Helping mothers before, during, and after bringing a new life into the world is no small undertaking.
You’re a part of some of the biggest changes in their lives.
Every labor and delivery story is different — and you’re going to be one of the biggest parts of that story.
As a labor and delivery nurse, you understand how rewarding and demanding being a good labor and delivery nurse is — but you’re always looking for ways to improve your care for new mothers and their families.
We’re providing our best labor and delivery nurse tips so that you can give the best care for your patients in their most vulnerable — and precious — moments.
Table of Contents
- What Makes a Great Labor and Delivery Nurse?
- 3 Labor and Delivery Nurse Tips To Help Enhance the Care You’re Providing
- #1: Be a Reliable Support System
- #2: Advocate When Necessary
- #3: Continue to Learn
- Interested in Becoming a Labor & Delivery Travel Nurse? With Pronto, Finding Labor and Delivery Nurse Contracts Is Easy
What Makes a Great Labor and Delivery Nurse?
As with any nursing role, being a great labor and delivery nurse takes:
- Time
- Patience
- Knowledge
- Empathy; and
- Skill
This includes everything from bedside manner to not only providing effective pain management, but knowing how to be a support person during some of the happiest — and sometimes most difficult — times of your patients’ lives.
Providing quality care while keeping your patients safe is critical in this role, as well as diagnosing problems and treating your patients effectively.
3 Labor and Delivery Nurse Tips To Help Enhance the Care You’re Providing
As a labor and delivery nurse, you are responsible for the health and well-being of new mothers and their babies.
You will provide them with medical care during labor and delivery and support them after the baby is born.
You’re always looking for ways to provide better patient care — what are the tips and tricks for labor and delivery nurses to succeed? We have several labor and delivery nurse tips that may help.
#1: Be a Reliable Support System
Nurses provide support to patients of all types, but laboring women rely on nurses more than other patients because of the intense physical and emotional stress of the birthing process.
Labor and delivery nurses should be well-prepared and equipped to provide various supportive services to patients.
For example, you might provide encouragement and emotional support to help with:
- Breastfeeding; or
- Managing post-birth pain
Remember that every patient’s needs will be different. You can decide whether they need you to be completely hands-on and have a heavy support system or if they have someone else who can fill that role.
In any circumstance, the following may help you be a reliable support system for your patients as their labor and delivery nurse.
Talk Her Through the Process
Even if she isn’t a first-time mom, your patient may not know what to expect when giving birth because birthing experiences can differ from one time to the next.
It may help to talk her through the process step by step.
Some patients may prefer to hear detailed information about the labor and delivery process, while others may just want the basics.
Ultimately, it is up to each patient and their doctor to decide what is the best way for them to talk through their labor and delivery process.
Provide Physical Support
Labor and delivery nurses provide physical support to patients during labor and delivery.
This may include:
- Hand holding
- Rubbing the patient’s back
- Positioning the patient
- Coaching during contractions, or
- Assisting with breathing
Labor and delivery nurses also monitor the mother and baby’s health and well-being.
Be Calm, Reassuring, and Encouraging
Labor and delivery nurses are often in a position to provide comfort and reassurance to their patients during childbirth.
Nurses should be able to stay calm, use encouraging words, and give assurance during the labor and delivery process to provide their patients with the best possible care.
It’s essential to be present and not assume that any patient does not need full emotional support.
Remember: No pregnancy and labor experience is the same for any woman.
Know That Not Every Story Has a “Happy” Ending
Bringing babies into the world isn’t always filled with joy and celebration.
There will be days when we anxiously search for a fetal heartbeat, only to be met with the heartbreaking realization that the baby is no longer alive. These losses will stay with you throughout your career.
You may be helping a mother who is placing their baby up for adoption. A family who wasn’t prepared to bring life into the world and isn’t sure where to start — or what their plans are.
Not every birth story is filled with smiles and laughter once the baby is born.
While it never becomes easier to face, you will learn how to manage the emotional toll better and be a support system for patients as time goes on.
Be a Source of Education
Labor and delivery nurses play an important role in educating patients about their health and helping them prepare for labor and delivery.
For example, you may have opportunities to teach your patient:
- When to push
- How an epidural works
- Different laboring techniques
- How to breathe through contractions
- Why they need to change her positioning
- Why walking may help her during labor
Besides providing expert care for patients, being a good labor and delivery nurse can also provide you with opportunities to share your knowledge with others in the healthcare field.
As a labor and delivery nurse, your ability to educate others doesn’t have to stop at your local hospital. You can travel all over the United States, all while following the labor and delivery nurse tips you’ve learned throughout your career.
And you don’t have to do it alone.
Trusted Nurse Staffing can help you find various available labor and delivery nursing opportunities.
Let us assist you in finding the perfect position for your skills and interests with Pronto. Pronto makes it easy for labor and delivery nurses to find jobs throughout the United States. All you have to do is create your free profile and you can begin your search.
Be Emotionally Aware
As the person responsible for caring for pregnant women during their childbirth, you must be aware of both the medical aspects of labor and delivery as well as the emotional needs of your patients.
Different ways you can be emotionally aware as a labor and delivery nurse include sensing when a patient is experiencing:
- Fear
- Stress
- Calmness
- Confusion; or
- Any other emotion
Each of these can affect the patient’s delivery.
Acknowledge the emotions your patients are feeling and work to provide the support they need to have a positive labor and delivery.
Sometimes, it’s helpful to have tools in your pocket to help you through those different emotions, such as:
- Telling funny jokes that may make her laugh and ease the tension
- Talking with her about what’s going on to help calm her down
- Answering questions about the labor process or what to expect next
Build Trust
Labor and delivery nurses are typically assigned to only one or two laboring women at a time, whom they care for closely.
This allows for a connection and trust to form between the laboring woman and the nurse providing support — which can comfort her during her labor and help her feel more at ease.
It is common for doctors and other staff to be in and out of the delivery room throughout the entire labor and delivery process.
As a labor and delivery nurse, you can stay close by to build a quick but trusting relationship with the mother and baby and be present for many important moments.
The trust that labor and delivery nurses build with their patients is essential to providing them with the best possible experience — often an experience that many new mothers won’t forget.
Be Respectful
It is always important to be respectful to every patient. As a labor and delivery nurse, you can take care to listen carefully to your patients’:
- Values
- Boundaries
- Religious beliefs
- Any other preferences
This information is important in making the best possible medical decisions.
You are responsible for giving your patients the best possible care regardless of their wishes. For example, if a patient requests an epidural but it’s too late in the process for one, you should deny the request and explain why.
Set Realistic Expectations
By setting realistic expectations, both you and the mother can be prepared for what will likely happen during labor.
Birth is a natural process that can vary depending on the individual.
However, good labor and delivery nurses can typically provide realistic estimates of:
- How long labor will last – Providing a basic understanding that sometimes labor is quick, and sometimes it’s not, can go a long way for a laboring mama.
- How many contractions will occur – As delivery nears, a labor and delivery nurse may be able to gauge how many/how fast contractions will start to happen.
- How much pain the mother might feel – Have you ever walked into a patient’s room to find them grasping onto the bedrail during a contraction and knew it was time to push?
- What positions she may need to assume – Labor and delivery nurses can remind patients that trying different positions is okay to get through labor. They’re also the first person to help their patients get in the safest position for delivery.
Labor and delivery nurses are the first to offer tips and help expectant mothers understand what could happen during labor and prepare to make informed decisions about their birth plans.
If any changes occur during labor (such as an increase in pain or the number of contractions), you will be able to adjust your care accordingly.
#2: Advocate When Necessary
Labor and delivery nurses can be effective advocates for their patients by understanding what might help those clients throughout labor and being knowledgeable about the medical conditions they may be experiencing.
Nurses offer support to laboring women by being:
- A voice to communicate on behalf of the patient
- A medical advocate who understands the labor and delivery process
Often, nurses are there to provide guidance and support when a woman doesn’t know what might be best or right for her situation — such as teen mothers or first-time moms in labor.
Help Communicate
Some of the best labor and delivery nurses have followed this tip:
When a patient needs to be heard and have support, a labor and delivery nurse ensures that her voice will be heard.
This may look like communicating with:
- Guests who are not welcome in the room
- Her birthing partner so they can provide support
- Doctors and anesthesiologists, when needed
Nurses are also responsible for ensuring that all communication is effective so that the patient’s needs are met as quickly as possible.
Be a Medical Advocate
Communication isn’t just about communicating with the medical staff based on your patients’ wants — it’s also about knowing when to be an advocate for your patients.
A labor and delivery nurse understands the importance of doing what is in an individual’s best interest by advocating for their patients.
For example, a labor and delivery nurse can be a liaison between the patient and the medical team while:
- Being knowledgeable about medical conditions
- Understanding the client’s wants and needs; and
- Remaining unbiased when deciding on care
Ultimately, it is up to the nurse to ensure that all aspects of a patient’s care are administered to meet her needs.
#3: Continue To Learn
As a labor and delivery nurse, you will need to have solid nursing skills to provide care for both the mother and the baby.
Being knowledgeable about labor and delivery and not being afraid to constantly grow as a nurse, can give you the ability to:
- Provide personalized care for your patients
- Better understand what is going on during each stage of labor, and
- Be the best advocate for your patients during the laboring process
Staying up-to-date on nursing advances allows you to provide quality patient care.
You can continue to learn as a labor and delivery nurse by participating in professional development opportunities, such as:
- Taking courses on childbirth and neonatal care
- Pursuing a specialized degree or certification
- Attending labor and delivery nurses’ conferences
- Taking part in clinical research studies; and
- Networking with other nurses in your area
One of the most accessible opportunities for continued learning is through your experiences with your medical team in the hospital.
Ask questions if you aren’t sure how something works or if there is anything that you would like to improve upon in your career as a labor and delivery nurse.
Interested in Becoming a Labor & Delivery Travel Nurse? With Pronto, Finding Labor and Delivery Nurse Contracts Is Easy
There are many ways that you can use these labor and delivery nurse tips to improve your practice and be the best support system for your new mothers and babies.
If you’re looking to grow as a labor and delivery nurse but you’re also ready to try something new, becoming a travel nurse may be the right choice for you.
Unsure of how to get started? Pronto takes the stress out of searching for the right contract and location.
The Pronto app makes it easy to view all the available assignment opportunities in the area you’re interested in working in — all at the touch of your fingertips.
Pronto was designed to enable new and experienced travel nurses nationwide to take control of their careers, acquire the work-life balance they’ve been searching for, and find the road to their dream jobs.
Can’t find a position that meets all of your current needs as a labor and delivery nurse? No need to panic. Pronto will notify you when a job that meets your standards becomes available.