b. Is it the first pregnancy?
c. What experiences and memories does the patient have about previous
pregnancies?
4-4.
FIRST TRIMESTER OF PREGNANCY
New behaviors a prospective mother may engage in includes the following:
a. Displays a Sense of Ambivalence to the Pregnancy. You, as the practical
nurse, must explain to the patient that what she is feeling is not unnatural. She must
not be made to feel guilty about her ambivalence.
b. Fantasize About The Pregnancy. This may be mixed with a sense of fear
or dread. The patient may dream about the impact a baby will have on her life and the
lives of other family members. If the fantasies become moribund or characterized by
excessive fear and cause despair, the patient may require counseling.
c. Role Playing. The patient may act the part of being a mother. She may
spend time playing with children or babysitting other friends' babies. She may show
more interest in caring for babies. She may pick them up more or talk with other women
about their babies.
d. Increased Concern For Financial and Social Problems. Paying for a child,
losing a job, or losing a second income for a while, the cost of child care, loss of
freedom to come and go, and the requirement for a total commitment that may prevent
her from performing social obligations may all be concerns for the new mother.
e. Decreased Interest In Sex Due To Bodily Changes. Nausea, vomiting,
fatigue, and fear of injury to fetus may cause a loss of interest in sex. Increased
vascularity to breast may yield breast tenderness or discomfort initially but this
decreases as the pregnancy continues. Increased vascularity to the genitalia area may
also be of concern. Fear of a miscarriage may cause the patient not to want sexual
intercourse.
4-5.
CHARACTERISTICS OF SECOND TRIMESTER OF PREGNANCY
a. The patient develops a sense of well-being. Her body becomes adjusted to
hormonal changes. The early discomforts of pregnancy have subsided. Usually, she
has adjusted psychologically to the realities and inconveniences, which accompany
pregnancy. Her fears have subsided, at least temporarily. She has passed the initial
miscarriage stage; she begins telling everyone she is pregnant. She develops a "glow"
of pregnancy.
MD0921
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