Cesarean Section: A Case Study

These past couple of weeks working on the Mother Baby Care Unit have provided me with many opportunities to reflect on the care that I have be able to provide to each of my patients. In particular, one encounter that I found myself deeply reflecting on involved a situation in which I was assisting a patient who was struggling to breastfeed her daughter. For confidentiality purposes, this patient will be referred to as Rosie and her daughter will be referred to as Emily.

After the delivery, the heat from the mom’s body can warm the baby and maintains the baby’s body temperature. For instance, when nursing students were at the operating room at Saint Peter’s Hospital during the C-section delivery, as soon as the baby was out, the doctor placed the newborn on the mother’s chest. When the mother was alert and awake during the C-section made it possible for the baby to stay on her chest on the first hours after the birth. It was one of the most beautiful moments in life. Nevertheless, there was another C-section birth of diabetic mother. She was not fully awake during the C-section and the doctor only did not promote skin-to-skin mother and the newborn. The doctors and nurses at Saint Peter’s Hospital support and encourage skin-to-skin for mother and newborn right after the birth if there is no complication on mother or baby or when the condition is possible. Saint Peter’s Hospital has policy for vaginal delivery, “all infants that meet the criteria for initiate skin-to-skin care shall have skin-to-skin care implemented as the standard of care immediately after birth and as needed thereafter regardless of feeding preference”. They promote skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby immediately after delivery. However, mothers and babies have a physiologic need to be together during the minutes, hours, and days following birth, and this time together significantly improves maternal and newborn outcomes.

Skin to skin contact in the delivery room and breastfeeding are best for mothers and infant. Skin to skin contact helps mothers become confident with their infants, decreases the mother’s anxiety toward motherhood, helps produce more breast milk, and helps them become aware of their infant’s cues, not to mention an incredible lifelong bonding experience. As for the infant’s benefits of skin to skin contact, it helps with temperature regulation, stabilization of the heart rate, control of the infant’s blood sugar, and helps with weight gain. When initiating immediate skin to skin contact, infants should be placed on their mother’s chest for instinctive skills. The infant begins to smell their mother’s breast and look at their mother, which

For any mother the birth of a newborn child can be a challenging experience. As nurses it is part of our job to ensure their experience is positive. We can help do this by providing the information they will need to affective care for their newborn. This information includes topics such as, breastfeeding, jaundice, when to call your doctor and even how to put your baby to sleep. When the parents have an understanding of these topics before discharge it can largely reduce their natural anxiety accompanied with the transition to parenthood. Health teaching for new parents is seen as such an important aspect of care on post-partum floors it is actually a necessary component that needs to be covered before the hospital can discharge the

The author is a nurse in a level two trauma facility in a community of approximately fifty thousand people in Oregon. The community is a college-town surrounded by a large agricultural area. There is a minimal ethnic diversity within the community. The diversity present occurs mainly from internationally students and faculty from the college. There is a growing population of women who desire low interventional births in the community. The author has worked on the labor and delivery unit of the hospital for the last 14 years. The hospital is the only one in the area to offer trial of labor services to women who have previously undergone a cesarean section. The unit on average experiences around 1000 deliveries annually.

To help prevent this issue I have created a program for the Fairfax hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to facilitate the bond between mother and child while both are recovering and being cared for. The pilot program called “rooming-in” allows mother and child to be on the same private room where other family can also stay. The room will be designed to give maximum support to both mother and baby by having all resources in room as well as a private team of nurses.

The neonatal unit is a unit that is designed to take care of premature infants. The nurses are not only taking care of the infants but also the parents. While parents have children in the neonatal unit their stress level is much higher. When a mother gives birth to her and her spouse’s child, she is experiencing

The article, Gentle Caesarean Delivery by Jackie Tillet, starts by explaining how Caesarean deliveries are reforming to be more naturalistic or “gentle”. This is done by having a family presence in the delivery room, and by providing an ambient environment. Many hospitals have implemented procedure changes not only to promote the family ambiance, but also to imitate the feeling of coming out of the birth

Parents of premature infants are also provided the opportunity to participate in Kangaroo Care – a form of skin-to-skin contact that encourages bonding, interaction and cuddling between parents and small babies. In addition to the emotional and psychological benefits of Kangaroo Care, this technique encourages breastfeeding, helps baby to sleep better and contributes to being released from hospital earlier. At Sharp Mary Birch’s hospital the NICU has a multidisciplinary team which consists of lactation specialists, neonatal nurse practitioners, nurses, nutritionists, occupational and physical therapists, physicians, respiratory care practitioners and social workers. Whether a baby was born prematurely is with other complications, this specialty care unit is a place where babies can grow, heal, and receive the highest quality medical care and attention. The Maternal Infant Services (MIS) Unit at Sharp Mary Birch provides care for women after their delivery of their babies. They monitor the mothers and babies physical recoveries and provide education and practice in caring for the new baby. Sharp Mary Birch has some of the best combination of technology, medical services and the healing arts programs for their patients, which also include cord blood banking. Sharp HealthCare has partnered

With a cesarean, mothers and babies are less likely to have skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth. Skin to skin contacts have several

Today, most hospitals do not give enough time to provide adequate transition between the birth and discharge; mothers delivering in a hospital may leave the hospital as soon as they are medically stable, which can be as early as a few hours postpartum. The average for spontaneous vaginal delivery is one to two days, and the average caesarean section postnatal stay is three to four days (Bryanton, & Beck, 2010). During hospital stays, mothers are monitored for physiological functions such as bleeding, bowel, bladder, uterus, and psychological functions such as emotional status, bonding, and newborn care. Unfortunately, after discharge, mothers are left

There are a plethora of benefits associated with skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth. Though evidence-based practice has identified the benefits associated with skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth, there is a disparity based on type of birth. Mothers who deliver via caesarean section often have less opportunity for immediate skin-to-skin contact with their baby after birth. This article focuses on the benefits of skin-to-skin contact and includes a research study comparing the opinions of mothers who have experienced caesarean section births, with and without immediate skin-to-skin contact after birth.

The latest research of skin-to-skin care is that when it is used there should be modified visiting policies and cluster care to allow more uninterrupted time for the parents and the newborn. More of the research has shown that door hangers should be provided to mothers when they do not want to be disturbed. Also, a garment should be given to mothers and fathers to facilitate skin-to-skin care. One last part of the newest research is to institute an afternoon naptime for mothers to decrease fatigue and safety concerns (Ferrarello & Hatfield, 2014). In the end, Evidence Based Practice will improve patient outcomes and help healthcare professionals make the best decisions when it comes to their

In the United States, there are approximately 3.9 million women giving birth within a year (DCD, 2015). Improving maternity and birth outcomes has long been a pivotal part of public health. Health providers continue to work towards improved birth outcomes through enhanced processes, improved patient care and advanced research benefiting mothers and infants’ worldwide.

Odent (2002) and Buckley (2002) both emphasise the significance of undisturbed post-birth period and they explain the benefits are closely linked in mother and baby. The authors highlight that the first hour after birth is optimal for bonding, as oxytocin and endorphins levels are at high in both mother and baby. Farrell and Sittlington (2009) maintain that during the first hour newborns usually have a long period of alert state. Laura’s baby was alert and ready to breastfeed. The early skin-to-skin contact enabled Laura to recognise her baby’s feeding cues. According to Farrell and Sittlington (2009), early breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact are significantly linked to exclusive breastfeeding at the time of discharge from hospital. They also promote good mother-baby relationship and stimulate lactation. Buckley (2002) argues that early breastfeeding provided a life-long benefit to Laura’ baby 's gut system. Christensson (1992) adds that undisturbed early skin-to-skin contact satisfied Laura’s newborn 's physical needs, helping her to regulate her body temperature, heart rate and breathing and also resulted in less crying than if she was placed in the cot.