Experiences with post-maturity

dawngloves, BSN, RN · Jun 26, 2006

.the 37/38 week scheduled C/S that turns out to be a chicken tender 35/36 weeker.

:lol2: Chicken tender!!! Can I use that??!

LilPeanut, MSN, RN, NP · Jul 1, 2006

I will disagree with it - normal human gestation can last for 38-42 weeks. If the baby is healthy and the mom is healthy, it is very possible that either dates are off, or the baby needs more time to mature. We've all seen 38 or even 40 weekers who act younger than their age, despite confidence in the EDD. I think more frequent and careful monitoring should be done, but not an automatic assumption that being past 40w is bad.

Gompers, BSN, RN · Jul 1, 2006

I will disagree with it - normal human gestation can last for 38-42 weeks. If the baby is healthy and the mom is healthy, it is very possible that either dates are off, or the baby needs more time to mature. We've all seen 38 or even 40 weekers who act younger than their age, despite confidence in the EDD. I think more frequent and careful monitoring should be done, but not an automatic assumption that being past 40w is bad.

But you've had to have seen some stuff working in the NICU - and some of the sickest babies any of us have ever seen happened to be post-term meconium aspiration babies. It's only natural that we NICU nurses get a bit nervous when we hear that a baby is 41+ weeks. The incidence of meconium in the amniotic fluid at that age skyrockets.

LilPeanut, MSN, RN, NP · Jul 3, 2006

But you've had to have seen some stuff working in the NICU - and some of the sickest babies any of us have ever seen happened to be post-term meconium aspiration babies. It's only natural that we NICU nurses get a bit nervous when we hear that a baby is 41+ weeks. The incidence of meconium in the amniotic fluid at that age skyrockets.

It goes up, and of course you see the sickest babies in the NICU. But, it is also very irresponsible IMO to say that nothing good happens after 40 weeks. 40 weeks is an average. Some babies need more, some need less. Careful monitoring and evaluation needs to be done, but it isn't automatically a bad thing.

Mimi2RN, ASN, RN · Jul 3, 2006

Chicken tender!!! Can I use that??!

Sure you can!

You know the kind I mean........kind of soft, pink and underdone! Maybe they can breath OK now, but anything else is totally beyond them. The report starts out "todays scheduled section".