The Ties That Bind-Nurses, Mothers, and Antepartum Care

摘要

The diagnosis, treatment, and care of women with complications during the antepartum period have changed dramatically during my 40 years of practice. Health care professionals are challenged to provide care for women who present with varied medical issues. Previously, women may have been hospitalized for a few days and then sent home with portable monitoring, medication, and recommendations for bed rest. Remaining on bed rest was very difficult, especially if they had other children, even with the best of family support. This often failed, causing women to travel back and forth to the hospital, totally disrupting their lives. Many went into labor early, necessitating lengthy NICU stays for their newboms or, worse yet, loss of the newborn.Today, women are admitted to the hospital in early pregnancy, sometimes by 20 weeks gestation, and remain through birth.