Promoting admission in active labor for childbirth: Triage dynamics and early labor lounge use
Abstract
Background: Cesarean birth is the most common surgery amongst women of reproductive age and nearly one third of term pregnant women will birth via cesarean. All professional organizations involved in intrapartum care are advocating for reducing the rate. Overwhelming evidence supports admission in active labor as an effective strategy to promote vaginal birth. Yet, how this evidence translates into decision-making during triage is unknown. Use of an early labor lounge (ELL) as an alternative to hospital admission is one care innovation that has not been evaluated. Purpose: The study aims were to: 1) examine the dynamics of triage from the clinician perspective, and 2) explore the facilitators and barriers to use of an ELL by clinicians. Patient use of the ELL and satisfaction was also explored. Methods: A mixed methods approach was used. Semi-structured interviews of clinical staff were conducted using a qualitative descriptive approach to explore the triage and admission process. A framework analysis utilized the domains of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to identify barriers and facilitators to ELL use. Surveys examined the satisfaction of women after childbirth; for women using the ELL, their experience was also assessed. Results: Interviews revealed the decision-making triad among the pregnant woman, the provider, and the triage nurse that influences admission. The category that emerged is "Admission of Low-Risk Pregnant Women Depends on Many Factors." Four themes revealed were: 1) woman's expectation about birth, 2) woman's coping with labor, 3) variation in care management, and, 4) maternal and fetal safety. Several barriers and facilitators to ELL use were identified. A higher proportion of ELL users received their prenatal care from a midwife, were informed about the ELL during their prenatal visits, and experienced vaginal deliveries. Conclusion: Obstetrical triage is a complex process with multiple factors to be considered when deciding to admit a woman in labor. The decision making process and the use of an ELL must be further examined in a variety of settings to get a better understanding of context, birth outcomes and satisfaction with birth.Description
University of Maryland, Baltimore. Nursing. Ph.D. 2018Keyword
active labor admissionearly labor lounge
implementation
labor support
latent labor
obstetrical triage
Labor, Obstetric
Identifier to cite or link to this item
http://hdl.handle.net/10713/8030Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Factors Influencing the Use of Labor Management Interventions and Their Effect on Cesarean BirthIobst, Stacey Elaine; Johantgen, Mary E.; 0000-0002-6954-2903 (2018)Background: The cesarean birth (CB) rate of 31.9% in the US is concerning because the procedure is associated with increased maternal mortality as well as increased maternal and neonatal morbidity. Women considered low-risk for CB are defined as nulliparous and pregnant with a term, singleton gestation in the vertex position (NTSV). Even among NTSV women, cesarean rates range from 2.4% to 36.5% across hospitals, suggesting that CB may be influenced by differences in practice patterns, including admission triage, the use of labor management interventions (e.g., amniotomy, epidural analgesia, and oxytocin augmentation), and availability of a laborist. Purpose: The following were examined in three manuscripts: (1) influence of cervical dilation at admission on labor management and CB, (2) influence of provider and hospital characteristics on labor management and CB, (3) influence of combinations of labor management interventions on likelihood of CB. Methods: All three manuscripts were cross-sectional, observational studies of NTSV women with spontaneous onset of labor whose births occurred from 2002-2007 at hospitals included in the National Institutes of Health Consortium on Safe Labor. Samples sizes varied due to missing data but ranged from 17,443 to 26,259. Generalized linear mixed modeling was used to account for the effects of hospital and provider clusters. Results: Greater dilation at admission (>6 cm) was associated with a lower likelihood of receiving all three interventions (RR 0.40, CI95 0.35-0.46) and a lower likelihood of CB (4-5 cm: RR 0.44, CI95 0.40-0.49; >6 cm: RR 0.20, CI95 0.17-0.24). Midwives were more likely to use no interventions compared to obstetrician/gynecologists (RR 1.81, CI95 1.50-2.19). Women delivering at hospitals with an as-needed laborist available had a greater likelihood of receiving no interventions (RR 4.27, CI95 1.43-12.70) compared to those at hospitals with a 24/7 laborist. Compared to no interventions, use of all three interventions was associated with an increased likelihood of CB (RR 1.84, CI95 1.53-2.21). Conclusion: Admitting women at more advanced cervical dilation may reduce the use of labor management interventions and CB. The combined use of labor management interventions should be considered carefully given the association with an increased likelihood of CB.
-
A study of factors that contribute to the discrepancy between the high number of women receiving college education and the low number of women participating in the labor force in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.Samergandi, Rogayah Shokrallh A.; Oktay, Julianne S. (1992)The basic research question was why Saudi women are not working despite their educations and the government's need for their services (Saudi Arabia is the largest importer of foreign labor in the Arab world). With the recession period in the 1980s it became apparent that there was a pressing need for educated women to use their educational degrees appropriately and to contribute to the work force, thus meeting the women's increased personal needs and the government's need for labor. The research focused on the changes in modern Saudi women's roles and the ensuing problems. Empirical examination based on the concepts of modernization (particularly Riggs's prismatic theory), cultural lag, and status inconsistency theories framed the research. The research also examined Muslim women's roles and attempted to explain how in highly traditional societies, such as Saudi Arabia, religious and cultural norms suppress certain aspects of the modernization process by enforcing the role of women. Qualitative methods were used to conduct in-depth interviews with sixty-nine professional Saudi women (workers and nonworkers) in the city of (L) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study examined factors such as professional work opportunities; motivational factors for seeking a college education and for choosing not to work outside the home; and professional employment; social restraints; degree of family support; religious, modernization, and individual factors. Findings indicated that the importance of motherhood and wife roles, women's motivations for college educations for goals other than careers, lack of economic need before the recession in the 1980s, absence of employment opportunities (women's jobs were saturated), limited fields of education available for women (education, social work, and recently, medicine), and religious restraints were the most important factors that influenced women not to work outside their homes. Implications for practice include a need for increased services to assist women in balancing the demands of their roles. To solve transportation and childcare problems for working women, car pooling and childcare centers should be provided. Employment services, should be created such as job banks as well as full-time and part-time job sharing.
-
Statement from Lane Kirkland, President, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial OrganizationsKirkland, Lane (1981)Alcoholism and its accompanying affect upon family life, the community, the workplace and the individual is a problem of major national concern. It is one which the AFL-CIO has recognized for many years. Our Department of Community Services has been actively engaged in programs involving alcoholism since the AFL and CIO merged in 1955.