Labor and Delivery Nurse

The primary role of a labor and delivery nurse is to provide direct patient care throughout the entire birth experience from pre-labor through postpartum recovery. They are an essential part of the birthing team, ensuring that both mother and baby have a safe delivery experience.

Labor and delivery nurses have many responsibilities that involve providing care for pregnant women from the onset of labor until post-delivery. These duties include:

• Preparing rooms for deliveries including setting up equipment such as IV pumps or suction machinesPreparing rooms for deliveries including setting up equipment such as IV pumps or suction machines
• Monitoring vital signs such as blood pressure, temperature, fetal heart rate, etc., to ensure the mother’s health is stable during labor.
• Providing physical and emotional support to mothers during labor
• Monitoring fetal heart rate, assisting with childbirth procedures such as forceps or vacuum extraction if necessary
• Administering medications such as epidurals or narcotics injections as prescribed by the doctor if necessary during birth processes
• Assisting with positioning changes to help facilitate an easier birth experience for both mother and baby.
• Educating patients on proper breathing techniques during contractions or pushing stages of labor.
• Performing assessments on newborns immediately following birth including Apgar scores (assessment of color, heart rate, reflexes) and weighing/measuring babies at the time of birth.
• Providing postpartum care to both mother and baby, educating patients on breastfeeding techniques, and more.