A Prepared Childbirth Class?

The instructor demonstrating a pain relief position, for lower back pain. 

• I'd never thought that I would ever attend a birthing class, even if I were to be pregnant myself. The idea of those classes always seemed so lame and cheesy to me. But now that I have actually attended a class for my Independent Component, my whole perspective has changed. The class was actually very informative and educating for first-time couples. Even to those couples who already experienced their first childbirth! 
• The instructor was very entertaining through out the lessons she was introducing, such as the anatomy and physiology of childbrith, nutrition, signs and symptoms of early labor, etc. She was also very insistent that the pregnant couples (including myself), participate in her body conditioning excercies such as pelvic rocks, kegels, slow paced breathing, and progressive relaxation. 

Blog 8: Research and Working EQ

1. What is your working EQ?

• My working essential question is, How can a Labor and Delivery Nurse ensure a successful delivery? 

2. Possible answers to my working EQ are..

• Labor and Delivery Nurses must be able provide emotional support, care, comfort, and fulfill the needs of the patient. 
• Labor and Delivery Nurses must be able to cope, move quick, understand, and handle stress in any time, type of situation, and current condition the patient is in, with the process of delivering. 
• Education of the woman's body before, during, and after birth is essential to the Labor and Delivery Nurse in order to understand, relate, and advance their care to the woman in need. 

3. What is the most important source you have used that has helped you come up with an answer to your working EQ? 

• Many articles and journals I have read and researched, all had one thing in common to state, and that was to provide the patient with emotional care and support. But the one article that I have found most important and useful is, "Lesson 5: Special Situations in Labor and Delivery" written by the Medical Education Division, Bookside Associates, Ltd. This article has helped me shape and answer my essential question by not only providing me with information on nursing, but the woman's bodily response to labor and delivery. 

4. Who is your mentor, and how does what you are doing relate to your working EQ? 

• My mentor is Deborah Nakielski, CNM., and what I am doing right now, relates to my working essential question by understanding the woman's perspective on birth.  

Blog 7: Independent Component 1 Approval

1. Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours. 

• What I plan on doing for my 30 hours, is to take multiple classes such as child preparation, birthing, lamaze, breastfeeding, breathing, and pain management, etc., at Kaiser Permanente Hospital and/or Health Clinics. During each class, I will participate, watch, learn, take notes, and most likely turn in an essay to my mentor.  

2. Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence. 

• To meet the expectation of showing proof and evidence of 30 hours completed, I will probably turn in pictures, notes, essays, brochures, and possibly videos of classes I have taken. 

3. Explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth. 

• Taking classes as part of my Independent Component, will help me explore my topic more in depth by understanding how women may feel and do before, during, and after birth. Understanding means better communication; and that is one key to a successful delivery, in which a Labor and Delivery Nurse must master. 

4. I have updated my Senior Project Hours Log.