Postpartum Assessment & Complications
This postpartum complication is the most common cause of heavy bleeding after birth due to a poorly contracted uterus.
What is uterine atony?
This hormone increases in breastfeeding mothers and helps with milk production.
What is prolactin?
Bluish hands and feet in the first few days of life; normal and temporary.
What is acrocyanosis?
Postpartum mood shift characterized by tearfulness, emotional swings, and resolving within 2 weeks.
What are postpartum blues?
When the umbilical cord slips below the presenting part — the priority nursing action is this patient position.
What is knee-chest or hands-and-knees position?
This is the timeframe when reproductive organs return to their pre-pregnant state.
What is the puerperium (fourth trimester)?
Breastfeeding mothers should be taught to look for this cue — an early hunger signal — before crying begins.
What is rooting or sucking motions?
The first stool a baby passes — thick, black, tarry.
What is meconium?
This red flag related to mood disorders requires immediate safety assessment.
What are thoughts of harming themselves or the baby?
Medication given before preterm birth to promote fetal lung maturity.
What are corticosteroids (e.g., betamethasone)?
A full bladder can cause the uterus to shift upward and to the side — putting the patient at risk for this complication.
What is postpartum hemorrhage?
A tender, red, warm area on one breast accompanied by flu-like symptoms suggests this condition.
What is mastitis?
A protective, cheesy, white coating on the newborn’s skin.
What is vernix caseosa?
Touching, naming, and describing similarities between parents and baby demonstrates this bonding behaviour.
What is claiming?
Turning the fetus manually from breech to cephalic late in pregnancy.
What is an external cephalic version?
Cramping pain caused by repeated contractions of the uterus after delivery, especially common in multiple gestations or large babies.
What are afterpains?
The most reliable sign that a newborn is effectively feeding and well hydrated.
Soft swelling that crosses suture lines from pressure during birth; resolves in a few days.
What is caput succedaneum?
The Apgar score is assessed at these two times after birth.
What are 1 minute and 5 minutes?
Infants of diabetic mothers are at high risk for this metabolic complication shortly after birth.
What is hypoglycemia?
A temperature of 38°C (100.4°F) or higher on two consecutive days postpartum may indicate this.
What is a puerperal/postpartum infection?
What is an infectious disease that is contraindicated with breastfeeding in developed nations
What is HIV
The safest way to prevent heat loss immediately after birth.
What is skin-to-skin / kangaroo care?
The most critical adaptation the newborn must make immediately after delivery.
What is establishing effective respirations?
The first two things you should do when you suspect a PPH.
What is call for help and fundal massage?