Intrapartum and Labor and Delivery Flashcards
6 cards from real Maternal Newborn Nursing Test practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Intrapartum and Labor and Delivery flashcards as text
A laboring patient at 8 cm dilation suddenly reports severe, constant abdominal pain with a rigid uterus and fetal heart rate decelerations. What should the nurse suspect?
Answer: Placental abruption
Placental abruption presents with sudden severe abdominal pain, board-like uterus rigidity, and associated fetal distress due to disrupted placental blood flow.
Which fetal heart rate pattern requires the nurse to immediately notify the healthcare provider and prepare for possible emergency delivery?
Answer: Prolonged deceleration lasting more than 3 minutes
A prolonged deceleration lasting more than 3 minutes indicates significant fetal compromise and requires immediate intervention to prevent fetal hypoxia.
A patient in active labor has an epidural. Her blood pressure drops to 88/52 mmHg. What is the nurse's priority intervention?
Answer: Position the patient in left lateral tilt and increase IV fluids
Epidural-induced hypotension is treated first with left lateral positioning to relieve aortocaval compression and IV fluid bolus to restore maternal blood pressure.
The nurse is caring for a patient in labor whose membranes rupture spontaneously. The fluid is green-tinged. What is the priority nursing action?
Answer: Assess the fetal heart rate immediately
Meconium-stained amniotic fluid indicates possible fetal stress, so immediate fetal heart rate assessment is the priority to detect fetal compromise.
During the second stage of labor, the nurse identifies variable decelerations with each push. What intervention should the nurse implement first?
Answer: Have the patient stop pushing and change position
Variable decelerations are caused by umbilical cord compression, and repositioning the patient can relieve cord pressure and resolve the pattern.
A primigravida is 4 cm dilated and 100% effaced. She is experiencing contractions every 3 minutes lasting 60 seconds. Which phase of labor is she in?
Answer: Active phase of the first stage
Active phase of the first stage is characterized by cervical dilation from 4–10 cm with regular, stronger contractions occurring every 2–5 minutes.