The nurse would be the primary caregiver and manages

Mothers and newborns require an abundant amount of attention from physicians and nurses following birth whether is in a natural birth or a cesarean. The role of nurses in this area of medical care can vary depending on the circumstances of the birth. Because the birthing process is so such a complex task there are multiple types of nurses to assist in the care of the mother and infant. Some of these nurses include: labor room nurses who are present in the labor room for complicated or uncomplicated births, neonatal nurses focus primarily on infants that must be treated in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit), postpartum nurses care for the infant and mother following childbirth, and other nurses still factor into their care.

No matter the specialty of the nurse, the primary goal of a nurse is to be a support unit for the mother and educate her on anything that she needs assistance with while making sure that the newborn is healthy.

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Establishing the type of care for the mother and child is an important part of post-delivery care. In 1974, the term single-room maternity was defined by Loel Fenwick as segregated care. This was the “traditional” method that had a rigid structure that was divided into the three categories of labor and delivery, postpartum, and the nursery. In this structure the nurses primarily took care of the newborn, rather than supporting the mother as she learns how to properly care for her own child (Waller-Wise 2012). Eventually, the mother and child were seen as a whole unit rather than parts; as a result, they receive care, called couplet-care, from the same nurse rather than different ones.

There were multiple advantages to this type of care rather than the previous style. It made it easier for the nurse to be aware of health history, enhances communication patient to nurse and nurse to nurse, and further confidentiality when it comes to patient information. This type of care results in higher patient satisfaction because the nurse can respond more efficiently. Instead of the nurse caring for the baby, the nurse is a resource for the mother and father regarding breastfeeding, changing a diaper, and other aspects of parenthood. To help with creating a personal connection to their patients a program was developed by nurses that was responsible for care-delivery partnerships.

The care-delivery partnerships mean that the nurse would be the primary caregiver and manages the program to see that it runs smoothly. The team’s philosophy was that they were partners in pregnancy; this mentality shaped a higher level of trust in mothers towards the nurses that were attempting to help them. In this program, the nurses would receive a call about the condition of the mother, whether it was a mental or physical concern that needed to be handled. They determined their care off a level system, which was defined by the severity of the case. The three areas that were check during these phone calls were the mother’s psychological state, the biological state, and the normal lifestyle behaviors of the mother (Jallo 2009). The psychological state is screening for common disorders that might make the mother struggling with coping or cause her more distress. A biological state refers to the health of the mother and her susceptibility to certain diseases following childbirth. And lastly, the nurse is attempting to determine if the mother has the proper mechanisms to decrease her vulnerable state and take care of herself following childbirth.

After determining the stability, or instability, of the mom a nurse could decide to do a home visit. These visits were seen to improve dietary patterns, increased family communication, decrease kidney infections and urinary tract infections, and improved overall patterns of care. The goal of these visits is for the nurses to educate these women about how to properly care for themselves and their newborn children. Nurses provide psychosocial support, are sensitive to the mother’s feelings, must remain culturally appropriate, and aim to reduce the barriers between mothers and medical assistance. Postpartum nurses specifically are also actively monitoring mothers and their states of mind.

A postpartum nurse cares for the mother and newborn as one, rather than having two separate nurses. Depending on the birth itself, a nurse sees a mother for a couple days or longer, it depends on if there are complications. When it comes to the baby, the nurse is watching the vitals and temperament of the newborn to make sure there are no apparent issues. For the mother, a nurse is responsible for obtaining her blood pressure, temperature, checking vitals, and conducting a full assessment of her physical and emotion state. One important part of this assessment is monitoring for postpartum depression. It is often referred to as the “baby blues” and mothers who have suffered from depression in the past or while pregnant have a higher chance of having this problem. Postpartum depression can be seen in 8.5 to 11 percent of women, but it is even more common amongst low income families (Roman 2009). Chronic stressors make this ailment harder to manage, so it is the nurse’s responsibility to screen for this condition consistently. The nurses provide care coordination, case management, risk assessment, nutritional counseling, and health education. A nurse in this area of care in like a fountain of knowledge for new parents and needs to ready for their abundant amount of questions and concerns regarding the small human they just brought into the world.

A study was conducted that focused on bringing nursing and the community together to try and manage postpartum depression more effectively. It is focused on a nurse-community health worker whose goal is to build a relationship-based social support unit for new mothers. The experiment used a random sample, so the risk criteria (behaviors, age, transportation, parenting support) had a broad range. In this case, nurses would provide close to five postnatal visits to a home. Participation required at least two prenatally, one post-delivery, and two postpartum. On average though, there would be 24.4 contacts between the nurse-community health worker and the mother. While on these home visits they would provide guided care through crisis intervention and screening for depression. These crises could be as simple as not knowing what to do with a fussy baby to determining the severity of an illness an infant has. The nurse would help guide the mother through the moments where she is unsure what to do and act as a resource. Besides postpartum nurses, neonatal nurses also work quite closely with parents following childbirth.

The reason that parents would have a close relationship with a neonatal nurse is because their newborn had to go to the NICU. There are many reasons why an infant would have to go to the NICU, but it usually involves a complication, whether it is a baby that was preterm and needs a little extra help breathing or a more serious life-threatening complication is occurring. Monitoring postpartum depression monitoring in the NICU is necessary because twenty-eight to sixty-seven percent of mothers whose infants must be other develop this condition. It stems from a feeling hopeless and helpless to help an individual she loves so much. Most cases of this postpartum depression go untreated because the mother seems to come second to the baby. The idea of listening visits by the nursing staff was implemented to reduce this risk.

Listening visits were used to identify maternal depressive symptoms and provide nurse-delivered intervention. Typically, there are six sessions per family that are forty-five to sixty minutes long and followed a certain pattern regarding the focus of the session (Siewert 2015). The role of the nurse in this situation was to be a good listener, genuine, respectful, nonjudgmental, trustworthy, empathetic, and empowering towards these mothers who are struggling. It does not matter what economic or social situation the mother is in, she would receive the same sincere care by the nurses and there would be no discrimination. By becoming this outlet for mothers there was a reduction in stress, anxiety, and depression in most cases. Neonatal nurses first implemented this care to develop a therapeutic relationship with the mothers to incorporate active reflective listening and collaborative problem solving. They would help the mothers focus on their personal strengths and develop a course of action, so when the parents and baby got home it was a smooth transition. Depending on the condition of the mother following the NICU stay, the nurse could provide further medical or psychiatric care to help her reach her normal health again. Sadly, when a baby is in the NICU there are unfavorable outcomes and a nurse will play a different role in the lives of these parents.

In the NICU, a nurse will be a support unit for the parents the whole duration of their stay. Sometimes if there is nothing more they can do for the for the infant, nurses must help prepare parents for end-of-life care. When a nurse is first learning how to deal with these situations he or she is usually paired with an older, more experienced nurse. They are often caught between curative and futile care; sometimes all a nurse can do is focus on creating a better quality of life. Because a nurse spends so much time with the baby there’s a time between the nurse “knowing” and the parents/physician “knowing” that there is nothing left for them to do (Lewis 2017). During this time, a nurse will prepare for the inevitability that the parents will come to terms with the fact that their little girl or boy with not survive.

When it comes to the care and safety of mothers and newborns following childbirth nurses are there every step of the way. They care for both of their physical needs, while also monitoring the mother’s emotional/psychological wellbeing. The role of the nurse can vary slightly based on the circumstances of the birth but remain somewhat the same. The diverse specialties of nurses establish the focus of the care they will provide for the mother and infant. Despite having these specialties in nursing, the major goal of a nurse is to be a support unit for the mother and instruct her on whatever that she needs support with while making sure that the newborn is in satisfactory health.