Timing and Fetal-to-neonatal Transition (Nursing)

00:01 So, the work has been done and Cletus the Fetus is here.

00:06 We are in the labor suite.

00:07 And now we want to talk about, what the nurse does in terms of assessing Cletus, who's no longer a fetus.

00:14 Cletus is the baby to see that everything is healthy.

00:17 We're going to talk about the normal newborn assessment.

00:21 We'll break this discussion down into two parts.

00:24 We'll talk about how we assess the newborn immediately after delivery? And then a much more detailed head to toe assessment that we do after four stage.

00:34 So remember, four stage happens at those first two hours after delivery.

00:38 So sometime around there, we'll engage in a more in depth assessment.

00:42 So we'll talk about that a little bit later.

00:44 Now, Cletus has a lot of work to do once they are born.

00:48 And so we want to really think about what those steps are? One of the biggest things Cletus will have to do is moved from fetal circulation to adult circulation.

00:59 Now, I'm going to ask you to go back and revisit fetal circulation.

01:03 But we've included this in this lecture, so you'll have a hint.

01:07 The next thing Cletus has to do is learn to breathe air.

01:10 Everything was done by the birthing person.

01:13 So all that oxygen exchange and all that change of nutrients, everything happened between the placenta and the birthing person and Cletus was just relaxing.

01:23 Now, Cletus is going to have to do the work all on their own.

01:26 And so it's important that they are able to breathe oxygen.

01:31 The next task is going to be maintaining temperature.

01:34 So again, all that fluid and everything the birthing person was doing helped the baby to stay at a really normal temperature.

01:42 But once they're born, all of that has to be done by the baby.

01:45 This is a task and it's not always easy.

01:49 Also, during this transition, Cletus is going to have to take over maintenance of glucose.

01:54 The placenta, and the birthing person also took care of making sure that the baby stayed pretty much new glycemic.

02:01 But after the baby's born, they'll have to do this all on their own.

02:05 And finally, we'll talk about how the baby transitions from producing fetal hemoglobin which was just fine in utero to adult hemoglobin, which is what they'll need to be healthy and stay at a normal hemoglobin level after they're born.