OB nurse/educator

[moosemadness]

Hi all, just wondering from some of you postpartum nurses. How often do you do your fundal checks on postpartum women. I'm new to this hospital and I'm used to doing them q4 hours for the first 24 hours (after the immediate postpartum time) then q8 for 48 hours or till d/c home. Here they are doing them (after the immediate postpartum time) q12 hours. That seems odd to me. Can some of y'all share your routines at your hospital.Thank you.

[JaneyW]

I have worked at some hospitals that do q8, but most do q12 unless there are other indications that warrant another check.

[moongirl]

Q4 for first 24 hours, then Q8 till dc

[allthingsbright]

Wow, q12 at first seems risky to me! I work high risk OB--we do q 15 for the 1st hr, then q 30 mins for the 2nd hr, then in PP q4x24hrs OR PRN for Vag; q4x48hrs or PRN for c-sections, then for all deliveries q12hrs until d/c.

[moosemadness]

Thanks for the reply so far. I also think q 12 seems risky. Allthingsbright...... do you have a policy for that and what resourses do you use to back up your policy?? At the hospital you work at, do the non high risk staff follow the same times as the staff on your unit in high risk?? Thanks for everyones response. Will keep checking for more. Amazing how different things can be from one place to another.

[queenjean]

We do q 15 minutes x 1 hr, then q 30 x 1 hr, then q 1 hr x 2, then q 12. So basically they get very close monitoring for the first four hours (when the risk is greatest), and then q 12 hrs. This is for lady partsl births. C-sections are a bit different, I can't remember exactly what (I don't work on this floor anymore)

Almost all of our moms breastfeed. Between getting them up asap and the breastfeeding, I don't see where q 12 is such a bad idea.