to the NICU, the mother is unable to have the usual bonding moments where she holds and comforts her newborn. Rather, when visiting with her child, she is required to take endless precautions, has limited time to be with her baby, and must see her little child connected to many machines helping to keep the baby stable (Shanmugam & Ramachandra, 2015). In their study, Shanmugam and Ramachandra (2015) questioned 100 mothers of neonates in the NICU, and recorded the correlation between their stress level and coping strategies. They found that 38 of the mothers had severe stress, 28 had moderate stress, and the remaining had mild stress. Of these women, 25% had good coping, 50% had moderate coping, and 25% had poor coping. A large finding from this study was that nurses and health care providers played a very big role in helping to reduce the stress levels of the mothers by talking with them and listening to their concerns, while also providing adequate care for their children. If the mother is using negative coping strategies, such as holding in all of her concerns and filling her mind with the thoughts of death, financial issues, and fear of the unknown, she is going to cause her body great harm (Shanmugam & Ramachandra,