[9 MIN READ]

Standardization is known for reducing variation and increasing consistency; it continues to be a recognized safeguard to decreasing liability and improving outcomes.

High-quality postpartum care includes implementation of both standardized discharge processes and teaching that can improve maternal outcomes.

AWHONN promotes postpartum discharge standardization and encourages that specific components of postpartum discharge teaching align with leading causes of maternal morbidity and mortality.

While we previously outlined best practices in postpartum discharge teaching strategies, here we will discuss specific standardized teaching content that needs to be communicated to postpartum patients and their families at the time of discharge or sooner.

Educating patients and their families to recognize important warning signs and symptoms and clearly understand normal healing versus abnormal symptomatology is strategic in reducing maternal morbidity and mortality.

[2 MIN READ]

Designing a continuing education program for your obstetrics department can be a challenging task. You want to balance the needs of all clinicians on your unit, address areas of concern, and keep pace with the ever-changing landscape of evidence-based practice and emerging national guidelines and trends. TSG’s RSQ® Solutions – Obstetrics Education program can meet your needs; our online library offers you the ability to customize your own program specific to the challenges of your own OB unit.

[4 MIN READ]

ACOG has issued a practice advisory regarding the recent measles outbreak.

It is hard to fathom that a disease once considered eradicated is now in a state of progression across the United States. To date, there are 764 reported cases across 23 states; this number has increased by 60 cases from the previous week as reported by the CDC. No state is immune, and nationwide advancement is probable.

[8 MIN READ]

Unprecedented maternal mortality and morbidity rates nationwide have pushed healthcare providers and obstetric experts to closely examine all areas of perinatal and obstetric health. Specifically, the postpartum period is a time of heightened patient vulnerability and is fraught with maternal risk. Sixty-one percent of pregnancy-related deaths occur in the postpartum period, making it potentially more hazardous to a woman’s health than the actual pregnancy itself.

[6 MIN READ]

After reading the case with perspective on how to recognize secondary postpartum hemorrhage, it's critical to understand why it occurs and how to treat it.

Etiology of Secondary PPH

Why does secondary PPH occur? The normal physiologic changes associated with pregnancy are the perfect predisposition for an unrecognized hemorrhage. Typically, pregnant women are young and healthy with increases in circulating blood volume and hormonal and vascular changes specific to pregnancy. All of this creates the perfect environment for hemorrhage.

[4 MIN READ]

Your Postpartum Patient

Your postpartum patient was not complaining. Her vital signs were stable. She had experienced a prolonged labor, but to your knowledge, her vaginal delivery the previous day went well. Her recovery seemed to be progressing nicely. The morning report did not reveal that she was at any risk.

[3 MIN READ]

Correct patient identification has long been at the top of the list regarding safety.

A recent TSG article by Dr. Tom Syzek entitled “Medical Errors, Communication, Teamwork and End of Life: Lessons from Angola” speaks to the importance of correct patient identification and the safety implications surrounding it. This article dovetails nicely with the new 2019 Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) regarding newborn identification, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to keep the conversation relevant and on-topic by addressing this new NPSG.

World Breastfeeding Month gives us an opportunity to highlight the benefits of breastfeeding as a life-saving infant feeding practice. In support of the importance of breastfeeding exclusivity and skin-to-skin (STS) for the reduction of infant morbidity and mortality, Bill Gates recently wrote, “Some of the best breakthrough ideas don’t involve technology at all. There is a solution that is readily available, requires no special equipment, and is so cheap any government can support it.”

[8 MIN READ]

“Maternal Death”

The words are bone-chilling. Nothing can describe being witness to it. Such an event encompasses the ultimate emotional spectrum – the highest of highs at the time of the newborn’s birth to the lowest of lows as the mother succumbs to maternal emergency. The lasting impact of watching a new father and family members exit the hospital OB unit or ICU to head home with a new infant in tow with conspicuous absence of the child’s mother creates palpable heartache. The emotional ripple-effect impacts friends, family, and medical staff for years to come.

[10 MIN READ]

Have you ever wondered as an Labor and Delivery RN how many hours during your shift you spend staring at fetal heart tracings?

I’ll bet you have never tried to tally such a figure, but I’d venture to guess it encompasses not only a large portion of your daily practice, but an enormous part of your career as well.

During a 12-hour shift of managing labor induction, you could easily spend approximately 5-6 hours or more actually staring at the monitor. That’s 50% of your shift! This translates into the possibility that half of your intrapartum career is immersed in FHR tracings!

This enormity speaks volumes to expectations of your ability to understand and manage the fetal tracing. Your knowledge base should be solidly comprehensive and your ability to articulate standardized definitions rapid. If litigation were ever to knock at your door, would you be able to defend your actions surrounding your interpretation and analysis of the FHR tracing?

Failure to recognize, failure to act, and failure to communicate have been cited as three litigious areas of concern regarding FHR monitoring. Let’s take a look at six common “pitfalls” that can get you into trouble regarding tracing analysis.