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Routine Labor Care
A Certified Doula Explains the Basic Components of Maternity Care
By Kelly Camden, Certified Doula
Because Pitocin is causing the uterus to contract strongly, it causes increased after pains. Many mothers begin to shake, as if they are shivering. This is partly due to the hormone rush of birth, but Pitocin, a synthetic hormone, increases the shaking. It improves in a relatively short amount of time, usually by half an hour following the birth.
If a mother does not have an IV in place but needs Pitocin to slow bleeding after the birth, she can receive it quickly and easily through an intra-muscular injection in the thigh. Also, breastfeeding or manual nipple stimulation can help to slow bleeding.
Following the birth, care providers will continue to take vital signs, monitor the uterus and the amount of bleeding. If the mother had an epidural, the epidural catheter can be removed soon after the birth. Once the mother has regained sensation in her legs again and the blood pressure is stable, the nurse will help her to walk to the bathroom. By this time, the staff is preparing to transfer mother and baby to the postpartum unit, where they will remain for the rest of the hospital stay.
Want to see more?
- Comfort Measures for Labor: A Certified Doula Answers Questions on Comfort During Labor
- Navigating a Natural Birth: A Certified Doula Answers Questions on Natural Childbirth
- Childbirth Class Comparison: A Certified Doula Discusses Childbirth Preparation Classes
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