1

Postpartum Journal

Alexa Harkins
Youngstown State University
OB rotation: St. Joe’s Hospital
Marsha Lapolla
September 21st, 2023
 2

Today, I had the opportunity to be on the postpartum wing for this clinical day. I did not know how I
would feel about doing postpartum, but I really enjoyed it. Like watching the patient interact with her
little girl and hearing a background story of her life, granted she was only 20 years old. It was very
sweet to see how happy my patient’s mom was for her and her grandbaby, this is a very heartful part of
OB, in my opinion.

The nursing skills and competencies complete today were vital signs on the mom, daily care needs for
mom, assist in feeding the baby and education provided to mom for a few questions she had for me. The
pt. had asked me why her hemoglobin was slightly lower than right before she gave blood and I was able
to put her at ease by letting her know it is just from losing blood during her vaginal birth and it is
completely normal. I also provided her some education on proper feeding and tried to calm any worries
about becoming a new, young mom, that she may have had. I observed my nurse administer a pain
medication for the patient. I also completely a full head to toe on my patient, as well as learned how to
do a bubble assessment on the mom, which I hope to feel confident enough to do on my own in the
future. Interpersonal communication was something I felt went really well for me with my patient. Since
my patient was only 20 years old, I felt I was able to relate to her with many different things, which
helped her feel more comfortable too.

The first nursing diagnosis would be lack of knowledge r/t first time (inexperienced), young
pregnancy.
The second nursing diagnosis would be acute pain due to the midline episiotomy the pt. had
done during labor.

The most significant learning experience I had was the bubble assessment. I feel like this is something
that seems very intimidating, until you actually complete it. The bubble assessment is so important in
making sure mom is healthy after giving birth and that everything is normal for her body. My patient’s
bubble assessment was all normal, which was good. I think something else important that I experienced
was assisting another patient in her first postpartum shower. This was a C-section patient, so she was
very sore and had to be careful with how she moved to get out of bed, which was good to learn for when
I take care of more patients like this in the future. I assisted in setting up the shower, doing a full bed
change, dressing the patient afterwards and even caring for her newborn twins while she was taking her
shower. I think something so simple as a shower can be very important in providing your patient with
top care.

The first course objective met is: “Implement effective interpersonal skills with acute or chronically ill
childbearing family members, women clients & their families, peer, and health team members.” I
demonstrated this in my care for the mom throughout my clinical day. Most of the evening she was by
herself, aside from her mother being there for a short period of time. The patient expressed to me that
dad is not in the picture, so it was crucial for me the be her crutch and be there for her in a time period
like this. Having interpersonal skills is crucial in helping the patient feel comfortable and at ease.

The second course objective met is “Develop a nursing care plan that facilitates the childbearing family
& woman’s return to optimal health & wellness, and uses teaching concepts that meet the educational
needs of each family member as well as the individual woman.” This was met because I educated the
patient in when she should be feeding her baby, as well as how she should position her baby and how
often she should feed.
 3

The third course objective is “3. Evaluate how legal, ethical, political, economic, cultural, social, and
safety issues impact the health care needs of the childbearing family and women throughout the life
span.” This was met because my patient expressed concerns of feeling judged by others her age and
about not having the same 20-year-old lifestyle that everyone else is going to have.

Overall, I did have a good experience and feel like it was an informational and educational clinical day.
Everyone talks a lot about what to do for the mom leading up to labor, but not many people talk about
caring for the mom postpartum. This is such an important part of the nursing care because it is our
responsibility to make sure the patient feels fit and comfortable in becoming a mom. That she
understands her role and how to care for her newborn baby. Many people say you “just know” how to
take care of your child when you are a mom, but it does not always come naturally to people and that is
okay. I think it was very beneficial to experience what I did during this clinical and hope to apply these
things to the next post-partum mom I care for, to provide the best care I can.