Maternity Nursing Chap 9

Question 1

What are the broad areas, or soft spots, consisting of a strong band of connective tissue contiguous with cranial bones and located at the junctions of the bones?

Answer 1

-fontanels

Question 2

What is the overlapping of cranial bones or shaping of the fetal head to accommodate and conform to the bony and soft parts of the mother’s birth canal during labor?

Answer 2

-molding

Question 3

What do you call that part of the fetus that first enters the pelvis and lies over the inlet?

Answer 3

-fetal presentation

Question 4

What are the 3 main types of presentation?

Answer 4

• cephalic
• breech
• shoulder

Question 5

When does the vertex presentation occur?

Answer 5

-when the fetal head is completely flexed, making the occiput the fetal part first felt by the examining finger

Question 6

What do you call the relationship existing between the long axis of the fetus and the long axis of the mother?

Answer 6

-fetal lie

Question 7

What is the difference between the longitudinal and transverse lie?

Answer 7

• longitudinal lie: the fetus is lying lengthwise or vertically
• transverse lie: the fetus is lying crosswise or horizontally in the uterus

Question 8

What do you call the relationship of fetal parts to each other in the uterus (e.g., all parts flexed or all parts flexed except neck extended?

Answer 8

-fetal attitude

Question 9

What is the most common fetal attitude?

Answer 9

-general flexion

Question 10

What is the largest transverse diameter of the fetal head, measured between the parietal bones?

Answer 10

-biparietal diameter

Question 11

What is the smallest anterior-posterior diameter of the fetal head, follows a line drawn from the middle of the anterior fontanel to the udnersurface of the occipital bone?

Answer 11

-suboccipitobregmatic diameter

Question 12

What does the fetal position refer to?

Answer 12

-relationship of the fetal presenting part to the four quadrants of the maternal pelvis

Question 13

What is the in obstetrics, the entrance of the fetal presenting part into the superior pelvic strait and the beginning of the descent through the pelvic canal; usually the lowest part of the presenting part is at or below the level of ischial spines?

Answer 13

-engagement

Question 14

What is called the relationship of the presenting fetal part to an imaginary line drawn between the ischial spines of the pelvis?

Answer 14

• station

- measured in cm starting -5, -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, etc…

Question 15

What is the thinning and shortening or obliteration of the cervix that occurs during late pregnancy or labor or both?

Answer 15

• effacement

- degree of effacement goes from 0% to 100%

Question 16

What is the stretching of the external os from an opening a few millimeters in size to an opening large enough to allow the passage of the fetus?

Answer 16

• dilation

- measured in cm from 1 to 10

Question 17

What is the sensation of decreased abdominal distention produced by uterine descent into the pelvic cavity as the fetal presenting part settles inot the pelvis?

Answer 17

• lightening or “dropping”
• usually occurs 2 weeks before the onset of labor in nulliparas
• usually occurs at onset of true labor in the multiparous woman