Chapter 14 Flashcards
Maximizing Comfort for the Laboring Woman
Uterine Ischemia
decreased blood flow and therefore local oxygen deficit; caused by compression of the arteries supplying the myometrium during uterine contractions.
Two origins of pain and discomfort in labor
Visceral and somatic
Referred Pain
Occurs when pain that originates in the uterus radiates to the abdominal wall, lumbosacral area of the back, iliac areas, gluteal area, thighs and lower back.
Pain in the first stage of labor
Uterine contractions cause cervical dilation and effacement; Distention of the lower uterine segment (stretching of cervix as it effaces and dilates, pressure and traction on adjacent
An 18-year-old pregnant woman, gravida 1, is admitted to the labor and birth unit with moderate contractions every 5 minutes that last 40 seconds. The woman states, My contractions are so strong that I dont know what to do with myself. The nurse should:
Recognize that pain is personalized for each individual.
Each womans pain during childbirth is unique and is influenced by a variety of physiologic, psychosocial, and environmental factors. A critical issue for the nurse is how support can make a difference in the pain of the woman during labor and birth.
Assessing for fetal well-being includes no information that would indicate fetal distress or a logical reason to be overly concerned about the well-being of the fetus. The left lateral position is used to alleviate fetal distress, not maternal stress. The nurse has an obligation to provide physical, emotional, and psychosocial care and support to the laboring woman. This client clearly needs support.
Nursing care measures are commonly offered to women in labor. Which nursing measure reflects application of the gate-control theory?
Massaging the women’s back.
According to the gate-control theory, pain sensations travel along sensory nerve pathways to the brain, but only a limited number of sensations, or messages, can travel through these nerve pathways at one time. Distraction techniques such as massage or stroking, music, focal points, and imagery reduce or completely block the capacity of nerve pathways to transmit pain. These distractions are thought to work by closing down a hypothetic gate in the spinal cord and thus preventing pain signals from reaching the brain. The perception of pain is thereby diminished. Changing the womans position, giving prescribed medication, and encouraging rest do not reduce or block the capacity of nerve pathways to transmit pain using the gate-control theory.
A woman in active labor receives an analgesic opioid agonist. Which medication relieves severe, persistent, or recurrent pain; creates a sense of well-being; overcomes inhibitory factors; and may even relax the cervix but should be used cautiously in women with cardiac disease?
Meperidine (Demerol)
Meperidine is the most commonly used opioid agonist analgesic for women in labor throughout the world. It overcomes inhibitory factors in labor and may even relax the cervix. Because tachycardia is a possible adverse reaction, meperidine is used cautiously in women with cardiac disease. Phenergan is an ataractic (tranquilizer) that may be used to augment the desirable effects of the opioid analgesics but has few of the undesirable effects of those drugs. Stadol and Nubain are opioid agonist-antagonist analgesics.
A laboring woman received an opioid agonist (meperidine) intravenously 90 minutes before she gave birth. Which medication should be available to reduce the postnatal effects of Demerol on the neonate?
Naloxone (Narcan)
An opioid antagonist can be given to the newborn as one part of the treatment for neonatal narcosis, which is a state of central nervous system (CNS) depression in the newborn produced by an opioid. Opioid antagonists such as naloxone (Narcan) can promptly reverse the CNS depressant effects, especially respiratory depression. Fentanyl, promethazine, and nalbuphine do not act as opioid antagonists to reduce the postnatal effects of Demerol on the neonate. Although meperidine (Demerol) is a low-cost medication and readily available, the use of Demerol in labor has been controversial because of its effects on the neonate.
A woman in labor has just received an epidural block. The most important nursing intervention is to:
Monitor the maternal blood pressure for possible hypotension.
The most important nursing intervention for a woman who has received an epidural block is to monitor the maternal blood pressure frequently for signs of hypotension. Intravenous fluids are increased for a woman receiving an epidural, to prevent hypotension. The nurse observes for signs of fetal bradycardia. The nurse monitors for signs of maternal tachycardia secondary to hypotension.
The nurse should be aware that an effective plan to achieve adequate pain relief without maternal risk is most effective if:
The mother and familys priorities and preferences are incorporated into the plan.
The assessment of the woman, her fetus, and her labor is a joint effort of the nurse and the primary health care providers, who consult with the woman about their findings and recommendations. The needs of each woman are different, and many factors must be considered before a decision is made whether pharmacologic methods, nonpharmacologic methods, or a combination of the two will be used to manage labor pain.
A woman in the active phase of the first stage of labor is using a shallow pattern of breathing, which is about twice the normal adult breathing rate. She starts to complain about feeling lightheaded and dizzy and states that her fingers are tingling. The nurse should:
Help her breathe into paper bag.
This woman is experiencing the side effects of hyperventilation, which include the symptoms of lightheadedness, dizziness, tingling of the fingers, or circumoral numbness. Having the woman breathe into a paper bag held tightly around her mouth and nose may eliminate respiratory alkalosis. This enables her to rebreathe carbon dioxide and replace the bicarbonate ion.
A woman is experiencing back labor and complains of intense pain in her lower back. An effective relief measure would be to use:
Counterpressure against the sacrum.
Counterpressure is steady pressure applied by a support person to the sacral area with the fist or heel of the hand. This technique helps the woman cope with the sensations of internal pressure and pain in the lower back. The pain management techniques of pant-blow, effleurage, and conscious relaxation or guided imagery are usually helpful for contractions per the gate-control theory.
If an opioid antagonist is administered to a laboring woman, she should be told that:
Her pain will return.
The woman should be told that the pain that was relieved by the opioid analgesic will return with administration of the opioid antagonist. Opioid antagonists, such as Narcan, promptly reverse the central nervous system (CNS) depressant effects of opioids. In addition, the antagonist counters the effect of the stress-induced levels of endorphins. An opioid antagonist is especially valuable if labor is more rapid than expected and birth is anticipated when the opioid is at its peak effect.
A woman has requested an epidural for her pain. She is 5 cm dilated and 100% effaced. The baby is in a vertex position and is engaged. The nurse increases the womans intravenous fluid for a preprocedural bolus. She reviews her laboratory values and notes that the womans hemoglobin is 12 g/dL, hematocrit is 38%, platelets are 67,000, and white blood cells (WBCs) are 12,000/mm3. Which factor would contraindicate an epidural for the woman?
She has thrombocytopenia.
The platelet count indicates a coagulopathy, specifically, thrombocytopenia (low platelets), which is a contraindication to epidural analgesia/anesthesia. Typically epidural analgesia/anesthesia is used in the laboring woman when a regular labor pattern has been achieved, as evidenced by progressive cervical change. The laboratory values show that the womans hemoglobin and hematocrit are in the normal range and show a slight increase in the WBC count that is not uncommon in laboring women.
The role of the nurse with regard to informed consent is to:
Act as a client advocate and help clarify the procedure and the options.
Nurses play a part in the informed consent process by clarifying and describing procedures or by acting as the womans advocate and asking the primary health care provider for further explanations. The physician is responsible for informing the woman of her options, explaining the procedure, and advising the client about potential risk factors. The physician must be present to explain the procedure to the client. However, the nurses responsibilities go further than simply asking the physician to see the client. The nurse may witness the signing of the consent form. However, depending on the states guidelines, the womans husband or another hospital health care employee may sign as witness.
A first-time mother is concerned about the type of medications she will receive during labor. She is in a fair amount of pain and is nauseous. In addition, she appears to be very anxious. You explain that opioid analgesics often are used with sedatives because:
Sedatives help the opioid work better, and they also will assist you to relax and relieve your nausea.
Sedatives can be used to reduce the nausea and vomiting that often accompany opioid use. In addition, some ataractics reduce anxiety and apprehension and potentiate the opioid analgesic affects. A potentiator may cause the two drugs to work together more effectively, but it does not ensure maternal or fetal complications will not occur. Sedation may be a related effect of some ataractics, but it is not the goal. Furthermore, a woman is unlikely to be able to sleep through transitional labor and birth. This is what the doctor has ordered for you may be true, but it is not an acceptable comment for the nurse to make.
To help clients manage discomfort and pain during labor, nurses should be aware that:
The predominant pain of the first stage of labor is the visceral pain located in the lower portion of the abdomen.
This pain comes from cervical changes, distention of the lower uterine segment, and uterine ischemia. Referred pain occurs when the pain that originates in the uterus radiates to the abdominal wall, lumbosacral area of the back, iliac crests, and gluteal area. Second-stage labor pain is intense, sharp, burning, and localized. Third-stage labor pain is similar to that of the first stage.
Which statement correctly describes the effects of various pain factors?
Levels of pain-mitigating b-endorphins are higher during a spontaneous, natural childbirth.
Higher endorphin levels help women tolerate pain and reduce anxiety and irritability. Higher prostaglandin levels correspond to more severe labor pains. Upright positions in labor usually result in improved comfort and less pain. Moving freely to find more comfortable positions is important for reducing pain and muscle tension.
Nurses with an understanding of cultural differences regarding likely reactions to pain may be better able to help clients. Nurses should know that _____ women may be stoic until late in labor, when they may become vocal and request pain relief.
Hispanic
Hispanic women may be stoic early and more vocal and ready for medications later. Chinese women may not show reactions to pain. Medical interventions must be offered more than once. Arab or Middle Eastern women may be vocal in response to labor pain from the start. They may prefer pain medications. African-American women may express pain openly; use of medications for pain is more likely to vary with the individual.
With regard to a pregnant womans anxiety and pain experience, nurses should be aware that:
Severe anxiety increases tension, which increases pain, which in turn increases fear and anxiety, and so on.
Anxiety and pain reinforce each other in a negative cycle. Mild anxiety is normal for a woman in labor and likely needs no special treatment other than the standard reassurances. Anxiety increases muscle tension and ultimately can build sufficiently to slow the progress of labor. Unfortunately, an anxious, painful first labor is likely to carry over, through expectations and memories, into an anxious and painful experience in the second pregnancy.
Nurses should be aware of the differences experience can make in labor pain such as:
Sensory pain for nulliparous women often is greater than for multiparous women during early labor.
Sensory pain is greater for nulliparous women because their reproductive tract structures are less supple. Affective pain is greater for nulliparous women during the first stage but decreases for both nulliparous and multiparous during the second stage. Women with a history of substance abuse experience the same amount of pain as those without such a history. Nulliparous women have longer labors and therefore experience more fatigue.
In the current practice of childbirth preparation, emphasis is placed on:
Having expectant parents attend childbirth preparation in any or no specific method.
Encouraging expectant parents to attend childbirth preparation class is most important because preparation increases a womans confidence and thus her ability to cope with labor and birth. Although still popular, the method format of classes is being replaced with other offerings such as Hypnobirthing and Birthing from Within.
With regard to breathing techniques during labor, maternity nurses should understand that:
Breathing techniques in the first stage of labor are designed to increase the size of the abdominal cavity to reduce friction.
First-stage techniques promote relaxation of abdominal muscles, thereby increasing the size of the abdominal cavity. Instruction in simple breathing and relaxation techniques early in labor is possible and effective. Controlled breathing techniques are most difficult in the transition phase at the end of the first stage of labor when the cervix is dilated 8 to 10 cm. Patterned-paced breathing sometimes can lead to hyperventilation.
Maternity nurses often have to answer questions about the many, sometimes unusual ways people have tried to make the birthing experience more comfortable. For instance, nurses should be aware that:
Electrodes attached to either side of the spine to provide high-intensity electrical impulses facilitate the release of endorphins.
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation does help. Music may be very helpful for reducing tension and certainly can be accommodated by the hospital. Women can stay in a bath as long as they want, although repeated baths with breaks may be more effective than a long soak. Counterpressure can help the woman cope with lower back pain.
