Nursing Duties in the Delivery Room
Most hospital births are attended by one or more nurses. Nurses assist the doctor with the delivery by providing medical information and managing equipment. They also aid the mother by providing encouragement and calling out instructions during delivery.
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Monitoring
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Delivery room nurses monitor equipment that tracks the health of the fetus and mother. For example, the nurse will monitor the mother's contractions, including the strength and duration. This information helps the doctor know how delivery is progressing. The nurse also follows the heart rate monitors on the mother and fetus to ensure that the readings are normal.
Assisting With Equipment
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Childbirth often requires different medical equipment, such as forceps, clamps or vacuums. A delivery nurse ensures the necessary equipment sits ready and hands the instruments to the doctor when requested.
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Support for the Mother
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A delivery room nurse encourages the mother-to-be through childbirth. She may comfort the mother through particularly painful contractions or let the woman know how well she is performing. A nurse also often counts down the push duration. During each push, the nurse sets the pace and counts aloud for the mother to let her know when to stop pushing.
Care of Infant
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Immediately after childbirth, the delivery nurse will move the infant to his own table and clean the baby of birthing fluids. The nurse also may give the infant an Apgar score, which judges the baby's activity and muscle tone, pulse, grimace response, respiration and skin color.
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References
- Photo Credit Nurse in Scrubs image by Mary Beth Granger from Fotolia.com
