Maternal and Newborn Health Nursing
Core concepts
Maternal-newborn content spans antepartum, intrapartum, postpartum, and neonatal care. Antepartum: calculate gestational age and estimated due date, recognize warning signs (bleeding, severe headache, visual changes, decreased fetal movement), and understand prenatal screening. Intrapartum: know the stages of labor, fetal monitoring basics (baseline rate, variability, accelerations, decelerations), and when to intervene. Postpartum: assess fundal height and tone, lochia, and bleeding risk; recognize postpartum hemorrhage and infection. Newborn: Apgar components, thermoregulation, feeding, jaundice, and newborn safety. Breastfeeding support and postpartum depression screening are commonly tested.
Traps to watch
Fetal monitoring items are notorious. Late decelerations signal uteroplacental insufficiency and require repositioning, oxygen, and provider notification; variable decelerations suggest cord compression. Do not confuse the two. Another trap: a "normal" postpartum finding like lochia rubra in the first days versus abnormal heavy bleeding with a boggy uterus. Questions may present a client in the wrong trimester for a symptom. Newborn items often test that heat loss occurs by evaporation, conduction, convection, and radiation; identify the mechanism named. Watch for medication safety in pregnancy and lactation.
Worked rule of thumb
For any labor client with an abnormal fetal heart pattern, use a fixed sequence: reposition to the left side, give oxygen, stop oxytocin if running, and notify the provider. Apply it consistently, then choose the answer that matches the deceleration type.