Module No. 5 Labor and Delivery
Learning Objectives
After successful completion of this module, the student should be able to
1. Explain the different theories of labor onset
2. Explain the steps in history taking of a woman in the first stage of a
normal labor.
3. Explain and demonstrate how to palpate the abdomen of a woman in
labor to assess the size, lie and presentation of the baby
4. Differentiate between normal and abnormal findings during the
assessment of a woman in labor.
5. Utilize the nursing process in the care of client during labor and
delivery
ENGAGEMENT
A client is in active labor. The nurse is monitoring the fetal heart rate and
notes that the heart rate is 180 beats/minute, lasting for longer than 10
minutes
Question: What should the nurse do?
Introduction
Labor will already have begun in almost all cases when you are called to a
woman’s home or when she arrives at your Health Post. One of the most
critical assessments you have to make in4Labor and Delivery Care4is at the
time when you first attend a labor. Rapid early assessment is required so
that you can decide on the care needed for the laboring mother, in case
immediate referral or emergency measures are required. If all is well, you
need to take the woman’s history in detail and conduct a physical
examination in order identify the stage of labor that she has reached, and
discover any information from her history that may affect the progress or
outcome of her labor.
I. Theory of labor
A. Oxytocin theory
B. Progesterone deprivation theory
C. Uterine stretch theory
D. Theory of aging placenta
II. Process of labor – Four P’s
A. Description
