Top Issues in OB Nursing

I'm a nursing student taking OB nursing this semester. I'm trying to pick a topic for a paper and I'm curious: what are the top issues in OB nursing that need to be dealt with day to day on the floor? Pain management? Safety? Cultural considerations? I am new to OB, I have no experience with anything OB-related so I'm coming into this class blind. Any help would be great.

What ideas do you have? Just considering what the OB dept. deals with (and you surely have a general idea) what do you think would be important?

If you list some of your thoughts we may be able to give you some guidance. The topic should be something you find interesting.

There are LOTS of possibilities: High rate of inductions (and potential risks related to), ridiculously high cesarean rate, high epidural rate (pros and cons, risks R/T), other methods of pain relief for labor including hydrotherapy, intermittent vs. continuous fetal monitoring, evidence regarding allowing women to eat in labor vs remaining NPO, etc,etc.

There are many things that are routinely done in OB that are not evidence based...

Good Luck on your paper!~