maternity nursing

maternity nursing,

nursing care provided to women and their families during pregnancy and parturition and through the first days of the puerperium. Increasingly postpartum maternity nursing includes the supervision of the mothers' care of their newborns in rooming-in units and may include care of normal newborns in a nursery when they are not with their mother. Maternity nursing includes extensive instruction of mothers in the usual behavior and needs of a newborn, in expected patterns of growth and development of the infant during the first week, and in details of care needed by the mother during the first weeks after birth. Breastfeeding, bottle feeding, baby baths, perineal care, umbilical care, nutrition, and danger signs of the puerperium are usually taught by the maternity nurse. Observation for abnormal conditions, such as thrombophlebitis, mastitis, and other infections, is an ongoing concern in the puerperium. Intrapartum maternity nursing involves the care of mothers in labor and delivery, as well as high-risk nursing, emotional support in labor and delivery, and ongoing observation for the onset of abnormal signs or symptoms. Often pregnant women with medical problems associated with pregnancy are cared for on a special high-risk antepartum unit by specially educated maternity nurses.