I'm newly registered though I've been lurking for a while. I'm a second semester nursing student. My question does not have to do with a patient experience but rather a personal one.
I have a friend, we'll call her S. She is 39 weeks pregnant and is admitted to the local hospital for as she put it, a "gall bladder infection". Being that she is a friend rather than a patient, I do not have access to her chart and she is not very specific on what is going on. She has been having the same issue since she was at least 5 weeks pregnant (so she says). Her doctor doesn't want to do anything until the baby is born. Her diet consists mainly of fast food (as far as I know she is not on any prenatal vitamins or healthy diet).
So now she has been put on a clear liquid diet. And she is refusing to eat it. She wants McDonalds or Burger King or Wendy's. She made a comment on facebook how she's refusing the clear liquid diet and now "the IV will just have to take care of her" (which I am assuming is TPN).
I've tried talking to her about how she won't feel better if she doesn't listen to the drs and nurses or that she at least needs to listen to them for the good of the baby.
Any advise from nurses that have delt with this kind of thing?
Thanks everyone. I tried talking to her about her nutrition and she just kept repeating she's fine she's fine she's fine. So I've done what I can as a friend. Luckily, she lives with her inlaws while her husband is overseas and her MIL has a 1 year herself so she won't be alone.
When I was an intern, would you believe there was a woman that came into the OB, with "preterm" labor..she was 37 weeks along and they administered IV meds in order to stop her labor. I can't remember exactly which drug.
I couldn't believe it. Well, she had a major, vagal reaction and that was the end of that.
However, I couldn't believe the physician did that to start with. She delivered her baby later on that night, which was roughly 7 1/2 lbs.
To understand this better you may want to read the post and referenced article titled "March of Dimes". It will give you a better understanding of why a provider would attempt to stop contractions at 37 weeks.
To understand this better you may want to read the post and referenced article titled "March of Dimes". It will give you a better understanding of why a provider would attempt to stop contractions at 37 weeks.
Uh..I'm a NICU nurse.
37 weekers in my facility, don't even come up to the NICU unless they are having major issues or are drug addicted and we send many 34 and 35 weekers HOME.
So I disagree...that mother's body was telling her that her baby was ready. Due dates are not an exact science unless you know the exact date of conception..it is a very, very good educated guess, but no, not exact.
The mother had a very traumatic event with the vagal response, we had to roll her and then they started an IV an pumped her with fluids...all unexpected. She was cool as a cucumber when she came in...so that whole event was unncessary.
The L&D nurses refused to do anything else to stop her labor and the mother's labor progressed, uneventfully, two pushes, no repairs. Baby and Mom went home in 24 hours.
The article you referred me to is NOT the same thing. That article refers to infants who are induced or who have scheduled c-sections and are not natural events of labor near 40-weeks. That is not, by any stretch of the imagination, an indication that the baby is ready..when the baby is ready, nature will take over unless there is a medical reason to intervene.
That is why you have so many artificially induced near-term infants delivered by c-section and inductions in the NICU.....b/c it wasn't a naturally occurring delivery. So it does not surprise me that these babies sometimes have problems...because we are forcing their arrival.
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Okay, I'm not an OB nurse but why not deliver the baby if she is 39 weeks pregnant?
Many doctors would.
However, if she's not in labor, and if her cervix is unfavorable, then there are significant risks to trying to deliver the baby when her body/her baby are not ready.
If left to their own devices, many women, especially first time mothers, will go to 41-42 weeks. So even at 39 weeks, there's no guarantee that her baby is ready and fully developed.
I would say that it's doubtful she's on TPN. They probably have her on D5LR or something similar.
It might help to remind her that at 39 weeks she probably won't have to put up with such a diet much longer. Whenever I had discomforts during pregnancy it always helped to know that I was not going to have them much longer and would be holding my cute baby (most of my problems didn't start until late in my pregnancy anyway).
VANursetobe
6 Posts
Thanks everyone. I tried talking to her about her nutrition and she just kept repeating she's fine she's fine she's fine. So I've done what I can as a friend. Luckily, she lives with her inlaws while her husband is overseas and her MIL has a 1 year herself so she won't be alone.
Thanks for everyone's support