OBS AND GYNAE LECTURES Flashcards
What is a normal birth:
One that is spontaneous in onset, low risk at the start of labour and remaining so throughout the labour and delivery. The infant is born spontaneously in the vertex position between 37 and 42 weeks of pregnancy. After birth, both mother and infant are well.
What are the 3 stages of birth:
Latent
Effacement
Engagement
What is involved in the latent phase?
- Consists of irregular contractions
- The period lasts between 6 hours to 2-3 days.
- The Cervix effaces in this period and thins. This shows a mucoid plug
- In this phase women are told to stay at home: rest, keep hydrated and have paracetamol.
What is involved in the effacement phase?
- This process starts in the fundus (pacemaker) and involves the retraction and shortening of the muscle fibres.
- This builds an amplitude for labour
- The foetus is eventually forced down and puts pressure on the cervix
- After full effacement the cervix undergoes dilation originally at 5cm and eventually 10cm.
What is involved in engagement of the foetus?
- The head is mobile above the symphysis pubis
- The head accommodates a full width of fiver fingers above the symphysis pubis
- Head is 2/5 above symphysis pubis
Head accommodates two fingers above the symphysis pubis
What is presentation?
Presentation: the anatomical part of the foetus that presents its self first through the birth canal. You want the head to flexed and at its narrowest par of the head.
What is a lie?
Lie: relationship between the long axis of the foetus and the long axis of the uterus
What is attitude?
Attitude: whether the baby is presenting as flexed or deflexed
What is engagement?
Engagement: widest part of the presenting part passed through the brim of the pelvis.
What is station?
Station: relationship between the lowest presenting part and the ischial spines.
What is active labour deemed as?
4cm dilation with regular frequent contractions
The process is progressive
What are 4 methods used for pain relief?
- Psychological methods: - - Psychological methods: imagery, relaxation and hypnobirthing
- Sensory methods: hydrotherapy and TENS
- Birth environment
- Complementary: massage, acupuncture and reflexology etc.
- Water birth: reduces pain and the use of regional analgesia.
What are 3 commonly used medications in pregnancy?
Entonox
Opiates
Epidural
What are the 8 factors of mechanisms of labour
Mechanism of labour:
- Descent - Flexion - Internal rotation - Crowning - Extension - Reitution - Internal restitution of shoulders - Lateral flexion
What is competency?
Legal term use to indicate that a person has the ability to make and be held accountable for their decision
What are some RF for developing HTN in pregnancy?
- Young females
- Black population
- Multifetal pregnancy
- Hypertension
- Renal
- Collagen Vascular diseas