Prenatal Nursing Care

Prenatal Nursing Care

The nursing diagnoses, interventions and outcomes in this Catalogue are organised in two
categories: Expected Changes of Pregnancy and Pregnancy at Risk. Each category includes
four sub-categories. The Expected Changes of Pregnancy category includes Physical,
Psychosocial, Behavioural changes, and Knowledge. The Pregnancy at Risk category
includes Physical, Psychosocial, Behavioural, and Environmental risks. Each category has
unique nursing diagnoses, interventions and outcomes. See Figure 1.

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Expected Changes of Pregnancy
Because pregnancy is a normal process, a pregnant woman is typically able to manage most
of the problems or issues that occur with some support from healthcare providers. Most
women progress through pregnancy without complications, requiring little specialised medical
or nursing intervention, yet prenatal care is essential for the health and well-being of both the
pregnant woman and the developing fetus. Prenatal Nursing Care
The Expected Changes of Pregnancy category includes problems or issues that occur during
healthy pregnancies. The nursing interventions in this category focus primarily on
surveillance, support, and education. The prenatal nurse monitors the health status of the
mother and foetus, provides emotional support, and teaches the pregnant woman and her
family about physiological and psychological changes during pregnancy, foetal development,
labour and childbirth, and care for the newborn.
Pregnancy at Risk
The second category in the Catalogue organising framework is Pregnancy at Risk. This
category includes the nursing diagnoses, interventions and outcomes for pregnant women
who need additional healthcare provider interventions to manage problems or issues that are
or may contribute to pregnancy complications.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014), the most severe
complications of pregnancy affect more than 50,000 women in the United States every year.
These women need additional nursing care and support based on the seriousness of the risk
or disease. Some prenatal related symptoms, such as anemia, bleeding, infection, and
vomiting, are more common and require medical intervention. Other, more serious
complications, for example preeclampsia and eclampsia, can be fatal. The statistical data of
the Global Burden of Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy revealed that 2.3% of all
preeclampsia cases resulted in eclampsia, and these hypertensive disorders are responsible
for 13% of maternal deaths (Christian & Krumwiede, 2013) Prenatal Nursing Care