Unlike false labor, true labor produces regular rhythmic contractions, abdominal discomfort, progressive descent of the fetus, bloody show, and progressive effacement and dilation of the cervix.
To help a mother break the suction of her breast-feeding infant, the nurse should teach her to insert a finger at the corner of the infant’s mouth.
Administering high levels of oxygen to a premature neonate can cause blindness as a result of retrolental fibroplasia.
Amniotomy is artificial rupture of the amniotic membranes.
During pregnancy, weight gain averages 25 to 30 lb (11 to 13.5 kg).
Rubella has a teratogenic effect on the fetus during the first trimester. It produces abnormalities in up to 40% of cases without interrupting the pregnancy.
Immunity to rubella can be measured by a hemagglutination inhibition test (rubella titer). This test identifies exposure to rubella infection and determines susceptibility in pregnant women. In a woman, a titer greater than 1:8 indicates immunity.
When used to describe the degree of fetal descent during labor, floating means the presenting part isn’t engaged in the pelvic inlet, but is freely movable (ballotable) above the pelvic inlet.
When used to describe the degree of fetal descent, engagement means when the largest diameter of the presenting part has passed through the pelvic inlet.
Fetal station indicates the location of the presenting part in relation to the ischial spine. It’s described as –1, –2, –3, –4, or –5 to indicate the number of centimeters above the level of the ischial spine; station –5 is at the pelvic inlet.
Fetal station also is described as +1, +2, +3, +4, or +5 to indicate the number of centimeters it is below the level of the ischial spine; station 0 is at the level of the ischial spine.
During the first stage of labor, the side-lying position usually provides the greatest degree of comfort, although the patient may assume any comfortable position.
During delivery, if the umbilical cord can’t be loosened and slipped from around the neonate’s neck, it should be clamped with two clamps and cut between the clamps.
An Apgar score of 7 to 10 indicates no immediate distress, 4 to 6 indicates moderate distress, and 0 to 3 indicates severe distress.
To elicit Moro’s reflex, the nurse holds the neonate in both hands and suddenly, but gently, drops the neonate’s head backward. Normally, the neonate abducts and extends all extremities bilaterally and symmetrically, forms a C shape with the thumb and forefinger, and first adducts and then flexes the extremities.
Pregnancy-induced hypertension (preeclampsia) is an increase in blood pressure of 30/15 mm Hg over baseline or blood pressure of 140/95 mm Hg on two occasions at least 6 hours apart accompanied by edema and albuminuria after 20 weeks’ gestation.
Positive signs of pregnancy include ultrasound evidence, fetal heart tones, and fetal movement felt by the examiner (not usually present until 4 months’ gestation
Goodell’s sign is softening of the cervix.
Quickening, a presumptive sign of pregnancy, occurs between 16 and 19 weeks’ gestation.
Ovulation ceases during pregnancy.
Any vaginal bleeding during pregnancy should be considered a complication until proven otherwise.
To estimate the date of delivery using Nägele’s rule, the nurse counts backward 3 months from the first day of the last menstrual period and then adds 7 days to this date.
