Skip to ContentGo to accessibility page
Maternal Newborn Nursing

What Should the Nurse Do?

Maternal Newborn NursingWhat Should the Nurse Do?

What Should the Nurse Do?

Remy, a 32-year-old female, arrives at the obstetrics and gynecology clinic after experiencing vaginal bleeding and abdominal cramps at 10 weeks of gestation. She is visibly distressed and tearful. Remy reports having a smooth first trimester until yesterday when she noticed the bleeding. She denies any trauma or abdominal pain. Remy has a history of one previous full-term pregnancy without complications and no chronic medical conditions. Her vital signs include a blood pressure of 120/80 mm Hg, a heart rate of 80 beats per minute, and a respiratory rate of 18 breaths per minute. The health-care team is concerned about a potential early pregnancy loss.
1 .
How might Remy's previous full-term pregnancy history contribute to the analysis of the current situation?
2 .
As the nurse, what immediate actions should be taken to address Remy's bleeding and cramps?
Cindy, a 28-year-old female, arrives at the labor and delivery unit after experiencing decreased fetal movement at 38 weeks of gestation. She reports a sudden onset of abdominal pain and is visibly anxious. Cindy has a history of gestational diabetes, well controlled with diet, and a previous uncomplicated vaginal delivery. Fetal heart rate monitoring reveals absent fetal heart tones, and ultrasound confirms the devastating news of an intrapartum fetal death.
3 .
Considering the absence of fetal heart tones, what would be the priority hypotheses regarding the cause of the intrapartum fetal death, and how would you approach communicating this information to Cindy?
4 .
As the nurse, what immediate and long-term solutions can be implemented to support Cindy and her family in the aftermath of an intrapartum fetal death?
Citation/Attribution
Reuse and redistribution of this content in digital or print format:
  • This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's prior written permission.
  • This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License, which means that you can reuse and modify the material only for noncommercial purposes, must attribute OpenStax, and must distribute any derivative works under the same license.
  • Any commercial printing of this textbook, including using a local or custom printer, must be approved by OpenStax, and proper citation provided.
  • OpenStax-copyrighted images, activities, assessments, and similar components of this book are subject to the same licensing – CC-BY-NC-SA. They can be used for noncommercial purposes with attribution. Commercial use requires permission.
  • Permission requests: Anyone who intends to incorporate this content (including text, images, and other components) into large language models, use it in AI offerings, use it commercially (including in print), and/or has questions about another use case is welcome to complete our reuse request form.
Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/maternal-newborn-nursing/pages/1-introduction

  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial digital format, then for every page that includes OpenStax content, you must license the derivative work under the same CC-BY-NC-SA license as the original, and include on every digital page view the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/maternal-newborn-nursing/pages/1-introduction

Citation information

The information below includes the information needed to generate citations in most major styles (APA, MLA, etc.); you must reformat and organize the information as needed to fit the requirements of the style. Use the information below to generate a citation. We recommend using a citation tool such as this one.

© Jul 23, 2026 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo, and Rice University name, and Rice University logo trademarks, or wordmarks are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.