Obstetrics for Nurses

=Acid, Carbolic.= 15 ♏︎ in a quart of water makes a 0.1% solution, or 1:1000. 5 dr. to the quart makes a 2% solution; and 1¼ oz. to the quart, a 5% solution.

Every case of labor must be conducted with the most scrupulous attention to surgical cleanliness on the part of the patient, doctor and nurse. Puerperal infection in most cases...

It demands a high sense of duty, a strong physique, broad training, unusual judgment, and rare tact. The nurse must be professionally aseptic and personally clean. She should ke...

The puerperium is the name given to the period succeeding the birth of the child as far as the time of the complete restoration of the genitals. It may last from six to ten week...

At this time a series of complete physical examinations may be required to determine the presentation and position of the child, the presence and rate of fœtal heart tones, the...

A well fed infant is a happy little animal, who sleeps approximately twenty-two hours a day, and gains from four to six ounces a week. If properly fed at the breast, this condit...

Instead of a surgical operation, which has come unexpectedly and undesired; a disaster in which some part of the body is removed or altered by means of a procedure associated wi...

The entire body participates in the changes brought about by pregnancy. The hips and breasts become fuller, the back broadens, and the woman puts on fat. She becomes mature in a...

Complications during labor may arise from abnormal positions of the head, such as face or brow; from abnormal presentations of the child, such as breech, transverse or shoulder;...

Hitherto the mother and the complications and changes peculiar to her condition have been selectively considered, to the neglect of the child; but the labor being over, and the...

=Aseptic Care.=—Place patient on a clean bed pan. It need not be sterile. Drape with a sheet and arrange it so the fold may be easily raised by nurse’s elbow. Have sterile basin...

=Constipation= in the newborn may come from many causes. The amount of food may be so inadequate that no residue is left, and the bowels move only once in forty-eight hours. Ove...

The flat pelvis is marked by a shortening of the anteroposterior diameter of the inlet. It looks as if it had been pressed together from before backward while in a soft condition.

=Ovulation.=—Ovulation is the process whereby the eggs are discharged from the Graafian follicle which matures and protects them in the ovary. The egg is a true cell with one, a...

=Vomiting= in labor frequently occurs near the end of the first stage. It is due to the sympathetic excitement of the nerves of the stomach as the last fibers of the os uteri gi...

The nurse should serve everything in the most cleanly and appetizing way if it is only a cup of tea; and all waste, soiled dishes, napkins, and excreta must be removed as delica...

=Tongue-tie= is not met with so frequently as in the old days. If the child can suck and nurses energetically, this complication can be excluded. It may, however, occur. In such...

=Extrauterine Pregnancy.=—This is a pregnancy which occurs outside the uterus, and while the event usually happens in the tube, cases have been reported where the egg developed...

The conditions of the pelvic organs during labor and post partum, are well adapted to receive and develop microorganisms, for the healthy antimicrobic power of the vaginal secre...

The study of obstetrics is an investigation of the passage, the passenger, and the driving powers of labor, as well as of the various complications and anomalies that may attend...

The time of confinement can never be accurately determined, because the onset of labor is purely an accident, dependent on many factors. Furthermore, conception does not take pl...

Thus, if the head is too large, as in hydrocephalous, or if the fœtus is too movable, as in hydramnios, or if an obstacle, like placenta previa, contracted pelvis or tumors prev...

=The nurse= is called to a case on account of her special qualifications, but also she should lead her patient in all things, even in gentility. It is her part to anticipate the...

=Heart.=—The heart tones while in the uterus may vary between 138 and 150 per minute, but when higher than 160 or lower than 120, danger is near. After delivery, the heart runs...

The powers of labor are primarily the uterine contractions strongly aided by the muscles of the abdomen and diaphragm. Some assistance is given by the fixation of the legs and a...