Maternity care refers to systematic nursing care for women from pregnancy to breastfeeding, encompassing prenatal care, postpartum recovery, and maternal and infant care during breastfeeding. It includes dietary management, health monitoring, psychological support, and prevention of common maternal and infant illnesses.
Care targets pregnant women, postpartum women, and newborns, aiming to ensure the physical health and safety of both mother and child.
Postpartum Care
- Service Target: Postpartum women
- Daily Care: Nutritional meal planning and full-body bathing assistance.
- Professional Care: Postpartum observation and care, postpartum psychological counseling, breastfeeding assistance, and breast health care.
- Health Guidance: Assisting postpartum women with postpartum exercises and recovery.
- Daily Services: Preparation of nutritious meals for postpartum women, laundry for postpartum women and babies, and room cleaning.
Postpartum Care
- Daily Care: Maintaining fresh indoor air, monitoring the mother's physical condition (primarily breasts, lochia, and bowel movements), washing and disinfecting her clothing, assisting with bathing if she is unable to care for herself, and ensuring her diet.
- Breast Care: Assist mothers with breast cleansing, warm compresses, and massage to relieve breast tenderness and pain, and provide guidance on proper breastfeeding posture.
- Postpartum Recovery: Provide guidance on postpartum recovery exercises to restore their figure.
- Nutritional Meals: Provide a balanced diet and prepare nutritious meals for mothers.
- Psychological Guidance: Communicate with mothers and share parenting experiences.
Pregnancy: Pregnancy is the process by which the embryo and fetus develop and grow within the mother's body. It begins with the fertilization of a mature egg and ends with the expulsion of the fetus and its appendages from the mother. The average duration of pregnancy is approximately 38 weeks (266 days).
Conditions Required for Embryo Implantation in the Uterus:
① Disappearance of the zona pellucida
② Differentiation of syncytiotrophoblasts from the blastocyst
③ Synchronous and coordinated development of the blastocyst and the endometrium
④ Adequate estrogen and progesterone in the mother's body.
The decidua is divided into three parts:
① Decidua basalis, the maternal portion that develops into the placenta;
② Decidua capsularis, which fuses closely with the true decidua at 14-16 weeks of gestation;
③ Decidua true, the decidua covering the rest of the uterine cavity.
Fetal Appendages
- Placenta: Composed of the amnion, chorionic villi, and decidua basalis. It is thick in the center and thin at the edges. The fetal side is attached to the amnion, which is gray-blue, smooth, and translucent. The umbilical cord is located in the center or slightly to the side. The maternal side is dark red with a rough surface.
Functions: Gas exchange, nutrient supply, excretion of fetal metabolic products, defense (placental barrier), and hormone and enzyme synthesis.
- Fetal Membranes: Maintain the integrity of the amniotic cavity, protect the fetus, and initiate labor.
- Umbilical Cord: Length ranges from 30 to 100 cm in full term, averaging 55 cm. It contains one umbilical vein and two umbilical arteries.
- Amniotic Fluid: Derived from maternal serum dialysate in early pregnancy and fetal urine after mid-term. At 38 weeks of gestation, the amniotic fluid is approximately 1000ml, and at 40 weeks, it is approximately 800ml. (Amniotic fluid is continuously swallowed by the fetus and absorbed by the amniotic membrane, maintaining a dynamic balance.) >2000ml is considered excessive, and <300ml is considered insufficient. Protect both the fetus and the mother.