Question

You are the nurse on duty in labor and delivery at a local hospital. D. H. comes to the unit having contractions. Upon examination, D.H. is 80% effaced and 4 cm dilated. The fetal heart rate (FHR) is 150 beats/ min and regular. She is admitted to a labor and delivery room. Identify and describe the stages and phases of labor. D.H. is in what stage of labor?

Answer 1

Labour is the cordinated sequence of involuntary ,intermittent uterine contractions.

There are four stages of labour

First stage=Effacement and dilation of cervix.it has three stages latent,active and transition.

Latent phase is the longest.A labour curve often called a Friedman curve maybe used to identify whether a womens cervical dilatation is progressing at the expected rate.Cervical dilatation is 1-4cm ,uterine contractrions occur every 15 to 30 minutes .

Active phase =cervical dilatation is 4-7cm,uterine contractions occur every 3-5 minutes,are 30 to 60 sec duration and are of moderate intensity.

Transition phase=cervical dilatation is 8 to 10 cm .uterine contractions occur every 2 to 3 minutes ,are 45 to 90 seconds in duration are of strong intensity.

Stage 2

cervical dilatation is complete.progress of labour is measured by descent of fetal head through the birth canal.Uterine contractions occur every 2 to 3 minutes,lasting 60 to 75 seconds and are of strong intensity.increase in bloody show occurs.Mother feels the urge to bear down .

Stage 3

Contractions occur until the placenta is expelled.placental separation and expulsion occur.Expulsion of occurs 5 to 30 minutes after the birth of the infant.

DH is in first stage of labour in the latent phase as the cervical dilatation is only 4cm.