What are your nursing interventions in caring for a mother whos experiencing difficulty in labor?

Nursing Interventions for Labor Pain:

Labor is a life-changing and precious moment for a pregnant woman. After 9 months of completing a woman faces panic and make or break moments in her life. Nurses and traveling nurses both play a vital role during labor and delivery by providing necessary nursing interventions for them. The nurse is the first person who comes to contact with pregnant women. The nurse should be respectful, available encouraging, professional, and supportive during labor and delivery. A health care provider should ensure comfort measures, information, instructions, emotional supports, advocacy, and support for the family as nursing interventions during labor and delivery. This article is presented some information’s about nursing interventions during labor and delivery for a pregnant woman.

Nursing Interventions for Normal Delivery:

Some important nursing interventions for normal delivery have pointed out the below:

1. Promoting comfort by touching and reassurance as a basic nursing intervention.
2. Promote comfort by cool, damp washcloths on the women’s face.
3. Give Ice chips, frozen juice bars, or hard candy on a stick to reduce the discomfort of dry mouth.
4. Establish a therapeutic relationship with the pregnant woman and with her relatives.
5. The most important nursing interventions are providing emotional support and encourage verbalization of feelings to reduce anxiety.
6. Facilitate and encourage women for frequent position changes while women in bed.
7. Show respect to the woman and allow her family member if she wants.
8. Check maternal vital signs to identify the sign of hypertension or hypotension.
9. Check regularity, interval, frequency, and duration of contraction by palpation with finger trips.
10. Notify doctor about hypertonic contractions as it reduces placental blood flow.
11. Assess level, location, duration, intensity of pain, and factors that intensify or relieve pain.
12. Assess the severity of pain whether additional pain control measures are needed.
13. Check show (bloody) of true labor.
14. Perform vaginal examination to determine cervical effacement, fetal presentation, position, and station.
15. Perform vaginal examination for checking color, the character of amniotic fluid, and time of rupture.
16. Limit the frequency of vaginal examination to avoid the introduction of microorganisms.
17. Check fetal heart rate by auscultation and apply an external fetal monitor.
18. Check Fetal Heart Rate hourly during the latent phase, every 3o minutes during the active phase, and every 15 minutes during the second stage.
19. Assess Fetal Heart Rate more frequently if abnormalities are identified.
20. Carefully monitor intake output and each time of void.
21. Check the bladder every 2 hours or more to identify bladder distension.
22. Encourage the woman to void 2-3 hourly to avoid bladder distension.
23. Perform catheterization if unable to void and the bladder is distended.
24. Check urine for identifying protein and glucose.
25. Open an intravenous line to maintain hydration and for an emergency.
26. Ensure upright position to promote effective pushing and take advantage of gravity.
27. Keep the woman back, shoulders, and head up with a wedge.
28. Place woman’s legs in stirrups.
29. Arrange all instruments for final preparation of the birth.
30. Keep the perianal area clean during baby out.
31. Give episiotomy to prevent maternal and neonatal trauma and to progress the baby out.
32. The nurse should be prepared to receive the baby and continue to observed the woman’s perineum.
33. Encouraging women to put all their efforts into pushing the newborn to the outside world.
34. Receive newborn and ensure a warm environment.
35. Clean the newborn and cover with dry cloths to keep warm
36. Assess the newborn and provide initial nursing care is one of the key parts of nursing interventions.
37. Administer oxytocin as order and indicated after placental expulsion.
38. Instruct woman to push when signs of placenta separation apparent.
39. Carefully examine the placenta and fetal membranes for intactness.
40. Clean the perineum area after delivery to find any laceration.
41. Repair episiotomy and perianal laceration as indicated.
42. Apply an Ice pack to reduce swelling and numbness of the perineum.
43. Check uterine contraction, fundus of the uterus after delivery.
44. Check the amount, consistency, and color of vaginal bleeding after delivery.
45. Transfer the mother to the recovery room and ensure a warm environment.
46. Another Important nursing intervention is to check vital signs every 15 minutes of the mother after delivery.

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Maria Katun Mona is a Nursing and Midwifery Expert. Currently she is working as a Registered Nurse at Evercare Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. She has great passion in writing different articles on Nursing and Midwifery. Mail her at