Chapter 4: Birth and Physical Development During the First Three Years Flashcards
What is Labor?
The process of giving birth
What is Parturition?
It begins two weeks before delivery, sharply rising estrogen levels stimulate the uterus to contract and the cervix to become more flexible
What are Braxton-Hicks Contractions?
Muscles of the uterus tighten for about two weeks. These contractions are mild and irregular
How many Stages of Childbirth are there?
Three
What happens during the First Stage of Childbirth and how long does it last?
Regular and increasingly frequent uterine contractions cause the cervix to dilate or widen in preparation for delivery.
It usually lasts for 12-14 hours.
What happens during the Second Stage of Childbirth and how long does it last?
The baby’s head begins to move through the cervix into the vaginal canal and ends when the baby is outside the mother’s body
It lasts 1-2 hours.
What happens during the Third Stage of Childbirth?
The placenta and the umbilical cord are expelled from the mother
Lasts about 10 to 60 minutes
What is Electronic Fetal Monitoring used for?
This is a device used to track fetus’ heartbeat during labor and to find out how the fetal heartbeat is
What are the Pros and Cons of Electronic Fetal Monitoring?
Pros: It is okay to use in high risk deliveries, if the fetus is premature or is in a breach position, if the fetus is in distress, or when labor is induced with drugs
Cons: It can restrict movement during labor, there is a high false positive rate
What happens during Caesarian Delivery?
The baby is surgically removed from the uterus through an incision in the mother’s abdomen
When is it appropriate to give birth through Caesarian Delivery?
Labor is progressing slowly There is Fetal Distress Mother is bleeding vaginally Baby is in breach position Baby is in transverse position Baby's head is too big for the mother's pelvis
What are complications that may arise during and after a Caesarian Delivery?
Bleeding Infections Damage to Pelvic Organs Postoperative Pain Risk of Problems in future pregnancies
What are the benefits the baby can derive from the mother giving birth naturally?
Surge of hormones that clear lungs and excess fluids
Mobilized stored fuel to nourish cells
Blood is sent to the heart
What are the types of Delivery?
Natural Childbirth
Prepared Childbirth
What is a Natural Childbirth?
Method of childbirth that seeks to prevent pain by eliminating the mother’s fear through education about the physiology of reproduction and training in breathing and relaxation during delivery
What is Prepared Childbirth?
Method of childbirth that uses instruction, breathing exercises, and social support to induce physical responses to uterine contractions and reduce fear and pain.
What is the Neonatal Period of a newborn baby?
Baby’s first four weeks of life
It is a transition time from the uterus, where the fetus is supported entirely by the mother, to an independent existence
What is a Neonate?
Newborn baby up to four weeks old
What are the physical characteristics of a Neonate?
Average about 7 1/2 pounds Average about 20" long Loses about 10% of the birth weight Large head Receding chin
What are Fontanels?
Soft spots on the head covered by tough membrane
What is Lanugo?
Fuzzy prenatal hair
What is Vernix Caseosa?
Oily protection against infection that dries within the first few days
If an infant doesn’t breathe within 5 minutes of birth, what conditions can cause brain injury to the infants?
Anoxia - lack of oxygen
Hypoxia - reduced oxygen supply
What is Meconium?
A stringy, greenish-black waste matter formed in the fetal intestinal tract
What is Neonatal Jaundice?
Condition, in many newborn babies, caused by immaturity of liver and evidenced by yellowish appearance; can cause brain damage if not related promptly
What Medical Assessment is used to measure a newborn’s condition?
APGAR Scale
What Behavioral Assessment test is used to assess an infant’s neurological status?
Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale
What is the APGAR Scale used for?
Standard measurement of a newborn’s condition
It assesses appearance, pulse, activity, and respiration of a newborn
What does the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale do?
It assesses Motor Organization, Reflexes, State Changes, Attention and Interactive Capacities, and Central Nervous System Instability
State of Arousal
An infant’s physiological and behavioral status at a given moment in the periodic daily cycle of wakefulness, sleep, and activity.
What are Complications of Childbirth?
Low Birth Weight
Stillbirth
What are Premature Infants?
Infants born before completing the 37th week of gestation
What are small-for-date Infants?
Infants whose birth weight is less than that of 90% of babies of the same gestation age, as a result of slow fetal growth
What factors increase the likelihood of having low birth weight babies?
Low Socioeconomic Status
Medical Factors
Prenatal Behavioral and Environmental Factors
Medical Conditions associated with the pregnancy
What is Kangaroo Care?
Method of skin-to-skin contact in which a newborn is laid face down between the mother’s breast or an hour or so at a time after birth.
What is Stillbirth?
The death of a fetus at or after the 20th week of gestation
What are Protective Factors?
Influences that reduce the impact of potentially negative influences and tend to predict positive outcomes
What are examples of Protective Factors?
Individual Attributes
Affectionate ties with at least one family member
rewards at school, work, or church that provide a sense of meaning and control over one’s life
What is Infant Mortality Rate?
Proportion of babies born alive who die within the first year
What is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)?
Also known as Crib Death
The sudden death of an infant under age 1 in which the cause of death remains unexplained after a thorough investigation that includes an autopsy
What are the Principles of Development?
Cephalocaudal Principle
Proximodistal Principle
What is the Cephalocaudal Principle?
Principle that development proceeds in a head-to-tail direction, that is, that upper parts of the body develop before the lower parts of the trunk
What is the Proximodistal Principle?
Principle that development proceeds from within to without, that is, that parts of the body near the center develop before the extremities