Labor and Delivery

Labor and Delivery

• My Responsibilities: none
• New Knowledge: I learned about some of the medications that the labor and delivery nurses use to induce contractions and stop bleeding in women after they've finished giving birth.
• Best Thing: The best thing was talking with all of the nurses on the floor and actually seeing a patient who was about to give birth.
• Worst Thing: Having to leave before the woman went into labor
• Overall: Good because I liked all of the nurses and I was actually able to observe a lot

• When I came to Post Partum, I was immediately greeted all of the nurses at the nursing station. They welcomed me and immediately started explaining how their charting works and what certain symbols mean on the computer. They also tried to find the most interesting case for me to observe and because of this, I was able to see a woman get an epidural, have her water burst by the doctor and prepare for the delivery of her baby.  The nurses went out of their way to try and find things that were interesting for me to see, and I was tossed amongst several nurses throughout the rotation so that I could always see the labor and delivery nurses doing something. 
• The diagnostic procedures were mainly done before I came, but there was fetal monitoring going on (the babies pulse and blood pressure were monitored), and the doctor checked the woman's cervix several times to see how much longer it would be before she was dilated enough to push the baby out. A cool piece of technology that they talked about was a suction cup used on the babies head that is used to pull the baby out of the mother.
• No diseases or disorders observed.
• Amniotomy- artificial breakage of the water
• Oxytocin- Drug used to cause more contractions
• "Bloody Show"- the blood and brown liquid that comes before labor

1. The Labor and Delivery area was much more hectic than the nursery and postpartum area. The doctors and nurses have to be ready for any sudden complication at any time, so they are all very well prepared and fast-paced. It reminded me of the ER because none of the nurses knew exactly what was coming next, and they told me stories about women coming into the labor and delivery area halfway through birth.
2. The nurses and doctors work very closely in this unit (it's the only unit where I've seen the doctor stick around and have a spot in the nurses station). They communicated with each other very well and they seemed very comfortable with each other. The environment was very comfortable, and the nurses always seemed to be joking with one another. They seemed like a very fun, experienced, and welcoming community of healthcare professionals. 
3. I learned a lot about delivering a baby and what medications the doctors and nurses use to make the experience less painful for the mother and more safe for the baby. I now know that oxytocin is used before birth to cause the mother to have more contractions (and, therefore, have the baby earlier), and it is also used after birth to stop the bleeding from the uterus. I also learned about a suction cup that the doctors use on the babies head to pull them out of the mother if they are stuck. The suction cup can measure the amount of pressure on the babies' head and it will pop off the baby before there is too much pressure and damage can be done. 
4. The Labor and Delivery area was more interesting than the other "maternity" areas because actual surgical procedures were happening. I never thought that I would even consider working in labor and delivery, but I liked the nurses and was able to see the most that I've ever seen in any rotation in labor and delivery, and I would love to see more.